LOLA Wines
More than fifteen varieties across sixty acres, some of them ones Seth Cripe says he is keeping from disappearing. It started in 2008 with 700 cases of Russian River Pinot.
Why go
Cripe planted the Russian River vineyard in 2004 and made the first LOLA wine from it in 2008, 700 cases of Pinot Noir.1 The house has stayed family-run since, with Rafaela Costa on the business and Cripe's mother Nancy on the roster as house matriarch.1 What makes it worth the stop is the planting: over fifteen grape varieties across more than 60 acres of sustainably farmed California vineyard, some of which the winery says it is preserving from global endangerment.1 Antonio Galloni of Vinous puts the wines where the winery wants them: fresh, bright and made without a lot of fanfare, all of which make them ideal for casual drinking.
2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Pinot Noir first, because it is the wine the house was built on.1
- Order: anything you have not heard of. Cripe grows more than fifteen varieties and says he is keeping some of them from disappearing.1
- Avoid: driving up expecting Napa Cabernet. That is not what Cripe farms.1
What locals & experts say
- Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media:
Seth Cripe set out to make a range of delicious, affordable wines. The Lola wines are fresh, bright and made without a lot of fanfare, all of which make them ideal for casual drinking.
Read on the winery's own press wall rather than at Vinous.2
Good to know
- Booking: the winery's visit page is dead, so I have no hours and no tasting prices for the Calistoga room. Call ahead rather than turning up.
- Hygiene: not established. No inspection instrument for this county is on file here.
Verdict
could-visit — Seth Cripe grows more than fifteen varieties across sixty-odd acres and says he is keeping some of them from disappearing, which in a valley that plants Cabernet on anything with drainage is the interesting choice. The house started with 700 cases of Russian River Pinot in 2008 off a vineyard he planted four years earlier, and Antonio Galloni of Vinous calls the wines 'fresh, bright and made without a lot of fanfare'. That quote was read on LOLA's own press wall rather than at Vinous, four other quotes on the same wall carry no byline at all, and the winery's visit page is dead, so nobody can tell you the hours or the price of a flight. Good reason to go, thin instructions for getting there.