Field Recordings was founded by Andrew Jones, a winemaker whose day job has allowed him the opportunity to create his excellent winery. To this day he’s still a vine nursery fieldman - which means he plans out and plants vineyards all across California and further afield.
His job means he sees a lot of sites and the USP at Field recordings is that they make wines from forgotten, unkempt sites that have huge potential for making great wine - diamonds in the rough so to speak. He wants to tell the stories of these old, neglected sites. One of the most famous ‘field recordings’ is the ‘Jurassic Park’ vineyard which he hero’d and told the story of through his unfined, unfiltered Chenin Blanc - it’s now also used by a number of high-profile winemakers.
Andrew has an interesting story himself - he went to college on a football scholarship, but left totally obsessed with wine and winegrowing - he majored in agriculture where he developed a specialism in growing vines. After interning with E&J Gallo in Sonoma County, he was fully hooked and the wine world gained one of its characters.
I have come across some very unique and most of the time underappreciated vineyards, and I want to tell the stories of these vineyards and people farming them through the wines I make. I really enjoy making wine, but the most enjoyment comes from being out in the vineyards and with the people that really make it happen: the vineyard managers and their crew.
The wines at Field Recordings are designed to be plush and focussed, but with lots of character when young. While they can age a bit they certainly don’t need to be laid down, as they have lots of round, ripe and expressive character when youthful, and they’re certainly classy. This is a relaxed, modern winery, with cool packaging and cool wine.