It feels like Whiskey Distilleries have suddenly popped up all over the map, but the fever for this spirit has taken hold of the Bay Area in a way not seen since the Gold Rush days. Here are just a few of the best distilleries to be found in the cities by the bay.
Pop into St. George Spirits just off the barracks-lined waterfront in Alameda, California, and you’ll find Lance Winters, owner and a West Coast whiskey pioneer, ensconced in the belly of a yawning former naval hangar. Winters comes to life poring over the rows and rows of experiments piled high in his laboratory. “When we make whiskey, we’re making a statement about who we are,” says Winters, a three-time James Beard nominee for his work with St. George. He reaches for the 35th-anniversary whiskey he bottled in 2017, which contained some 18-year-old spirit—common in Scotland or Kentucky but ancient for a West Coast whiskey. “This is an act of self-expression, not a commodity,” he says. “When I put a bottle on the table, I’m putting my heart on the table.” For a craft so steeped in tradition, very few of its practitioners, particularly around the Bay Area, seem to be sitting still. “The whole state of California is a product of the promise of people looking for amazing riches, trying new things,” reasons Winters.
This kind of outside-the-box thinking is characteristic of upstart distillers, many of whom benefit from liberal laws and the entrepreneurial spirit of the Bay Area. Case in point: Home Base Spirits, a bid by two sisters to navigate their way into the boom from a warehouse in Berkeley. More than a decade ago, Ali Blatteis joined a whiskey club at her tech start-up, only to find the gender imbalance intimidating. So she started a whiskey club for women, unofficially dubbed the Rye or Die Chicks, which her sister Sam would join when visiting on trips from New York and after moving back to their native Oakland. Soon enough, the passion became an obsession—and then a profession—and by 2015 the sisters had filled their first barrels. They’re now sold throughout the Bay Area. “Even though we’re in this center of innovation, we’re the complete opposite of a tech company model,” says Sam. “Our gross is too small.” The sisters are using what’s called a “rectifier” license that allows them to distill using another company’s stills one contract at a time. Call it Turo or WeWork for distilling equipment: The peer-to-peer sharing concept allows them to minimize their carbon footprint and support local businesses and farmers.
It’s not surprising that a fair amount of Bay Area distillers swipe right on the continuum of tradition and leading edge. At the annual Whisky Advocate WhiskyFest this past November in downtown San Francisco, a room of barrel-chested enthusiasts squeezes into hotel banquet chairs to sample beta drams of Glyph, a “molecular whiskey” from a start-up called Endless West. The ambitious effort is an inevitable outgrowth of the Bay Area tech scene, which engineered “impossible” meat, egg-free “mayo,” and has made driverless cars a reality. Endless West is aiming to engineer a top-flight, high-touch whiskey quickly using sourced flavor components and neutral-grain spirits, not a barrel in sight. “It might not be for everyone, and perhaps not even for everyone in this room,” says cofounder and CEO Alec Lee, raising a glass of the amber liquid. “But it’s what we’re doing, and I hope you enjoy it.” Most distillers are nothing if not cerebral when discussing their craft. But Lee speaks a different language entirely: aroma vectors, molecular chirality, tongue delivery. He speaks of pivoting, iterating, non-trivial obstacles. Lee is a product of the culture, and so is his whiskey. The act of creating it is a form of self-expression; the act of consuming it the start of a conversation.
The Savage & Cooke Distillery, owned by Napa Valley Prisoner and Orin Swift winemaker Dave Phinney, is located on historic Mare Island and opened in 2018. The decision to locate the distillery on Mare Island was due to its fascinating history as a naval shipyard, the plethora of space, stunning brownstone buildings and its proximity to both the Napa Valley and San Francisco. Savage & Cooke distills, ages, finishes and bottles a range of brown spirits including Bourbon, Whiskey and Rye. Dave crafts offerings in the style that he appreciates most; complex flavors, concentration, balanced oak influence and lushness. It’s high-concept and high-proof. Small batch experimentation with additional spirits takes place on site and is offered for tasting exclusively at the distillery. “The tasting room will offer visitors a unique experience on Mare Island with tastings of our core products, tours led by our master distiller, and rare tastings of our reserves which are only available onsite—including a 12-year-old Bourbon and 10-year-old American Whiskey,” says Lauren Blanchard, general manager at Savage & Cook. Indeed, the distillery is just the beginning for Phinney on Mare Island—the entrepreneur has purchased seven historic buildings with plans for a winery, a fried chicken restaurant, a public park, a rooftop bar, a boutique coffee roaster, artists’ studios and more.
Adam Spiegel was born and raised in San Francisco. From a young age, he experienced the bounty that Sonoma County offers through regular visits to the area with his parents. He fondly recalls trips to its beaches, attending concerts, and tagging along on wine tastings. In 2008, he found his passion for creating spirits while assisting a distiller friend in Santa Rosa. Sonoma Distilling Company was founded in 2010 as one of the first 200 distilleries in the United States. Spiegel has chosen to use hand-made, copper pot stills for distillation, and although their old-world style of production is labor intensive and requires distilling twice, “it’s through this care in our process that we find a distinction in the end product: a beautifully viscous and high ester-driven spirit.” Sonoma Distilling Company prides itself on a “grain to glass” mentality with every level of production handled in-house, including the milling, mashing and fermentation of grains, hand-made copper alembic pot distillation, American oak barrel aging, bottling and labeling. “We are steeped in traditional values but fueled by modern taste. We source only the finest non-GMO California grains and smoke our malted barley locally in Petaluma with California Cherrywood. Through a mindful approach, hard work, and time-honored techniques, we pledge our enduring commitment to producing world-class whiskeys. We are California’s whiskey.”
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