Last chance to buy Sailing Horse wines. . .winery goes away

[zstyles]

This is from an email I received from this local small business....

"Yes, unfortunately Sailing Horse will be closing our winery at the end of March.  It's a bittersweet move, but necessary until Oklahoma wine laws evolve to support broader sales and distribution.  Overall, it's been a fulfilling experience to be a part of this exciting new industry for our State!

Sailing Horse thanks its many loyal 'friends of the Grape', from both our region and from as distant locations as Hawaii and Germany.  You have enthusiastically embraced the Oklahoma wine growing industry with your numerous winery, festival, and farmers market visits which will need to continue to sustain industry growth & viability.  Your continued support will be rewarded with exciting new wine releases, expanding vineyards & orchards, and more convenient access to your favorite Oklahoma wines.  Please ask your local winegrowers' opinions when upcoming winery or brewery legislation is presented to further modernize our laws.

You are essential to sustaining a wine and agritourism industry in Oklahoma to rival those anywhere in the US.   Please raise a toast with us to the tenacity of all OK winegrowers and supporters who have gotten this industry off the ground!"

[Conan71]

A) Never heard of Sailing Horse.  They might try marketing a little harder.  I'm most definitely in their demographic and I go to a lot of festivals where wineries are represented.

B) When Oklahoma vintners learn how to make wine which is worth $15 a bottle, I will buy it.  I've been a fan of Stone Bluff but even the last bottle of Cynthiana we bought had a weird whang to it.

[zstyles]

Ya its more in the Grand Lake area, its a former Worldcom exec(he retired before they went bust) from Tulsa started it up..really nice guy who escaped to start a goat farm/winery and has been living the dream, he was on a few Discover Oklahoma shows and Oklahoma Horizon shows and at the local farmers markets a bit..but mostly around Grand Lake..website!

http://www.sailinghorse.com/

[Hoss]

A) Never heard of Sailing Horse.  They might try marketing a little harder.  I'm most definitely in their demographic and I go to a lot of festivals where wineries are represented.

B) When Oklahoma vintners learn how to make wine which is worth $15 a bottle, I will buy it.  I've been a fan of Stone Bluff but even the last bottle of Cynthiana we bought had a weird whang to it.

[Gaspar]

A) Never heard of Sailing Horse.  They might try marketing a little harder.  I'm most definitely in their demographic and I go to a lot of festivals where wineries are represented.

B) When Oklahoma vintners learn how to make wine which is worth $15 a bottle, I will buy it.  I've been a fan of Stone Bluff but even the last bottle of Cynthiana we bought had a weird whang to it.

+1  Never had an OK wine that could even compare to a $6 bottle of Australian or Chilean swill. 
The problem is that wine making seems romantic, but in essence it's hard work and unless the climate and soil are perfect, it requires even more work to make it taste good.

The good grapes Zinfendel, Cabernet, Merlot, Sharaz, Sarah, Pinot Noir, Reisling, Voignier, Chardonnay, et. al. all carry a hardiness zone of  6/7 to 7 and after last week, any grower who had any is likely to make a similar announcement as above.  This arctic cold snap may have destroyed what little wine industry we had.  It takes years to get a mature vine and most of our Okie growers don't qualify for crop insurance on varieties grown outside of USDA heartiness zone.

It's like trying to grow tomatoes in Nome, AK.  Sure it can be done, but they're going to be expensive and won't taste as good as the sun ripened ones you can buy for $.40 from Mexico.

We should stick to black market moonshine!

[Conan71]

A lot of vintners buy their juice from out of state or part of their juice from out of state.

Wine making is as much an art as it is a science and it takes years to properly learn the craft.  Even then, you can be thrown off by a number of factors.  As you mentioned, Gaspar, sounds like someone liked the romanticism of being able to say: "After 20 years in the corporate rat race I took off my jacket and tie and decided to start making wine".  It's simply not an easy thing to transition in to.

Don't get me wrong, I really admire someone chasing their dream and doing it well.  I get a little irritated though when someone blames other people or regulations for their problems when it doesn't appear they did anything significant to really push their business and make a quality product.  Maybe their wine was good, I'd never know because I never saw them at any events here in Tulsa or NE Okla. which would have helped market their wine.

[zstyles]

A lot of vintners buy their juice from out of state or part of their juice from out of state.

Wine making is as much an art as it is a science and it takes years to properly learn the craft.  Even then, you can be thrown off by a number of factors.  As you mentioned, Gaspar, sounds like someone liked the romanticism of being able to say: "After 20 years in the corporate rat race I took off my jacket and tie and decided to start making wine".  It's simply not an easy thing to transition in to.

Don't get me wrong, I really admire someone chasing their dream and doing it well.  I get a little irritated though when someone blames other people or regulations for their problems when it doesn't appear they did anything significant to really push their business and make a quality product.  Maybe their wine was good, I'd never know because I never saw them at any events here in Tulsa or NE Okla. which would have helped market their wine.

Agreed..good post!

[Townsend]

Don't get me wrong, I really admire someone chasing their dream and doing it well.  I get a little irritated though when someone blames other people or regulations for their problems when it doesn't appear they did anything significant to really push their business and make a quality product.  Maybe their wine was good, I'd never know because I never saw them at any events here in Tulsa or NE Okla. which would have helped market their wine.

The regulations are not helpful.

I also despise that I can't order wine/beer in from out of state as well.

I have to let some jackass in corporate decide due to asinine regulations.

As far as OK wines?  Many of them do get vines from out of state but the hot sun here in OK makes the wine sweeter than many other locations.  Sweet wine = not my taste.

[zstyles]

FYI, I just found these videos, pretty interesting stuff.

http://www.okhorizon.com/2006_12_december.htm

[Conan71]

The regulations are not helpful.

Yet, other wineries are ostensibly still succeeding in spite of the laws.  I agree an overhaul of our alcohol laws is long overdue.  But when a beer lobby is weighing in and saying our primary alcohol regulating body shouldn't have it's budget or make up of personnel messed with, that's all you need to know about who is really running the ABLE commission.

[Townsend]

I agree an overhaul of our alcohol laws is long overdue.  But when a beer lobby is weighing in and saying our primary alcohol regulating body shouldn't have it's budget or make up of personnel messed with, that's all you need to know about who is really running the ABLE commission.

Ding ding ding

[DTowner]

Yet, other wineries are ostensibly still succeeding in spite of the laws.  I agree an overhaul of our alcohol laws is long overdue.  But when a beer lobby is weighing in and saying our primary alcohol regulating body shouldn't have it's budget or make up of personnel messed with, that's all you need to know about who is really running the ABLE commission.

While others may still be in business, not sure they are successful.  Stone Bluff Cellars has been for sale for some time.

You are dead on about the romanticized vision of making wine.  I'd love for Oklahoma to have a successful wine industry, but geography, topography, climate and a regulatory maze will not let that happen.

[Conan71]

While others may still be in business, not sure they are successful.  Stone Bluff Cellars has been for sale for some time.

You are dead on about the romanticized vision of making wine.  I'd love for Oklahoma to have a successful wine industry, but geography, topography, climate and a regulatory maze will not let that happen.

It's been for sale a long time because it's a stupid price, along the lines of what you'd expect to buy a small plot for in Napa.

[heironymouspasparagus]

There are a couple more for sale over to the left.  (West toward/past Bristow).  Very hard to do well here.

Townsend mentioned the sweet wines - right!  Just not dry enough for my taste either.

[tulsascoot]

I've yet to have an OK wine that was even worth cooking yet. There may be a good one somewhere in the state, but I haven't found it. As said before, we don't have the right soil or climate, so why do these people insist on throwing their money at a project that will never be successful? I wish I had the resources to go headlong into a failed venture. Instead, I'll have to research and choose a business model I know will be successful because I don't have resources I can waste (I don't really have any at all, but that's another conversation).

Hats off to those going after their passion, but, if your passion is wine, just move to Napa. The Okies who own Far Niente have managed to do it fairly well. Besides, if you still love this state and want to make wine, do it right on the west coast so you'll have enough money to come back to OK anytime you want.