It started as a joke.
When Robert and Madi Mount mulled over names for their new winery, “Boatique” came up as a jest — a comment on Robert’s collection of classic wooden speed boats. Before too long, however, the idea took hold. But there was one problem.
“Every time I type it, the computer tries to correct it” Madi Mount said.
Boatique Winery celebrates its grand opening today, joining a growing list of Lake County labels. The new tasting room, on Red Hills Road, plans a ribbon cutting, food, games, live music and plenty of wine to mark the event.
Festivities begin at 2 p.m.
The Mounts purchased the property in 2011 after decades of traveling to Lake County on breaks from work in Santa Rosa and Napa. Their entry into the wine business came in part by accident, in part by inclination.
Vines had been planted on the property back in the 1990s, but that wasn’t the original draw.
“Robert had a collection of antique boats and we were looking for storage,” Madi Mount recalled.
But they also produced wine from a small vineyard at their home in Santa Rosa. Over the years, they bottled for fun — and they continued the practice after moving in to the Lake County home.
“We bought this place and did a Malbec and Petite Sirah,” Robert Mount said. “People tasted it and said ‘this is incredible.’
In 2013 they hired a winemaker and began planning Boatique.
The couple, along with winemaker Luke Bass, tend 47 acres of Malbec, Petit Sirah, Petite Verdot and Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon in the Red Hills appellation above Kit’s Corner. They also own a Sauvignon Blanc vineyard in the Big Valley.
For production, they invested in a new tasting room, among other facilities. They also installed six egg-shaped concrete tanks for fermenting white wine. While the reds will settle in French oak, the whites will experience something more unique. The containers breathe without inflicting oak character. More importantly, they promise longevity.
“The trouble with oak is you only get a few vintages out of them,” Robert observed.
The eggs sit in a row next to Robert Mount’s 11 classic boats. The oldest is from 1938, but the most famous — delivered and parked for display on Friday — is Alpha Z, built entirely of wood by Van Dam Custom Boats in 1998 as a 100 mile per hour stunner.
All of this is open to the tasting room.
To run sales, the Mounts hired Nahani Bohan, a veteran of Brassfield Estate Winery. Because she helped open Brassfield’s tasting room, she anticipates some of the challenges of a new operation.
“You have your steps,” Bohan said. “You start at the beginning and figure out what’s needed. It’s fun.”
The Mounts understand the ups and downs of farming, particularly when weather and soil influence the finished product to a great extent. But they also observed the success of other Lake County wineries.
“Good wine first — that is most important,” Robert Mount said. “If we do that, we’re successful.”
The tasting room is located at 8255 Red Hills Rd. near Kelseyville. The grand opening runs today from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
