California Wine, Santa Maria

About Red Car Winery and Vineyard

Red Car's winery is located in Santa Maria and the main office is in Culver City, California. Winemaking is storytelling. That is the philosophy behind every Red Car bottle. The labels, front and back, tell stories. Each series is its own novella. Ride the train with the existentialist in the Trolley series. Step into the ring with an aging boxer in The Fight. Have a drink with a minx in Amour Fou.

Red Car was founded by Carroll Kemp and Mark Estrin in 2000 with a 50 case production of syrah from a single ton of grapes. The intent was simple: Source great grapes, make great wine and market it in an inventive, original way. They picked the name as a tribute to the streetcars of Southern California from the first 60 years of the 20th century. The "red cars" provided transportation in a romanticized time and place. This is the sentiment that Red Car labels strive to emulate.

Carroll founded Red Car along with Mark Estrin in 2000. He made the company's first vintage at his home in Los Angeles. In January of 2004 he started full time with Red Car. Mark Estrin founded Red Car with Carroll in 2000. He passed away May 7, 2005.

Red Car's consulting winemaker is Sashi Moorman. fter graduating from Vassar and cooking as a line chef in Manhattan, he became the assistant winemaker for Ojai Vineyards, one of California's original Rhone Rangers. Assisting winemaker is Chris King. He grew up in Santa Barbara and graduated from University of California, Santa Barabra where he studied botany, geology, and soil ecology.

Wines:

Trolley Series

The Fight

Amour Fou

Some like it Red

Boxcar Syrah

Boxcar Pinot

Think Pink

The Table

The Dreaming Detective