We’ve been huge fans of Scott Schultz’s wines ever since we first tried his Trousseau Gris some years back. From the beginning, his wines had poise and a level of finesse and precision rarely seen in a young winemaker. He’s continually expanded his portfolio to include a range of whites and reds, and we’ve never had one we didn’t like. Besides the wine being amazing, Scott also adorns bottles with new and rather lovely artwork every year.

Jolie-Laide is a one-man operation based in Sebastopol. His first vintage Scott made 500 cases of wine a year and has slowly ramped that up to about 2400 cases today. The name Jolie-Laide translates loosely to “Pretty-Ugly”, a French term of endearment to describe something that is unconventionally beautiful. Scott’s unique and highly sought-after wines live up to their name.

Scott’s passion for wine was ignited when he moved to Napa from Chicago in 2007. Having had extensive experience in the restaurant business, he switched gears upon his arrival in California to lead the wine program at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon. Working as cellar master as well as Pax Mahle’s assistant winemaker are a few of Scott’s many achievements. He and Pax both share a winemaking space and similar philosophies in discovering unconventional beauty. Scott Schultz does what he loves, and he does it well.

Scott's philosophy of discovering unconventional beauty led him to work with some of our state’s rarest varieties. Homogeneity often leads to mediocrity and he has steered well clear of that. Whether it's his fresh and electric Valdiguie or his exceptionally complex pinot gris, every wine seems to have a sense of place and time. They are both unique and “new” yet somehow speak to an era long gone. An era when California wasn’t an ocean of Pinot, Cabernet and Chardonnay vines and the wines were light on their feet and unpretentiously delicious.

What importer Bowler Wine has to say about this wine...

The North Coast Syrah is a blend of two Yorkville Highlands vineyards; Hawks Butte and Halcon. Both vineyards are rocky, high elevation sites (Halcon being the higher of the two at roughly 2500 ft) in Mendocino that benefit from a direct coastal influence, as well as ample sun exposure from their position above the fog line. Picked early to preserve acidity and capture the cool-climate characteristics of the area, the grapes were foot crushed and fermented whole cluster, followed by a 10-month maturation period in neutral barrique. 13% abv.