Pars Fortuna Wines
Get the Dirt from owner/winemaker Kira Malone
“The absolute best thing about being my own small winery is that all the decisions are my own. I can take my nearly 20 years of honing a craft and execute it my way – with careful attention to detail, traditional winemaking techniques, and a more hands-off approach that lets the grapes and the vineyards do the talking. ”
What was your first vintage year? 2023
How many cases do you make per vintage? About 200.
Do you have a Tasting Room? No yet – For tasting appointments, please reach out to kira@parsfortunawine.com
What varietals do you work with?
For Pars Fortuna Wine, I currently source all Pinot Noir and seek out unique clones from exquisite vineyard locations to fit our small production wines.
What vineyards do you source from?
In 2023, we sourced directly from John Sebastiano Vineyard in the Sta Rita Hills, and Riverbench Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley.
For our second vintage, we sourced from John Sebastiano Vineyard, Donnachadha Vineyard, both in the Sta Rita Hills, and Yellow Fox Trot 2, a newer vineyard located just outside the Sta Rita Hills AVA. All vineyards we source from are either certified organic or certified SIP (Sustainability in Practice).
What type of oak treatment do you use?
Our goal is to accentuate the unique fruit characteristics from carefully-selected vineyard sites. With the purest expression in mind, we use primarily neutral French oak barrels.
Any oak elevage for our wines is intended to broaden the length of the wine from initial taste to finish, build mid-palate texture, and add subtle structure and complexity from oak aging without imparting oak-derived flavors or textures.
What do you love about your winemaking region? What makes it different special?
I fell in love with the Santa Barbara County winemaking region while working as a winemaker for Central Coast wine pioneer, Kenneth Volk.
Previously, I had experience working in Sonoma County, Paso Robles, and abroad. Working side by side with Ken Volk to produce world-class Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara County set me on a path of discovery to hone my skills and learn as much as possible about producing beautifully balanced, fresh and complex Pinot Noir.
What’s the story behind your winery name / label?
Pars Fortuna, or Part of Fortune, is a unique blueprint in one’s astrological birth chart that indicates their hidden talents and therefore where they may find success in their life. When such talents are honed into masterful skills through fortitude, one’s fortune is possible. For me, symbolically, winemaking is my Pars Fortuna.
(My actual Pars Fortuna point is in the sign of Gemini)
What’s the one thing you wish someone had told you about the wine business before you started your own winery?
I earned my Bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly’s Wine and Viticulture program in 2008, and have worked in the wine industry since 2006. It took me a few years to realize my true passion within the industry was winemaking, after several jobs in viticulture, sustainable vineyard research and education, direct to consumer sales, and what became my hands-down favorite, wine production.
I overthought starting my own brand having been so closely connected to the wine business and energy, intensity, and expenses that go with it. It is not a business for the faint of heart and truly is a lifestyle career born of passion. Having been in the industry for nearly 2 decades, and producing wine for several wineries over that time, I am taking a very methodical and practical approach to starting my own winery.
It’s been nearly 15 years of dreaming up a brand of my own to share with the world and building my own conviction of this career iteration, Pars Fortuna Wine was born. If anything, I wish I had someone tell me to “Go For It” when I had that first ping to do so back in 2012.
Most importantly, what's so great about being small? What can you do as a small winemaker, that wouldn't be possible for larger wineries?
There are a few aspects to this – First, having made wine at several medium and large production wineries over the years, I believe it is always easier to make pretty good wine when you have more wine to make. If a barrel is “off” or one of the lots just isn’t making the cut, you can bulk it out or blend it away. Similarly, if you need a little something “extra” to make your final blend stand out, there are more components to play mixologist with. It’s just simply easier to make a good bottle of wine this way.
In a small winery, someone like myself, purchasing 2-4 tons of ultra-premium wine grapes per year, the stakes are much higher. The production costs are very high to produce small quantities, and if one barrel is “off”, it can ruin your production plans for the year. You do not have the luxury of bringing in fruit at varying ripeness levels or doing trials with different winemaking protocols. Everything has to be executed perfectly -- from the harvest date, to the processing, sanitation, barrel selection, topping and aging programs, and of course, the final bottling.
On the other hand, having spent many years as a consulting winemaker for various winery projects and working in custom crush winemaking, the creativity can be quite limited. There are stylistic goals, production demands, sales teams to answer too…I’ve made a lot of wine with the goal of appeasing others – their preferences, their programs, their vineyards, their oak selection… the list goes on, and I’ve enjoyed it.
However…
The absolute best thing about being my own small winery is that all the decisions are my own. I can take my nearly 20 years of honing a craft and execute it my way – with careful attention to detail, traditional winemaking techniques, and a more hands-off approach that lets the grapes and the vineyards do the talking. There is nothing better than completely owning the final product and sharing this product and its story with my community.
How do you view the future in the wine industry for small-lot winemakers?
The wine industry in general is moving towards consolidation at the national and international levels, but the heart and soul that goes into small-lot winemaking continues to shine through. I believe there will always be a place for small-lot wineries. There is a wine and a winery for everyone, and as long as we are uniquely positioning ourselves and staying authentic and true to our crafts, the future is bright.
I see the desire to produce small-lot wines to continue to grow along with the makers movement. While I do have a formal education in winemaking, it certainly is not needed to get started making wine. More and more people are turning to hands-on activities to pursue their passions and be a creator. Winemaking is as old as the times, and it brings people a sense of purpose and connection to land, food and people. I love this about winemaking.
If you could choose another wine region to work in what would it be?
Hands down, it is the Santa Cruz Mountains – The wines coming out of this region are absolutely fantastic and lesser-recognized outside of the Central Coast.
I hope to grow my program to include this winegrowing region in the future, and have my eye on Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
For more information about Pars Fortuna, please visit their website or follow them on Instagram.