Samuel Louis Smith

"Unless you’re super into making mountain wine, it makes zero sense."

That’s how Samuel Louis Smith summed up his philosophy in a Summer 2024 interview with journalist Matt Kettmann — standing high above the fog line in the Gabilan Mountains, gazing out across the Coastview Vineyard. At 2,300 feet, in newly established AVA territory, it’s a place of extremes: ancient granite soils, piercing light, brisk mountain air, and long, slow growing seasons. It’s also where Samuel made one of the most exciting wines of the 2023 vintage — a 99-point Syrah shined a much-deserved spotlight on a quiet, underdog terroir.

Sam’s wines are all about site — expressive, restrained, and unmistakably shaped by where they come from. From wind-whipped coastal ridges to remote, granitic mountain vineyards, he’s drawn to places that test both vine and grower. His winemaking is minimal and precise, letting the intensity and tension of these fringe sites shine through.

Producing just 1,500 cases split among eight cuvées, it’s no wonder Samuel Louis Smith’s wines have flown under the radar. Working out of a shared garage in Salinas, Sam sources from a handful of organically farmed, high-elevation sites along California’s coastal mountains. Sam’s wines are precise, nervy, and deeply site-expressive: textural Chardonnays, lifted, whole-cluster Syrah and Pinot, and a juicy, Cru Beaujolais-style Gamay. The entire SLS project stands in contrast to today’s wave of overproduced custom-crush brands — it’s small, intentional, and rooted in real farming.

A native Californian, Sam caught the wine bug while studying French in Bordeaux in 2009. He worked under Doug Margerum in Santa Barbara before launching his own label in 2014, and then spent a pivotal 2015 harvest with François Villard in the Northern Rhône — where he honed his approach to whole cluster, fermentation, and freshness. By 2016, he was at Morgan and making his first Sandstone Terraces Syrah, a wine that remains central to his lineup.

Sam ferments with pied de cuve — native yeast cultures built in small batches from each vineyard — to preserve site specificity and prevent cross-contamination. For reds, he relies on tasting stems for ripeness, working with generous whole cluster when the fruit demands it. No fining, minimal filtration (for the whites) — just clarity and balance.

In a state known for power and polish, Sam is part of a new wave leaning into poise, energy, and place. His wines are some of the most exciting in California — you just might not have heard of them yet.

The 2023 vintage proved exactly why he loves these fringe sites. A record-setting winter drenched California’s coastal mountains with 130–200% of normal rainfall, pushing budbreak nearly a month late and drawing out harvest into November. It was the coldest, slowest, and one of the most challenging vintages in over a decade — and yet, it yielded wines that are among his finest. Lean, aromatic, and deeply terroir-driven, the 2023s speak with clarity and lift, capturing the energy of a historically cool season.

Across Monterey County, the Santa Lucia Highlands, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and now the Gabilans, Samuel is betting on California’s next great sites. Vineyards like Coastview, Escolle, Pelio, Michaud, Rodnick Farm, Spear, and Nelson are the backbone of this vision — and with the 2023s, the results are undeniable.