We met at a conference.  You know, one of those blah-blah-blah-here’s-my-business-card-let’s-connect-and-all-that-conferences. Kelley was presenting the results of a research project she had undertaken through her company Insight Farm to find out what Americans are hauling around in their cars (disclosure:  my car currently houses several bags for Goodwill that have been hogging up precious grocery space for over a month). I was part of a panel discussion on social media. Her presentation kicked butt. But here’s the best part (at least for someone who writes a blog about all things Sharpie):  Turns out car-cavorter Kelley Styring and her husband own a vineyard in Oregon where they make a special ”Signature” Pinot Noir, all bottles autographed by the winemaker himself with Sharpie. 

Several years ago Kelley and husband Steve along with their two kids ditched out and headed West to start their winery.  Sharpie came into play when Steve devised his “Signature” wine and added his one-of-a-kind trademark – an original autograph with every bottle.  Kelley put together this video – an ode to Sharpie - to show how they’ve automated the autograph process so Steve can get back to the important stuff, like grape stomping and spending time with the kids (not necessarily in that order): 

Here’s some insight on how Kelley and Steve made the leap to wine-making, along with a closer look at Kelley’s Sharpie doodle habits:

How did you and I meet?  It was something about dirty cars.
 
You and I met at Marketing 2 Women in Chicago when you presented.  I also presented In Your Car: Road Trip through the American Automobile.  It’s my market research study on what we carry around in our cars, why we do that, and how innovators can help make driving easier, more pleasant and maybe even safer by designing products specifically for this mobile habitat.  (editor’s note:  see the USA Today coverage of Kelley’s cross-country car odyssey).  
 
Tell me about your husband’s wine business?  How did he get started?   What’s the story behind his passion for wine?

In 2002, we sold everything we own, quit our corporate jobs and moved our family to Oregon to start a family vineyard and winery. Our kids were 3 and 7.  We apprenticed for two years and opened the doors of our winery in 2005.  We live on the 40 acre farm where we have 10 acres of pinot noir and Riesling planted.  Steve makes award-winning wines and most of our wine is sold through our website and winery visitors.  We have always enjoyed wine and it has been an important part of our daily life, enjoying it each night with dinner.  We decided that it was time in our life to do something we loved to do every day and do it at home so that we didn’t have to choose between work and family life to be ‘balanced.”  We’ve integrated work and family so we never have to choose.  The wine business is perfect for us and we just love what we do.
 
How did he come up with the “Signature” label?

We noticed in restaurants that the big names in boutique wine were signing bottles that were displayed. Some customers started asking for Steve’s signature on the bottles. This inspired us to make a wine called Signature that we hand sign each label before it’s applied. For us, that’s about 1500 labels each year signed at the kitchen table. My dad built the jig you see in the video so that Steve could sort of automate the process just a little.

Are there any other wine manufacturers that actually autograph their bottles?

Winemakers will sign bottles when asked. They tend to be the smaller, boutique operations. At the larger wineries, you won’t meet the winemaker and the winemaker isn’t the owner, he’s a hired gun. Steve and I are 100% of the full time staff at Styring. We are it – we make the wine, we sell the wine, when you visit us, we pour for you.

Why Sharpie? Anything to do with the fact that it is the preferred marker of celebrities, athletes, public figures…and now, it appears, wine enthusiasts???

Sharpie really is the best product for the job. First, we use the silver Sharpie to sign bottles. There are specialized pens made for signing bottles, but they don’t work as well. They glop and they are slow to dry. We need something permanent, stylish, and quick drying. Sharpie does all of these things. For the labels, we also like Sharpie because it’s bold, dark, with crisp edges, so it looks professional and it also dries super fast so no smudges. That’s important because we can’t afford mistakes in the roll. There are 1000 labels on the roll and it goes through the labeling machine very quickly. If a label is wrong, it’s still going to be placed on a bottle and we have to hunt it down to find the defect. With Sharpie, this rarely happens. Unless Steve gets a hand cramp!

What kinds of wine does he make? What kinds of grapes does he grow and is it a vineyard like in that movie Sideways (or does he pick them up at the train station, pre-grown)? Do you participate in the stomping?

We specialize in fine Pinot Noir, flavorful Rieslings, and dessert wines. We are launching our first Cabernet Savignon this year and a Syrah port next year. But Pinot Noir and Riesling are our wheelhouse. We do everything – grow, harvest, ferment, bottle and sell. We are fully vertically integrated. We do buy grapes but only from our neighbors where we know the farming practices. We are a sustainable, poison-free, dry farm. We think this is part of what makes our wines special – they reflect the region because there is limited human intervention. We harvest beautiful grapes and use natural processes as has been done in France for 1000 years. It sounds simple, but in this day and age of complex food science, it’s rare that a product is made in this way. We barrel for up to 18 months, then bottle and let the wine rest for up to a year before we sell it to you. It’s what we do to be proud enough to put our name on the brand and signature on the label.

Are you the official taster? What’s your role in this?

Wine making is a family affair for the Styrings

I have three roles in the winery: 1) shameless marketer for the man that I love; 2) assistant winemaker, which means I do a lot of dirty jobs; and 3) taster. We do everything by taste and make sure we agree before making decisions. This means varieties we grown, when to harvest, how long to barrel, when to bottle and when to release. We taste constantly – which is a truly terrible job! Hahaha! But seriously, we know every harvest, every barrel and each lot as it’s bottled. We live it – so when we sell it, we stand behind our work as a craftsman of something intimate to us.

Have you ever doodled using a Sharpie while sampling a glass of wine? The outcome?

Gosh, I doodle constantly, typically while on the phone. And, I often do have a glass of wine on my desk. I find myself tracing the outline of the base of the glass and moving it, so there is a series of circles. I frequently have to hunt down Sharpies because I like the multi colors and they steal them from my office! Funny. Because I first became a fan of Sharpie when I had my kids. Everything needs to be marked when they’re young: clothes, bottles, bottle bags, toys, and everything really. So, Sharpie is perfect. And, I really do hate to look for things, so I bought about a dozen Sharpies and just put them everywhere in the house, the cars, my purse, etc. When I needed to mark something, there was the Sharpie. So, when it came time to sign bottles, Sharpie was the obvious choice. I’ve had other winemakers try to talk me into the fancy pens that are supposed to sign glass, but I always go back to Sharpie for the reasons mentioned above.

Where can you buy his wine?

Our winery and http://www.styringvineyards.com/ 

There's no whining in wine country, only long walks down serene country roads