Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Baldassari.
Hi Matthew, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After I finished school for winemaking.
My Dad and I started 20 years ago with 1 ton of Syrah grapes. We bottled 92 cases of Syrah and hand-sold every case that year. Fast forward to 2019 and we opened our wine-tasting lounge in downtown Windsor, CA. We now make almost 1,200 cases annually and make 7 different wines!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a very difficult road to get to this point. We started selling our first vintage in 2005 (it takes 2 years to age wine before you can sell it) and the housing market crashed shortly after that.
We barely made it through that downturn. We were able to survive and gain momentum off that only to be hit with the COVID crisis 8 months after opening our tasting lounge coupled with horrible wildfires in Sonoma County in 2017, 2019, and 2020.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a small wine producer in Sonoma County, California. We are a father-and-son team, and we make about 1,200 cases of wine a year. We specialize in small lots and very high-quality Sonoma County wines. We are most known for our Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and our Bennet Valley Syrah, but we also make a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
We are a throwback to the old days of Sonoma and Napa when small brands were plentiful, and you could meet the owners. Big Companies have taken over, so we are a rarity. Our wines are of the highest quality and showcase the best Sonoma County has to offer for wine.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
That I love remodeling my own homes. I do almost all the work myself except the electrical! I’ve done major projects like remodeling kitchens and bathrooms and outdoor spaces.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bfwwine.com
- Instagram: @baldassariwines
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/100063536742432/
- Yelp: Baldassari Wine Lounge
