When someone comes into the shop and they want to taste Sonoma or Mendocino, we want them to buy LIOCO. We just do. It's so innate it's a challenge to put into words — like asking us to explain why you should want the world's best roast beef sandwich or the perfect Maine lobster roll. They're wines that demand the table, not the spotlight, but they deserve both.

LIOCO appeared at every casual gathering of in-the-know wine nerds and industry folk back in the early days of the New California movement, and after a recent revisit, it’s apparent the wines are even better than we remembered. And while they offer an array of great higher-end bottlings, their introductory wines remain an unbeatable value.

The LIOCO story starts with a back-alley discussion between then-wine salesman Matt Licklider and a colleague about the need for an alternative to the heavyweight California wine trends of the early 2000s. In 2005 Matt decided, along with his wife Sara, to try making the wines he wanted to see. He was inspired by the Old World—but, crucially, he also looked to the elegant California wines of the 1980s and earlier as a stylistic benchmark. It was New California, to be sure, but in many ways there was nothing new about the style.

Operating today out of Santa Rosa with a tasting room in Healdsburg, and sourcing fruit from top vineyards across a 400-mile range, LIOCO has become a benchmark of quality, with a stalwart commitment to low-intervention winemaking and sustainable farming practices. With Matt and Sara still leading the organization and Drew Huffine at the winemaking helm, this operation has truly become one of the key voices Matt once sought in the market, and despite their family and team’s hard work over the years, each bottling feels somehow effortless in its transparency and energy. These are great wines that can be yours today for nearly-effortless prices.

LIOCO, Sonoma County Chardonnay, 2022 $25.99
“This early-picked fruit had brilliant chemistry, as drought vintage fruit often does, and deeply concentrated flavors. Since 2019 we have been declassifying barrels of Chardonnay from top tier LIOCO cuvees into this wine. SoCo will always be defined by its mouth watering, steely freshness ala the Louis Michel Chablis that inspired it, but the barrel fermented additions have added complexity and mouth feel without any trace of oakiness.” - producer notes

LIOCO, Mendocino County Pinot Noir, 2022 $26.99
“Seems these California vines are inoculated against extreme weather events--especially the more mature vineyards in the Potter Valley. The 2022 Mendo Pinot is a wide aperture view of the county-- with fruit from four disparate AVAs: Potter Valley, Yorkville Highlands, Anderson Valley, and Comptche. It shows the typicity of this diverse region which reads like a love letter to Mendocino County stained with brambly coastal berries, pine resin, and blue florals.” - producer notes