Jolie-Laide: Producer profile

The French term ‘jolie-laide’ literally translates as ‘pretty-ugly’; used to describe someone who is attractive, with an imperfect charm and fascination, though not conventionally beautiful in a purely aesthetic sense. The ethos it brings to mind perfectly summarises the wines Scott Schultz produces.

Launched in 2010 with a 100-case production of a single wine – an avant-garde Trousseau Gris – Schulz’s Jolie-Laide label has grown to an average of 4,500 cases across 10 wines, and has become a key producer in a new generation of California wineries.

Jolie-Laide, alongside other North Coast producers such as Arnot-Roberts, Pax, Peay, Matthiasson and Massican, prioritises reasonable alcohol levels, less overt new-oak usage and real deft and precision in each wine.

Schultz comes from a restaurant background, a journey that began in Chicago. While working as a busboy at Spago’s now-extinct midwest premises, he sat in on a wine class given by then wine director Ken Fredrickson. Discussions of tasting notes describing ‘wet river rocks and stones’ reframed what Schultz understood of wine, planting the seed that would later grow into his profession.

He left Chicago in 2004 and joined the Thomas Keller Group at Las Vegas’ Bouchon in 2005. After taking time off for a European road trip, he transferred to Bouchon in Yountville, Napa Valley, as beverage director. Now in one of the world’s most wine-centric places, he found himself exposed to all aspects of the industry.

Changing careers

In the restaurant world, ‘staging’, or working as an unpaid intern, is common – especially among high-end establishments. Schultz took this concept and applied it to the wine world. In 2007, he began an internship at Realm Cellars in the Stag’s Leap District, and was hired full-time in 2008.

He continued working at Realm through the 2009 vintage, but then needed a change of scene. After scouting out a few prospects, he landed with Pax Mahle at Wind Gap Cellars in Sebastopol, who has served as a mentor for a growing number of up-and-coming winemakers in Sonoma and the greater North Coast area.

While at Bouchon, Schultz fell in love with Mahle’s Trousseau Gris from Fanucchi Wood Road in the Russian River Valley. Historically, the fruit from this 4ha vineyard, planted in the early 1980s, was blended into large-production California Chardonnays, but has thankfully found an identity of its own.

It was Mahle’s wine – and him letting Schultz in on a portion of that same Fanucchi Wood Road fruit – that sparked the inspiration for Jolie-Laide.

A motorcycle accident that rendered him immobile for months interrupted Schultz’s initial foray into making his own wine. During and after his recovery, Schultz dipped into the restaurant scene again as interim wine director at Napa Valley’s Redd.

He returned to Wind Gap in 2012, eventually becoming Mahle’s assistant winemaker, building Jolie-Laide on the side until he could no longer do both jobs.

Esoteric lineup

Schultz took a different approach with Trousseau Gris than that of his mentor. His goal was to strike a balance between an orange wine and a simple rosé.

‘The grapes technically don’t ferment on the skins,’ says Schultz. ‘It’s just sugar and water. We step on it and cold soak it so there’s no heat or alcohol – nothing soluble extract the tannins. The colour ends up being a happy accident. The hope is always that these wines are spry, light on their feet and aromatic, but are just a little more round, visceral, textural and have more mouthfeel.’

This off-the-wall, funky style of white was indicative of the stylistic shift that occurred in California a decade ago, and continues to attract fans both across the US and around the world.

Over the coming years, Schultz steadily expanded the scope of Jolie-Laide into a unique lineup that includes a concrete-fermented and aged Melon de Bourgogne, a Pinot Gris made in parallel to the Trousseau Gris, as well as a whole-cluster Gamay, a Trousseau Noir blend and several Syrahs, all from sites throughout the North Coast and Sierra Foothills.

Such esoteric varieties and vinification techniques have become a defining factor of many new-school California producers. This pragmatic, experimental and forward-thinking approach can only be a positive one as producers in California’s myriad subregions continue to figure out what grapes are suitable for their terroirs in the reality of global warming.

Old-school approach

The Wind Gap facility (now Pax Mahle Wines) was and still is a shared one; Arnot-Roberts and Ryme also occupied the space at the time of Schultz’s arrival, and have since established their own homes. The current occupants include Jolie-Laide, Jamie Motley, Raen, Martha Stoumen and Monte Rio.

Both technical and voluntary limitations emphasise the old-school nature of the winery and ideals of the winemakers that work there. There is no temperature control, and no inoculation with commercial yeasts is allowed.

Until now, Jolie-Laide’s existence has been linked to this shared space, but there are plans to establish its own home. Schultz is building out and restoring a facility from the 1980s in the hills of Santa Rosa called Adelaide Thomas. Once up and running, this space will house Jolie-Laide – and, continuing Mahle’s sharing tradition, perhaps a few friends too.

Schultz’s girlfriend, Jenny Schultz (coincidentally the same last name) has been part of the project for most of its existence. She juggles full-time winemaking jobs of her own at Three Sticks, Banshee and Westwood.

The winemaking practices at Jolie-Laide are simple and straightforward. Grapes are harvested at modest alcohol levels, and the finished wines display purity and a lifted texture thanks to the extended hang time their marginal climates provide.

Grapes are foot-crushed and fermented whole cluster. The red wines spend 11 months in neutral oak barrels then aged a further 14 months in bottle before release.

Striking and pure

The striking label artwork changes every year, making each release one of a kind. It promotes local artists, friends and photographers; the current vintage release features Kate Scott’s stunning flower photography. Prior collaborators include a minimalist watercolour series from Sabrina Garrasi as well as edgier photos from Brian Gaberman, photographer for skateboard brand Element.

Jolie-Laide breaks up its wines into two releases, with most of the lineup shipped out in the spring, and the Trousseau Gris and Trousseau Noir blends reaching customers in autumn.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the schedule has been adjusted. With global uncertainly at a height in March 2020, Schultz improvised and released his entire lineup at once, not knowing how long there would continue to be a wine market at all.

True to the ‘pretty-ugly’ name, the Jolie-Laide wines strike a midpoint between charming and earthy, clean and funky. These are wines of nuance, not power; and while showing a sense of place, purity of fruit flavour is of utmost importance to Schultz. ‘Wine is grape juice; it should taste like the fruit of the grape it comes from. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.’

While ‘cult status’ is often reserved for producers whose wines sit at higher, often prohibitive prices, that moniker could easily be applied to Jolie-Laide. The wines sell out every vintage, through their direct-to-consumer offer in the US as well as expanding worldwide distribution partnerships.

Sommeliers also adore the wines. They appear on Michelin-star restaurants throughout the US, disrupting many diners’ preconceived notions of California wine.

If the end goal of viticulture and winemaking is to express a place and a grape variety and transfer those characters into the glass, Jolie-Laide is a success story in the centre of a definitive movement in California.

Fact file

Owner Scott Schultz

Founded 2010

Winery location Sebastopol, California

Production 4,500 cases

Vineyards 8ha under contracts, mainly in Sonoma, Mendocino, and the Sierra Foothills

Wines 10 different bottlings, including Melon de Bourgogne, Pinot Gris, Trousseau Gris, Valdiguié Rosé, Gamay Noir, Syrah, a Trousseau Noir-based blend and a Syrah-Grenache-Mourvèdre blend

Jolie-Laide: a timeline

2007 Schultz works his first harvest at Realm Cellars

2008 Becomes full time cellarmaster for Realm

2010 Begins working at Wine Gap Cellars with Pax Mahle

2010 Founds Jolie-Laide label, releasing 100 cases of the 2010 Trousseau Gris, but the project is put on hold due to a motorcycle injury

2012 Returns to Wind Gap Cellars while building up Jolie-Laide

2017 Moves to Jolie-Laide full-time

A taste of Jolie-Laide

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