Guthrie Family Wines is a Sonoma project built without shortcuts: long nights, borrowed space, and a conviction that raw, honest wine from clean fruit still matters.
Backstory
New Zealand-born and California-rooted, Blair Guthrie cut his teeth in South Australia and worked under Paul Hobbs in California before founding Guthrie Family Wines with his wife Caroline and their children. They met working harvest, and built the label from the ground up while juggling other jobs and hustling for fruit and cellar space. Blair is also the winemaker for the family's Stewart Cellars project.
The Region
The winery is based in Sonoma, California, drawing on organically farmed grape sources across the region, with a focus on Rhone varieties.
Farming and Winemaking
Guthrie crushes only organically grown grapes, avoiding synthetic pesticides and herbicides. In the cellar the philosophy is that less is more: whole-cluster fermentations, minimal ingredients, no residual sugar, moderate alcohol, restrained oak, and only minimal effective sulfites as an antioxidant. The wines are vegan and gluten-free, sitting between the natural wine world and a polished, precise finish.
The Wines
The lineup spans white wines, chillable reds, and structured reds, including a signature 'Faux' Picpoul Blanc and an 'Electric' Syrah, each small-batch and meant to reflect site and season.