Lo-Fi Wines Trousseau "Clos Mullet", Santa Barbara County, California

Lo-Fi Wines epitomizes California's natural winemaking renaissance through the partnership of lifelong friends Mike Roth and Craig Winchester, who believe in hand-crafted honest wines made for everyday drinking. A New Jersey native, Roth discovered wine while studying in North Carolina, then journeyed west to apprentice under Napa luminaries including Mike Grgich at Grgich Hills and Nils Venge at Saddleback, before studying at Fresno State and working at biodynamic estates Demetria and Martian Ranch. The duo launched Lo-Fi in 2012 with just 60 cases, now producing 7,000 cases annually from their Buellton facility and Roth's three-acre "Clos Mullet" vineyard in Los Alamos. Named after the musical term for raw, unpolished sound, Lo-Fi embraces wine's natural expression rather than pursuing perfection, employing whole cluster fermentation, carbonic maceration, native yeasts, and a "nothing added, nothing taken away" philosophy. Recognized by the San Francisco Chronicle as a "Winemaker to Watch" in 2015, Roth and Winchester have established Lo-Fi as a leader among California's new generation of winemakers prioritizing authenticity over accolades.