Table fellowship: Talking passion and Sonoma County with winemaker Carl Formaker
Carl Formaker, Assistant Winemaker at Three Sticks Wines, was raised a stone’s throw from Sonoma County’s Russian River. Many winters heavy rains cause the river to crest over its banks and flood parts of the Russian River Valley, leaving behind silt and fertile topsoil. That cycle helps create perfect conditions for growing wine grapes and for cultivating a lifelong love of wine.
Following his undergraduate education and a preliminary career in medicine, Carl decided to turn a passion for wine into a career. I sat down with him to learn about his journey from wine enthusiasts’ son, to corkage savant, to well-traveled winemaker.
What are your earliest memories of wine?
Growing up in the Russian River Valley I was always around it, and I’d say my first exposure was going with my dad to pick up his allocations at Rafanelli. I remember sitting in the car and wondering, “Why is he taking time to go do this?” He was so excited about it — every year he was so eager to receive his allocation [the number of bottles a wine club member purchases in a given order]. So it sparked an interest for me.
What was your first taste of wine like?
Probably my first drink of wine was from a bag of Franzia at a frat party. But the first time I actually tasted wine was my 21st birthday, when my parents took me wine tasting. They would always take their guests to wineries — I wanted to see what it was all about. It was my first time talking to wine professionals about how they make the different varieties and how they treat them. That day was my first exposure to that world and it has driven my passion for wine. I learned that no wine is the same, there are so many ways to make wine, and figuring out your own way is part of the beauty of it.
How did you become a winemaker?
I never really thought about wine as a career. It was always just a fun thing. After college, I’d take people up from San Francisco to go wine tasting. I had a group of friends that were into wine and discovering different varieties and talking about them. I would purchase wine from wineries and cellar it. I started a little collection in my early 20s, which I think is pretty rare for your average 20-something.
When I first met my wife I would always bring wine to dinner, mostly because I didn’t know wine lists well enough. The wines that I brought I had tasted before and I knew were good. She was like, “Who is this guy that keeps bringing wine to dinner? No one does this.” Our first New Year’s Eve together, I took her out to my favorite restaurant and I brought a bottle of wine, of course. She knew I really wasn’t enjoying my career in the medical field so when I started talking about the wine I brought — she interrupted me and said, “Carl, why aren’t you working in the wine industry?” And I looked at her, and said, “That’s the best question anyone has ever asked me.” So the dream was born.
How did you go about getting a formal winemaking education?
Luckily, growing up in the Russian River Valley I had lots of people I could reach out to. And the first person I called was my friend Eva Dehlinger (general manager of Dehlinger Winery). She and I walked their vineyards, and talked about the industry and a good path for me. Eva has been a mentor throughout my wine career. One of the first things she recommended was that I travel a little bit to work some harvests before getting a full-time job. It’s a good way to experience different winemaking philosophies, techniques, and regions. After a harvest at Benovia Winery with Mike Sullivan in the Russian River Valley, I went to New Zealand for a harvest as well.
I always wanted to pursue graduate education. It’s one thing to make wine and understand the “how,” but the “why” to me is where you learn to make decisions and understand what happens later in the process. So I went back to school and got my master’s at UC Davis. During my time there, I was in a program that allowed me to work a harvest so I worked at Littorai Wines in West Sonoma County. They are biodynamic farmers so it’s a different style and philosophy of winemaking compared with the places I had worked. Ted Lemon is the winemaker there and he’s extremely attentive to detail. That was when I first saw what it takes to make premium wines — it requires immense attention to detail. To make good wine—to go above and beyond—and to get the results you want, it requires a lot of hard work.
How important is naming in wine?
I think naming a wine depends on your goal as a business. First off, what price point are you in? If you’re in a lower price point one needs to pay strict attention to the cost of goods to make sure margins are still profitable because labor costs are huge. So your brand is mostly built around a name, a concept, or a flavor profile. Whereas higher price-point brands are typically driven towards a winemaker, a winemaking technique, or a winemaking style — and that winemaking style dictates the brand and whether the wines are vineyard specific, vineyard designates, and so forth. Are they showing a style of a vineyard? I think a lot of wine naming approaches are primarily associated with price point.
Naming and marketing your wine is huge for the initial interpretation and reaction. That’s your first impression: the label, what it looks like, and the name. I’d say it’s less important if you’re going to a winery, where you’ve already done your research, and they’re telling you about their brand. But for sure a name is way more important if you’re looking at a grocery shelf — at all those labels — it’s all about design, what catches your eye. I think that’s huge and I think that’s why companies pay a lot of money for marketing.
What is the most unusual thing about wine branding or marketing?
Two things come to mind. What makes wine marketing stand out and makes it different from food and non-alcoholic beverages, is that winemakers don’t list ingredients or nutritional facts. Alcohol laws can be pretty archaic and that’s a big thing that sticks out for me. I feel like younger consumers want to know what’s in their beverage — what are they putting in their bodies? What separates wine specifically from beer and spirits is the regional aspect of it. You put “Sonoma Coast” on a bottle of wine, people already have a feeling and an association with it as being a premium wine-growing region. Whereas beer, spirits, non-alcoholic beverages, and foods are more associated with a brand and a name — knowing what that brand represents let’s you know what to expect. I think that’s the biggest difference for wine: being regional and people developing their ideas about the wine before opening the bottle, based on the region it’s coming from.
What is the genesis story of the Three Sticks brand?
Bill Price III (founder and proprietor of Three Sticks Wines) was first introduced to the wine business when his company purchased Beringer. He really enjoyed working on the business side of wine, but wanted to get closer to the natural world so he purchased Durell Vineyard in 1997 and started getting into farming. Three Sticks produced its first vintage of wine in 2002. What I really appreciate about the brand of Three Sticks is the principles of quality over quantity, and that we believe table fellowship is a vital part of the human experience. That means sharing time with your family, celebrating occasions, elevating events, and having a human interaction. We think wine enhances all of that. And people who enjoy wine have a good time! They enjoy the complexity of wine, they enjoy the nuance, it adds joy to their interactions. And just like me going back to Rafanelli or opening up a bottle with my family, it forms traditions.
It’s our goal every year to tell a story about a growing season — about the rainfall, temperatures, soils of a distinct place — what happened there. Ultimately this is illustrated through the bottle of wine, with its different flavor profiles and textures. We want to highlight the fantastic vineyards that we work with around Sonoma County. To do that, our farming and winemaking can’t be dogmatic. We’ve got to cater to what each site needs — really look at our winemaking practices, cater our barrel regimens, time processes according to the weather, and help each vineyard reach their full potential. We respect these vineyards and hope to make wines that people will enjoy around the table.
Wine Naming Story: “‘Three Sticks’ refers to the three Roman numerals that follow Founder and Principal Bill Price’s written name. He was known as ‘Billy Three Sticks’ growing up surfing in Hawaii, where the young Price attended high school.”
As a winemaker, how do you share the brand and its story?
You have to be able to stand up and represent your brand, your wine, and your philosophy. I help Three Sticks represent who we are, our personalities, and our values. This wine represents us! When you go on the road, you’re bringing that story with you and people are perceiving your brand and your wines based on you. How you talk, how you act, how you present yourself, how you treat them. Are you hospitable? Are you approachable?
I’m in a lucky position — I am able to work in something that I really care about. It can be difficult. During those long harvest days to think, “Do I really need to be here another two hours?” <<laughs>> But you want to make the best wine you can and you want to do that vintage justice. It only has one chance to be created. I don’t know how that really relates to branding, but it’s part of the brand, I’d say. You want to translate that passion to the consumer — that passion you’re feeling — and how you do that is important for your brand. It’s about how you articulate that. You want them to feel what you’re feeling and how you feel about your wine, because then they’ll appreciate it and want to support you.
Learn more about Carl and Three Sticks Winery here.
