I saw a Facebook Post yesterday afternoon from Carroll Kemp, who co-founded Red Car Wine Company in 2000 and moved both the winery and fruit sources from Santa Barbara County to the West Sonoma Coast in the mid-2000s. They’ve produced some excellent wines since that move. Carroll announced in his post that he has become a partner with Alma Fria founder Jan Holtermann and has, in his words, “decided to yield my role at Red Car and devote myself to this next chapter.” I’m not sure whether that means he’s stepping away from Red Car completely, but it sounds like that may be the case.
For those who are not familiar with Alma Fria, Carroll has made the wines there from the start (the label was established in 2011), and I’ve been impressed with their wines whenever I’ve tasted them. Alma Fria is another West Sonoma Coast producer, with an estate vineyard near Annapolis (and a new one near Occidental that may be ready for its first harvest next year) and also using purchased fruit from top sites in the region such as Campbell Ranch and Doña Margarita Vineyard.