Wines of Danger: Sabrine Rodems Keeps Some Wicked Company Starting your own wine brand is a bit like diving full clothed and blindfolded into a pool of unknown depth. It’s not just scary, it’s incredibly risky, even if you already sort of know what you’re doing.

Ask Sabrine Rodems (Wrath, San Saba) what it’s like to start your own small, independent wine brand, and she will tell you it’s a lot like wrestling a 400-pound bear at a biker bar just outside of Tijuana. How dangerous can it be? Ha! Two years ago, a group of independent winemakers joined forces to promote their small wine brands to the trade and media. Emboldened with unfiltered exuberance and highly aromatic naiveté, they created a loose affiliation called Wines of Danger.

In 2013, they held a very successful event at The Press Club in San Francisco, a lovely venue for showcasing a great varieties of wines, including Comanche Cellars awesome Arroyo Seco Chardonnay, Pellerin Pinots from SLH and Onesta’s awesome Cinsault rosé that has created quite a sensation ever since. So, they are going to do it again this year.

Wines of Danger – Part Dos: Red Hands and Empty Wallets will be held August 18, 2014 from 11 AM to 4:00 PM at Local Kitchen and Wine Merchant (www.sf-local.com), 330 1st St #1, San Francisco, CA 94105. Current releases from some of California’s most important up-and-coming producers will be available to taste. For more information and to RSVP (trade and media only), please visit www.winesofdanger.com.

About Wines of Danger: In Their Own Words

We are a cadre of professional winemakers producing small batches of very personal wines. Some of us have day jobs working for established wine brands and some of us do this full time. Either way, we make wines that are anything but safe. Our members include:

Anna Marie dos Remedios and Deb Payne – Idle Hour Winery

Sabrine Rodems—Scratch

Matt Reid and Marcy Webb—People’s Wine Revolution

Scott Sisemore—Waxwing

Michael Trotta and Wendy Trotta—Eclectic Wines

Patrick Murray—Paro

Peter Heitz and Meg Heitz—Shypoke

Nate Belden—Belden Barns

Jeremy Weintraub–Site

Tom Kisaichi and Rebecca Kisaichi—Maboroshi Wine Estates

Paul Rogerville—Cuvee Wine Cellars

Lars Bjorkman and Molly Hill—Grow Wines

Patrick Ridder—Farm and Planet

John and Betsy Kane-Hartnett—2880

Michael Simons—Comanche Cellars

Bart Hansen—Dane Cellars

Marc Rafael—Domaine Georg Rafael

Kori Violini—Kori Wines

Michael Larner—Larner Vineyard and Winery

Joe and Kathleen Healy—Buona Vita Cellars

Larry Schaffer—Tercero Wines

Bruce Devlin—Three Clicks Wines

BY: LAURA NESS, WINE JUDGE & WINE WRITER

Laura Ness, aka “Her VineNess,” is an accomplished wine journalist and wine critic whose passion for wine was ignited by a visit to France, where she had the unmatched pleasure of tasting Sancerre in the medieval town of Sancerre – splendid!— and then a Saumur, after visiting the Chateau de Saumur in Chinon. The concept of terroir came alive in those incandescent moments. She regularly judges wine competitions and serves on the tasting panels of the Pinot, Cabernet and Chardonnay Shootouts. She was instrumental in helping define the unique sub-regions of the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA in concert with Appellation America. You can usually find her sipping and smiling in Mendocino, Livermore, the Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Cruz Mountains and Paso Robles. Laura writes extensively for many industry and consumer publications, and has weekly wine columns in several Bay Area newspapers. She blogs, irreverently and sporadically, at myvinespace.com.