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SMALL VINES
Farmer and Winemaker, Paul Sloan, fell in love with wine at a very early age while working
in the restaurant business, and as a 21 yr. old sommelier, his life changed one night by a
tasting of a rare Burgundy. On fire with the goal of crafting world-class wines himself, he
followed this passion to a degree in viticulture while working for legendary grape-grower,
Warren Dutton. After extensive self study, research and travel, the Sloan’s started their own
wine-grape growing company, Small Vines Viticulture, in 1998. The more Paul learned about
viticulture and winemaking, the more he became convinced that the proper site selection
and some modification, using a European style of high-density planting to achieve lower
yields, as well as creating shade for the delicate fruit, they could produce wines in California
the would rival those of Burgundy. The Sloan’s operate the only wine growing company
in Sonoma Co. specializing in environmentally sensitive, high-density plantings. The first
release of Small Vines wines was in Nov. of 2007 with the 2005 vintage. As of 2017, they
now craft their wines in their Estate Winery they built out of an old Apple Barn on the historic
Barlow Homestead property in Sebastopol.
