What Makes a Boutique Winery?
Have you ever wondered what makes a boutique winery ‘boutique’?
By definition, boutique wineries are a winery that produces less than 10,000 cases annually - but this definition does not necessarily capture the essence of what a boutique winery actually does.
In comparison to large scale companies that mass produce wines, boutique wineries are small, hand-crafted and run by wine artisans. Boutique wines are so popular because they produce personalised bottles. This means that from start to finish, particular choices are made to craft unique, limited-production wines.
Vine varieties will be tailored to suit the ‘terroir’ or the holistic environment of the vineyard, for example, the soil, the amount of sunlight and precipitation levels. Boutique wineries will have personalised and carefully crafted winemaking processes, which include factors like barrel ageing - whether those be oaky or unoaked barrels and the type of oak used, for example French or American oak. It’s also common for boutique wineries to commit to sustainable, organic or even biodynamic wine practises, which all in turn create personalised and purposeful wines.
Overall, boutique wineries aim to create a wine masterpiece in each bottle, by meticulously hand-crafting the range. You can find your new favourite boutique wine with Grand Cru’s Wine Concierge Wine Finder service here!
