Local spirits with Rock 12 Distillery + Wines that CAN go places!

For this issue, we spent some time with Sarah and Marko Suput to get to know their story at Rock 12 Distillery. It took a whole lot of dedication to open this Serbian inspired distillery and their connection to the local wine industry has made them a must visit in the Sta. Rita Hills! Read more below.

Also featured in this issue, canned wines for your next adventure. The sun is finally out and it’s time for wines that can hang at your beach days, keep up on your hikes, and be toasted with on warm nights outside. Feels like summer, friends!

Lastly, we’re asking for some feedback on the type of content you’d like to see this summer. Be sure to give us your input at the bottom of this week’s edition!

Locally crafted spirits with Rock 12 Distillery

As we drove down the gravel driveway we spotted Sarah crouched down, tending to the herb garden. She waved hello to us excitedly and led us into their renovated barn that has one of the best views of the Sta. Rita Hills we’ve seen. Under a neon sign that says Živeli (cheers in Serbian) we sipped through their spirits lineup before sitting down with a spritz.

Their story spans multiple countries and years of bureaucracy, and the reward is a refreshing take on spirits that we can’t help but say Živeli to! Let’s get into it.

Q: Let’s start with a brief introduction on Rock12 distilling. How did you come up with the idea for the business and why distilling?

A: Sure, we’re located just outside of Buellton on Highway 246 making spirits from Santa Barbara County. In 2015 we were toying with the idea of starting our own business, but we didn't quite know what it would be. We were exploring something that we could do together and Marko was a home brewer at the time, but we saw how saturated that industry was. So we began exploring craft distilling after the California craft distillers license became available. Prior to this, you couldn’t sample the individual spirits in a cocktail or purchase a bottle on site and you had to provide an educational tour of the distillery.

It really made it so the only way to open a distillery in the state was to produce massive volumes and have a lot of outside investment, where you were catering to distributors and retailers and not the end consumers, which is not what we wanted. But once this craft distilling law passed it allowed us to serve cocktails, have the public come into our tasting room, and sell bottles direct to consumer.

And for how we ended up here, we had friends who had just moved to Solvang and decided to start looking for properties in the area where we could have a farm distillery. After purchasing the property, it took about a year and a half going back and forth with the county until we were finally able to get our permit to make spirits with our own fruit onsite and using local wine. We had to get neighbors to write letters, and show up to hearings for us, but ultimately the county agreed that we were legally able to make spirits.

Q: Where did the name for Rock12 come from?

A: [Sarah] My grandparents had a vacation home in Palm Springs, where we would take groups of friends from college and early adulthood. When Marko and I met we would go there for the weekend where we would turn up and have the best time. Eventually we ended up getting married there. So for us Rock12 has a lot of significance. The tree in our logo is actually the one we got married under on the property. But the truth is naming a distillery is harder than naming a child and it was a lot of trial and error.

Q: Most people are probably pretty unfamiliar with the distilling process and what it involves. Can you give us a brief overview of what makes Rock12’s spirits so unique?

A: [Marko] I come from Serbia, and in Serbia distilling is just something almost everybody does because fruit grows there abundantly. There’s a lot of stone fruits, a lot of plums, a lot of apricots, and then a lot of apples and quince. Everybody either makes brandy from that fruit or knows somebody who does. So whenever you go to somebody's house, they'll have their own bottle of homemade brandy. My grandfather and dad used to make brandy, so it runs in the family.

The process here at Rock12 happens in a copper pot still, in a single batch process. Our still was handmade by a coppersmith in Serbia, which we ordered specifically for the brandy. That's really what makes us unique as a distillery in California as there’s not a lot of distilleries doing this. Most distilleries will use a column still or a hybrid still which we also have. That’s how you get your higher proof, higher purity alcohols that don't necessarily taste like whatever they came from like gin or vodka. But if you want your brandy to taste like wine, or if you want your apricot brandy to taste like the fruit, then a handmade copper still is the perfect tool for that.

We either use all the fruit we grow here on site for our spirits or excess wine from local winemakers. Our gin and vodka start with a base of local wine. We’ve experimented with different varietals, but found it doesn’t matter as much for the gin or vodka for flavor. But for brandy it’s different. The key is you want it to be as good a wine as possible for the starting point because any sourness or flavors carry through to the brandy. So the best wine we receive goes in the brandy barrels.

Similar to winemaking, it’s just this blend of art and science. You have to decide when to start and stop collecting the spirit during the distilling process. Ultimately, the test is do people like it? Do we like it and does it taste good? That's really fun to see.

Q: Why was it so important to the both of you to be independent?

A: We didn’t really want a lot of investment and wanted to do this on our own. It is a little bit of a grey area in terms of running a business on the property where we also live. That comes with a lot of challenges. For example, we were the general contractors for this building, which has nothing to do with distilling. So there was a steep learning curve initially to figure out how to make it all work.

All our fruit is also grown onsite. So our apricots will be harvested in a couple weeks, and apples later this summer and we process all that fruit here. We ferment on site. Everything is done by us. From picking the fruit, fermenting, crushing fruit, and distilling it.

We ended up loving farming, loving our orchard and tending to it, and living where we do. We're very enamored with the Central Coast and this is where we want to be. So we found a way to make it work.

Q: What are your go-to cocktails using Rock12 spirits?

A: [Marko] For me, it's either a Manhattan, or a Negroni. That's why we're developing our own amaro, to be able to make a Negroni here at the tasting room. We’d also like to make a vermouth eventually.

[Sarah] I like a martini. Also, this is sort of a nod to my grandmother, I like a salty dog. I think part of the thing that is so fun is spearheading the cocktail side of the operation. I really love the variety of cocktails we’re able to offer.

Q: What’s coming up on the horizon for Rock12 that you’re excited about?

A: We’re pretty excited about our harvest this year. It looks like we're going to get a ton of apricots and a lot of apples. So we'll be putting our apple brandy in barrel and get some aged apple brandy sometime next year. The apricot brandy we’re making is going to be something that people just haven't really had the opportunity to taste around here. It will be really fragrant and just a lot of apricot on the palate and nose. It’ll be phenomenal. We're also going to release the amaro here pretty soon, so we're excited for that.

Q: Lastly, what’s the best way for people to support you?

A: Come and see us. Come see what we're doing. We are trying to make it as easy as possible. Even though it's just the two of us, the gates are open Friday to Sunday and then we take appointments midweek too. We also have a spirits club that people can join. And of course follow us on social media!

A big thank you to both Marko and Sarah for showing us around their farm and giving us such a detailed look into what makes the spirits at Rock12 so special. Be sure to stop by their place next time you’re in Buellton and sample their spirits. We may be biased, but we think their quince goes great with an old fashioned or hot toddy and the gin is fantastic with a Negroni. Reserve a tasting and follow them on Instagram below!

Uncorked (Uncanned?)

McBride Sisters SHE CAN Rosé

In honor of Juneteenth we are highlighting Robin and Andréa McBride, owners of the largest Black-owned wine company in the U.S. With one half sister being raised in Monterey and the other in New Zealand, they were unaware of each of other’s existence growing up. They eventually came in contact with each other and were surprised to find they both had a passion for wine. The McBride Sister Wine Company was born in 2010, producing fun California wines. For their canned collection, a portion of the proceeds goes to the SHE CAN Fund, working to close the gender and race gap in the winemaking industry.

Nose: Citrus, strawberry, and grapefruit.

Palette: Raspberry, cantaloupe, and strawberry.

Pairs well with: Spicy food… we like asian spice with this.

Available at: World market and most grocery stores (Vons, Gelsons, etc.)

Margerum M5 Red Blend

This is Margerum’s flagship Rhone style blend with Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre being the dominant varietals. This is going to be the canned wine to impress your friends with while playing beach volleyball. It can hang at the beach while also being able to be drank with dinner.

Nose: Cherry, oak, and raspberry.

Palette: Cherry, plum, and blackberry.

Pairs well with: You can pair this with anything but we like a beach day burger pairing.

Available at: Lama dog and most grocery stores (Vons, Gelsons, etc.)

What’s happening?

There’s a lot of events coming up with the 4th of July holiday next week so stay local and enjoy the downtime.

• Firestone Friday Night Concert Series: The Friday night concert series at Firestone kicks off for the summer with T-Bone Ramblers starting at 5:30PM on June 23rd. Event is FREE!

• Winery tasting with Daou & Patrimony Wines: Go to taste some $300 wines at Vino Divino in downtown Santa Barbara. Happening June 24th with tickets starting at $55 / person.

• Old Santa Ynez Rodeo: While not technically wine related, who doesn’t love some good wine while watching the Rodeo? Tickets start at $35 / person for the full day rodeo on June 24th & 25th.

Cheers!

Issue #7