High on a ridgeline in California's Sierra Foothills, Conduit is a small family winery making handmade natural wine where rocky granite soils and elevation give the fruit depth and balance.
Backstory
Conduit was founded in 2013 when Aaron Bryan decided to pursue winemaking full time, taking a nontraditional path to the cellar. He later met Amy, whose shared love of wine, food, and Northern California turned into both a personal and professional partnership. Aaron is winemaker and proprietor; Amy handles sales, marketing, and the public face of the brand, which also encompasses the divergent vine label and Tag + Jug Cider Co.
The Region
The winery is based in Fair Play, in southern El Dorado County, a high-elevation, Mediterranean-climate pocket of the Sierra Foothills known for granitic soils.
Vineyards and Farming
The estate Gold Dust Vineyard sits at 2,700 feet on a ridge, a small 6 acres of shallow, rocky granitic soil planted to Syrah, Viognier, Primitivo, and Tempranillo. Farming is organic and regenerative, and Conduit works only with family-owned vineyards that follow conscious, organic, and sustainable practices.
Winemaking
In the cellar Aaron leans on old techniques: spontaneous native fermentation, whole-cluster and whole-berry ferments, and foot treading. Wines age in neutral vessels and are bottled without fining or filtration, with sulfites added only when natural levels are insufficient.
The Wines
The result is a small-production range of clean, balanced, food-friendly wines, including estate Gold Dust Vineyard bottlings of Viognier and Syrah, plus ciders under the Tag + Jug label.
