Honig: Less Is More

At times like these--with recession, higher alcohol taxes, warning labels and increased concern over health, wine makers will resort to almost any tactic to sell their wine.

Some go on the road to stage wine tastings and dinners; some have adopted fancy and exotic-shaped bottles or labels; others use bizarre proprietary names for their wines, such as Antares, Alchemy, Conundrum, Soliloquy and Spectrum.

But when the state superintendent of public instruction owns a winery, he has to keep a low profile. Bill Honig tries to downplay the fact that he makes wine, which is why so few people have heard of the Honig winery in the Napa Valley.

But wine fanatics have known of the facility since it released its first wines in 1980. (These first wines came out under the HNW label, long since discarded.) The winery has maintained a strong position by using a three-fold strategy.

“We started out making only Sauvignon Blanc because there were so many Chardonnays out there and we didn’t want to be just another one fighting for shelf space,” says Bill Honig’s son Michael.

The two other Honig strategies were styling the wines so they were easy to drink young and targeting the wines to restaurants.

To efficiently manage the property, which the family acquired in 1964, production was kept small. To finance it, the winery made wine for other brands that had no winery space of their own; of the 30,000 cases of wine now made at the winery, 65% is for other brands.

Other costs are also kept to a minimum. The winery markets its own wines in California directly, and there is no flashy packaging. The labels are attractive but they were not designed by Oscar de la Renta.

“We focused on restaurants because it’s a good place to build your brand,” says Michael. “By not going through a wholesaler, we kept our prices lower.” Since the winery has stayed small (11,000 cases), it has not had a problem selling the entire production. Therefore the winery doesn’t need to discount its wines much, or sell to warehouses.

About 9,500 cases of Honig wine is sold in restaurants; most of the rest is sold at specialty wine shops. For the first seven years, the Honig winery made only Sauvignon Blanc, “until we established an image in the market,” says Michael. In 1987, the winery began making Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon as well.

Recently released, the 1989 Honig Sauvignon Blanc ($9) has a delicate melon and herb character, is fresh and matches nicely with lighter foods. The 1987 Cabernet ($13.75) is a lovely wine with herbal notes and cherry fruit, but is much more approachable than many bigger wines, a perfect style for restaurants.

“Our winemaker wanted to make a bigger, richer wine,” said Michael, “but I told him, ‘Let’s switch jobs for a week. You go out and see what people want.’ I think they want wine you can drink, not wine to stash in the cellar.”

The 1989 Chardonnay ($15) has a creaminess and a trace of citrus in the finish. It’s not as good a value as the other two wines.

Winemaker Jed Steele, who helped make Kendall-Jackson Winery one of the success stories of the last decade, has resigned to make wine under his own label, to be called simply Steele.

Steele said he would make Chardonnay, small amounts of Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon and perhaps a few other varieties. The brand, to be made at winery facilities in Lake County, would initially be no larger than 3,000 cases.

Steele joined Kendall-Jackson in 1982, when the winery was making about 20,000 cases a year. By 1989, the winery was one of the fastest-growing California Chardonnay producers, making more than 250,000 cases of barrel-fermented Chardonnay and winning awards with virtually every wine it made. The winery, based in Lakeport, today makes about 700,000 cases.

John Hawley, formerly of Clos du Bois in Sonoma County, replaced Steele before the harvest of 1990. Steele remained as a consultant. He left Kendall-Jackson in mid-June.

An innovative wine maker, Steele said his Chardonnay would be made from grapes from two vineyards in Sonoma County (Sangiacomo and Durrell), and two from Mendocino County (Dupratt and Lolonis).

Steele said that until his wine is available to be sold, he will consult for various wineries and already has six clients.

Wine of the Week

1988 Guenoc Petite Sirah, Guenoc Valley ($10)-- Winemaker Derek Holstein has a wonderful block of Petite Sirah growing in the Guenoc Valley, just north of and over the hill from the northern tip of Napa Valley. The spice and fruit of the wine is marvelous, but it also has a cedary-toasty note from aging in oak. And the taste is simply delicious. The good news is that there’s a good supply of this wine (6,466 cases). The bad news is that there may not be enough to meet demand. Guenoc Petite Sirah has had its “groupies” during the last few years, and this wine won a double gold medal at the San Francisco Fair, which should make it very popular.