Obscurity Cellars (Back to Previous Page)

Appellation: Fair Play Viticultural Area Location: 6440 Slug Gulch Road Fair Play, California 95684 Phone: (530)620-2463 Winemaker: Winemaker: John Smith, Assistant Winemaker: Steve Ryan Tasting Room: Medium Days/Hours: Sat & Sun in the Oakstone Tasting Room Parking: Medium Picnic Facilities: N/A Red Wines: Charbono, Sangiovese, Barbera, Petite Verdot, Pinotage, Zinfandel, Shiraz, Carignan, Port (Charbono), Malbec White Wines: N/A Production: 1500 cases

Map

The Winery

Obscurity Cellars is the second winery in addition to Oakstone owned by John and Susan Smith. Having a second winery enabled the Smiths to showcase their lesser-known grape varieties in a low key format. Selected Obscurity wines are available for tasting and sale on Saturday and Sunday in the Oakstone Winery tasting room.

The Vineyards

Both Obscurity Cellars and Oakstone share the same vineyards. See Oakstone Winery for a description.

The Wines

The winery truly does offer some obscure (at least for this area) wines that can be hard to find at other wineries in the area. Charbono, Pinotage and Carignan are not varietal wines you’ll find on the pour list at very many foothill wineries.

The Winemaker

Dividing the two wineries between the larger producing, more mainstream Oakstone, and the lesser- known Obscurity, seemed the perfect way to highlight the minor varietals in a setting more specific to their market share. Winemaker and Proprietor, John Smith, earned his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry and worked as a developer of scientific and medical instruments. He developed a passion for home winemaking prior to the creation of the Oakstone and Obscurity Wineries. The assistant winemaker at Oakstone is Steve Ryan.  

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