|
|
Louisa Sawyer
Lindquist is the inspiration behind Verdad. In the late 80’s, while
working at a retail store on Long Island, Louisa became enamored with
the beauty and finesse of Spanish Albariño. She studied the different
producers and styles and realized that Albariño is a remarkable wine
both as an aperitif and as a great food wine. Soon Louisa was exploring
other Spanish wines, and found that Tempranillo held the same allure for
her. When she began working for a fine wine importer & distributor in
New York, she had the opportunity to work with the Classical Wines of
Spain portfolio and expand her knowledge.
Louisa spent the early 80’s studying and working in the vineyards of
Long Island. Her background in viticulture served her well when she
moved to California and began working with wineries and their vineyards.
She was amazed at the similarities between the Spanish wine country and
California, and was surprised to find that there was very little
Albariño or Tempranillo planted. About the same time, Louisa began
dating Bob Lindquist, the owner/winemaker of Qupé Wine Cellars, and
introduced him to the beauties of Spanish wines. In time they began
planting small blocks of the two grape varietals at the Ibarra-Young
Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley on the Central Coast of California,
experimenting with clones and organic growing techniques.
As the plantings at Ibarra-Young matured and began to produce fruit,
Louisa went to Spain to work harvest. She traveled to the primary grape
growing regions to understand how the top producers worked with the
fruit in both the vineyards and the winery. As she talked with the
people across the country, she noticed that one of the favorite
expressions, repeated on a regular basis was “es la verdad” (that’s the
truth). That became her inspiration to naming the fledgling brand “Verdad”.
The wines are produced at Qupé under Bob’s direction.
Louisa and Bob are now married and have a five-year-old son, Theo. They
live in San Luis Obispo where they have recently purchased vineyard
property in Edna Valley. |
