The story of Relic is the story of us: Mike Hirby and Schatzi Throckmorton. We met in Napa Valley in 2000: Mike had just moved to Calistoga after a 2-year stint managing the wine program at the ahead-of-its-time restaurant Primitivo in Colorado Springs. He had become interested in wine his senior year at Colorado College, and at Primitivo, he honed his palate, becoming obsessed with making wine. Schatzi had arrived the year before, inspired by her great uncle to take a gap year between her studies in African History at Northwestern University and a graduate program at Cambridge. We were both working at Behrens & Hitchcock Winery - Mike in the cellar and Schatzi in the office. After many lunches and dinners shared as part of the generally amazing Behrens work experience, and tasting many wines together, we realized that we shared a similar palate. It needs to be said: without the Behrens/ Drinkward/Hitchcock clan, it is hard to imagine Relic existing at all. The entire atmosphere was filled with energy, and the passion was palpable. Discussions were had about wines loved, wines abhorred and techniques that fascinated us. We were inspired by the heroes we worshipped in the wine world and the techniques they used: native yeast fermentation, whole-cluster fermentation, extended lees aging, effectively “historic” winemaking, and with that, the idea of Relic began to take shape. Via help from friends, Mike was introduced to two growers with amazing vineyards, and agreements were made for a couple of tons of Pinot Noir for the 20o1 harvest. While still working as the only two employees at Behrens & Hitchcock, we were generously allowed to make our first wines with a highly ideological purpose: native yeast, native malo, no water or acid additions, straight to barrel from the press, etc., and Relic was born. We married in 2005, and to this day, Relic continues to be managed in a his/hers/ours fashion with Schatzi running the business and Mike as the winemaker, with lots of overlap.
Mike left Behrens in 2002 when he was hired as the winemaker for Realm Cellars, but Schatzi continues to this day as the Behrens Family Winery Business Manager. We were lucky enough to make our wine at Behrens for 8 years, and grew Relic slowly, with purpose, and with the idea that we would always be an independent winery, free of financial partners. This would allow us creative freedom to do what we wanted, and the autonomy to make the hard decisions that winemaking requires: when to declassify a wine at a financial loss, when to create a new cuvée, when to make the real passion decisions… the kind of radical decisions that help propel winemaking and any creative endeavor. It was never easy, but for us, there was no other way. We continued to make Pinot Noir and added Syrah in 2003. The Syrah received rave reviews from a major wine publication, and we were on the map. Our Rhone varietal program has grown and developed since 2007 to include heritage varietals from Napa Valley, an integral part of our philosophy is honoring the old ways of living and making wine in our adopted home.
Deep in the middle of harvest 2005, Mike was at the winery doing evening cap management on the wines when he got a phone call: there was a devastating fire at the case goods warehouse on Mare Island, south of Napa. The news was a shock, but there was nothing to do but carry on taking care of the wines until morning. The next day, it became clear that Relic had lost its library and half of its 2004 vintage, which had been shipped down a month earlier. It was a major wakeup call for us, as we realized the limits of our insurance policy and the stunning loss we faced. We realized that we had to make a choice: continue on with our tiny, hobby project, or go all-in and make Relic our life’s work. The choice was easy, and we are still going strong 15 years later.
We grew Relic with purpose for a few years, adding Cabernet Sauvignon to the portfolio in 2005. In 2008, the financial crisis hit Napa’s real estate market, and we started seeing listings for 10+ acre parcels of raw, undeveloped land that people were clearly liquidating to free up cash (10 acres are required by Napa County to build a winery). We always dreamed of having our own winery, but never thought it was possible. In early 2009, we found the one: one of those properties that make you reimagine your life, and we fell in love with it. Relic was and continues to be a small boutique project, but we worked with a bank to grow Relic slowly, as we saw fit, in order to be able to afford to build the winery in Soda Canyon without investors. It is not easy to grow a wine project, as availability of the highest quality fruit is always scarce, but we were lucky: the financial pressure had freed up a few incredible vineyards that we are proud to work with to this day - Kashaya Vineyard, Kenefick Ranch, Alfred Frediani Vineyard and Frediani Vineyard. Finally in 2014, we broke ground on our cave and winery, and we moved in in 2015. A dream had come true - we now had complete control of our winemaking process and had gained the freedom to experiment as our hearts’ desired.
We remain on our quest to make the best wines possible and are continually searching for new ways to express vinous beauty - searching for ways to find the holy grail. We still make Bordeaux and Rhone varietals from Napa and Burgundian varietals from Sonoma Coast. Our passion for wine is boundless, and we are as excited as ever for the future and subsequent vintages to explore. Winemaking is a lifetime endeavor with only one chance each year, but with thousands of choices. We will always be experimenting, learning and creating anew. Most importantly, winemaking has taught us to be humble, in awe of nature, hopeful for each vintage to come and grateful to our mentors, friends, employees and wonderful clients, who have all made this dream possible.
Winemaking is an ancient craft, with roots that are somewhat mysterious. This has always been part of the allure for us: the sheer history of the endeavor. Our process remains fundamentally the same as it was then: grapes, naturally occurring yeast and time are the raw elements. Our philosophy is and has always been to use the old methods to make the most authentic, complex and delicious wines possible. To do this successfully and to make world-class wines every vintage, every detail and nuance needs to be prepared for, recognized when it occurs, celebrated and adapted to. There is no recipe, only us working in concert with nature. To us, this is when true beauty occurs.
We strive to make wines that represent a place and a time - with each growing season allowing for different expressions in harmony with what nature offers. The old saying “Variation is the spice of life” is fitting, and we embrace the detail and difference in each vintage and each vineyard, adapting our approach every year as a response to the growing season. We would never put a wine in a “box” stylistically, and force it to mold to some pre-ordained archetype. If there is a Relic style, we hope that it is one of balance, energy, complexity and harmony.
This requires a balancing act of techniques that is not always easily achieved, and our two decades of experience making wine guides us through the multi-linearity of the process to achieve this ideal. Working hard with our growers to get the best possible fruit, staying inspired and engaged, adapting to the vintage and letting the magic happen is our approach. We step in to gently steer the ship when we need to. As an old friend and peer once said: “Winemaking is the art of knowing when to do nothing.”
Our relationships with our growers are hugely important to us, as the grapes themselves are the single most important element in winemaking. We look for relationships with growers who have some of the greatest and most unique vineyards in Napa and Sonoma, and those who are invested in producing the best possible wine over a long-term relationship with us. We work with our growers to produce the highest quality possible by helping to determine the crop load, sun exposure on the fruit, air movement within the canopy, general training and architecture of the vine, irrigation (or dry-farming), and trying to achieve the ultimate balance between sugar, acid, flavor and phenolics at harvest. We try to buy fruit by the acre or row, rather than by the ton, so that we know exactly where our fruit is coming from every year; and build solid, fruitful relationships, so that we have consistent long-term sources for our wines. Many of the vineyards we work with are organically-farmed, some are dry-farmed, and all have the elements we think are necessary to produce world-class wine, as sustainably as possible.
We use native and naturally-occurring yeasts for almost all of our fermentations, usually by the pied de cuve method, aka using a “mother.” We start each vintage with native yeast fermentations and then generally settle on a few that we like especially well, utilizing them as we see fit. Occasionally, if the conditions are not perfect, we will inoculate with an isolated, propagated strain from a naturally-occurring fermentation. While we would like to be purists, we are also radically dedicated to producing the best wines possible.
We believe in the harmony of all wine's elements and that great wines have no element out of place, dominating the character of the wine. To this end, we are extremely gentle with our wines and age them on the lees for as long as possible, which allows us to use less sulfur dioxide due to the natural antioxidant compounds in the lees. We use French oak, stainless steel and sand ceramic vessels where appropriate, depending on the goal.
We believe in the harmony of all wine's structural elements - alcohol being one of them. Our alcohols range from the 12.8% to 15.3% depending on the best expression of the vineyard and the growing season.
Blending is one the great joys of winemaking. We strive to make naturally harmonious wines that have it all: aromatic fireworks, excellent mouthfeel and structure, real character and a long finish.
We utilize whole clusters in some of our fermentations: nearly always 20-40% with Pinot Noir, and occasionally with Carignane, Syrah and Grenache. Stem ripeness and lignification is key to the success of this approach, and this is another element which we would never want to dominate. What we are looking for here is complexity, aromatics and structure.
