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CARROLL KEMP. WINEMAKER/ CO-FOUNDER. “Over twenty years ago, I reimagined my producing career in Hollywood and became a winemaker. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. And it’s been no small adventure.
- Driving in The Fastlane
- The Deal Thatwasn’T
- Cold Comfort
- Choices Thatmatter
- One Step at Atime
- But Also Some Bubbles
- Tastingnotes
I’ve been trying to remember when I first met Carroll Kemp and tasted his Red Carwines. It was likely at one of the earliest In Pursuit of Balance wine tasting events around 2012. While I don’t remember the specific occasion, I do remember how impressed I was with the chiseled acidity, bright flavors, and, yes, impeccable balance of his wines. In p...
When a winery grows quickly, it invariably needs to take on investment (and/or debt), and Red Car brought on a set of investors to help it grow. Times of growth are tricky for most winery founders, who are used to having complete control of their small businesses. When investors come on board, they become (often outspoken) stakeholders in future de...
In some ways, Kemp’s amicable exit from Red Car was fortuitous timing. “I was going through a divorce after 20 years of marriage,” says Kemp candidly, “and cash is a lot easier to divide than an asset called a business.” At the same time, his partner Holtermann, who had increasingly relied upon Kemp to not only make the wine but also run the busine...
As the (newly single) head of a tiny wine brand, Kemp found himself reflecting on what he really wanted from his career as a winemaker and from life in general, and found that he could forge the answers to both sets of questions in the bottle. “I think one of the things that bothers me the most in life,” says Kemp, “is deceit. When people say one t...
Alma Fria is the culmination of roughly 20 years of Kemp’s study of the western reaches of the Sonoma Coast, and his deepening understanding and conviction over the same time period for what really matters when it comes to farming. “Ultimately, if it’s not organic, I won’t be doing it long term,” he says with finality. The Holtermann Vineyard has b...
Kemp has also started a tiny traditional-method sparkling rosé project, whose first release, the 2020 vintage, I review below. “I didn’t feel like I could make a straight rosé without competing with the Red Car rosé, which I didn’t want to do out of the gate,” he says. In addition (shhhh, this is seriously insider info here) there will be another s...
2016 Alma Fria “Plural” Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, California Yellow gold in the glass, this wine smells of butterscotch and lemon curd. In the mouth, flavors of lemon curd, butterscotch, pineapple, and white flowers have a wonderful brightness to them thanks to excellent acidity. There’s also a pretty, stony minerality underneath that lingers in th...
Jul 27, 2023 · Carroll Kemp was the co-founder/winemaker of the successful Sonoma Coast label Red Car Wines. He parted ways with Red Car in 2018 to embark on a new project with his friend Jan Holtermann: Alma Fria, the name meaning “cold soul” and referring to “the soul of a family, the cold of a geography.”
May 20, 2022 · Carroll Kemp, winemaker and partner of Alma Fria, a wine brand working with vineyards from the new West Sonoma Coast AVA. Vivian Johnson / Special to The Chronicle. “It feels like a historical...
- Esther Mobley
- Senior Wine Critic
In 2008, our winemaker, Carroll Kemp, brought Old Wente cuttings from the Hyde Vineyard that were selected specifically for the small size of their clusters and mineral flavor profile and grafted just 1.28 acres to Chardonnay, while inter-planting some additional vines to reduce the spacing to 8’ x 2.5’.
Carroll Kemp was born on 15 March 1897 in Thatcher, Arizona, USA. He was an actor, known for Cry Blood, Apache (1970) and Daniel Boone (1964). He died on 12 April 1983 in Vancouver, Washington, USA.
Sonoma Coast , United States. Average Rating. 4.2. (1088 Ratings) Wines. 10. Alma Fria Wines al-mah free-ah w : the soul of a family; the cold of a geography. Handcrafted Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Winemaker: Carroll Kemp. Most Popular. From Alma Fria. 4.2. based on all vintages. Available online from $40. Alma Fria.
