The personal brand of winemaker Tony Soter, all grown up, into its own established and well known brand. Etude makes a wide range of wines, but Soter has always been best known for his Pinot Noir production and the winery itself, largely because of its Napa Valley location, is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon.

Purchased by the international Foster’s Group a few years back, quality has remained consistent throughout the switch and the nice part about being owned by a company that got its start in the beverage trade (as you might expect, Foster’s did in fact start with the Aussie beer brand) is that you’re allowed to continue your own path, more so than with other corporate ownership.

One of the fascinating parts about Etude to me is that they continue to make a range of interesting varietally specific wines, like Malbec made in America (a rarity) or their Heirloom Chardonnay, which is grown on Etude’s home vineyard.

Not a great fit for our wine clubs based on larger production volumes, about 20,000 cases per year, or because Etude is so well known, but this is a winery that I like quite a bit and that makes quite good wine from a variety of sites.