With wine, sometimes, the story is almost as important as what’s in the bottle.

At 94 Points and 50% OFF, what’s in the bottle here is an epic deal!

It’s a rare red blend – powerful but balanced. Bursting with raspberry fruit, black tea, exotic spice, and wild herb aromas, this wine is a complex array of flavors subtly supported by toasty oak. Swaddled in satiny tannins, presenting a medium-bodied stage where bold fruit and cocoa flavors meld seamlessly, lingering on the palate as characters of a well-crafted narrative.

Pour yourself a glass, and you will see (as we did), the wine tells its own story better than we, or anyone, could hope to.

But were we to try, we would say this. Smith Story is one of the coolest wine brands in Northern California you may have never heard of. They are a small, scrappy, passion driven brand that deserves attention.

California born Eric Story and Texas native Alison Smith first met working as buyers for a major wine retailer. They dated, fell in love, and got married. But they also leveraged their combined decades of experience in wine to run a Kickstarter campaign and launch their own band in 2014. One that focuses on family farmers and pristine vineyard sourcing. And they’ve been crushing it ever since.

Sonoma Magazine lists their tasting room among those ‘Where the Cool Kids Go’, and they’ve been featured in Wine Enthusiast as the ‘All American Wine Story’. Together with their goldendoodle and Instagram celeb, Lord Sandwich, they have won the hearts and palates of wine country over the last twelve years.

And we are not surprised. We have known Alison Smith Story a very long time. Let’s just say it was before the release of the iPhone. And she has always been a force of nature. No surprise she was named one of ‘Wine’s Most Inspiring People’ in 2022!

They also have an ace up their sleeve in Consulting Winemaker Katy Wilson. Honing her craft at Flowers, Phelps, and Kamen, she has gone on to draw critical acclaim for her terroir driven, refined style at Banshee, Anaba, Reeve, Claypool Cellars, and… Smith Story.

Sadly, in every story there is a bit of tragedy. We have to report that their dear Lord Sandwich crossed the rainbow bridge this past February and is no longer with us. But he is survived by his brother, a black goldendoodle dubbed Sir Royal Soup. The good Sir can be found doing zoomies at the tasting room in Healdsburg, which we highly recommend visiting.

All of this is a mere backdrop, though, to this brilliant wine! Pop open a bottle, and you will agree. Oozing with fruit, silky smooth, even for us die-hard spies, it made us stop and take notice, eager to know more.

Today, for less than $30?! Stock up, and share your story with the world.

94 Points – Wine Enthusiast “It is not often we are allowed to taste varietals that are not the norm, grown in a specific place. Hence, the storyteller takes us on a journey through the aromas of Danson plum, blackberry coulis, sage, and dried florals with a kiss of oak. The flavors on the palate are red plum, boysenberry jam, dried herbs, orange peel, bittersweet chocolate, silky tannins and a long finish.”