When it comes to winemaking, Reed and Megan Skupny have it all: their own label, one of the most respected last names in the St. Helena wine industry, and a firm commitment to family ownership in an age of conglomerates.
Well, they almost have it all. It’s what they don’t have that truly sets them apart: No Cabernet Sauvignon.
The commitment to Bourdeaux varietals other than Cabernet Sauvignon goes back to the founding of Lang & Reed in 1993 by Reed’s parents, Tracey and John. They were most intrigued by Cabernet Franc, which they saw as more than just a blending component.
Reed praised “its nuance, its power, its femininity and its grace of presence.”
“It’s a gorgeous wine that stands up for itself,” he said. “It’s truly a food-friendly wine, you can take it seriously on a weeknight with a light, casual meal, and it can also be a date-night wine on the weekend.”
Reed said that while other winemakers use Cabernet Franc in their red blends “to make Cabernet Sauvignon taste more Cabernet Sauvignon-y,” the Skupnys see it as “a gorgeous wine that stands up for itself.”
“Somebody told us that our wines don’t taste like Cab Franc, they taste like Lang & Reed,” Reed said. “That’s because we have a house style and a house flavor.” Reed credits his dad, John, for establishing that house flavor, which Reed describes as “textbook Cab Franc,” redolent of brambles and violets.
The Skupnys have also branched out into Chenin Blanc, which Megan and Reed fell in love with while living in France’s Loire Valley. While some people tend to dismiss it as a “flat sugar bomb,” Megan sees in it the same tantalizing possibilities John and Tracey discovered in Cabernet Franc.
“I’d had no idea that Chenin Blanc could be so nuanced and beautiful,” Megan said. “It took a long time for us to reacquaint people with it, but now we can’t keep it in stock.”
Last year Reed and Megan launched their own label, Rockhouse Wine, offering Pinot Noir and Rosé of Pinot Noir sourced from the Santa Rita Hills.
When you visit the 19th-century Spring House at the corner of Spring Street and Oak Avenue for a tasting of Lang & Reed or Rockhound, “it’s either myself, Reed, John or Tracey,” Megan said. “John and Reed do all the winemaking and Tracy and I do everything else from logistics to sales to janitorial.”
Tracey and John named Lang & Reed after Reed and his brother, and having his own name on a wine label since childhood gave Reed a deep appreciation of winemaking as a family tradition, not just an investment to be cashed in on.
“That instilled in us the idea that we’d never lose control (of the company),” he said. “While making oodles of money in the wine industry would be nice, that’s not what my parents set out to do. If they’d wanted to be fabulously successful, they wouldn’t have done Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc.”
Megan calls it “a labor of love,” but it’s not just a case of passion over good sense. Last year Megan earned an Executive MBA through Sonoma State University’s Wine Business program to help her achieve her full potential as Lang & Reed’s sales and marketing director.
She put her degree to work by honing Lang & Reed’s business plan to acknowledge post-pandemic sales trends, basing production on sales needs, and launching Rockhound and its sub-brand, Hawkbox.
Younger wine drinkers prize authenticity, so they appreciate family-owned and -operated companies like Lang & Reed.
“The origin of what they’re consuming is really important to them, whether it’s wine, food or clothing,” Megan said. “You walk into our tasting room and see pictures of our kids stomping grapes. We do what we love to do, and that passion is contagious.”
“There’s a constant conversation in our family about how Lang & Reed can stay relevant,” she added. “It’s just the four of us, so when we hit the ground running it’s with everything we have, with our whole heart. If you become complacent, then you’re gone. So we have to maintain our passion.”
