Recently I have had the pleasure of getting to know the founders of m2 vintners, a small urban winery located in the Lodi wine region of California, and this last weekend I was invited to help them bottle a small lot of Zinfandel. The name m2 comes from the last names of its two founders, Layne Montgomery and Chris Matheny.

I became interested in m2 a year or so ago when I read about them in an email newsletter from a local wine merchant. What caught my attention was that Layne and Chris had been making wine together since 2000 as ”garagistes” just down the road from me and decided to give their passion a go as commercial winery in 2004. m2’s 2004 and 2005 vintages were produced at a host winery in Amador County and in 2006 they started making their wines in their own facility in Lodi. They are indeed living the dream!

m2 doesn’t have a vineyard of its own but instead sources grapes from several top vineyards throughout California. This allows them to choose the very best fruit for their wines and focus completely on their winemaking. Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, old vine Zinfandel from Lodi, Syrah from the Shenandoah Valley, Petite Sirah from Clarksburg… you get the idea. The wines are made in a small commercial space—an approach taken by several other startup wineries including A Donkey & Goat, Periscope Cellars, Eno Wines, A.P. Vin, and the well-known and tremendously successful Siduri Wines. No fancy gardens, cascading fountains, or picturesque picnic spots here. Instead what you get with a visit to m2 is a behind the scenes look at what it takes to operate a winery and direct access to people behind the wines.  A truly pure and rewarding wine tasting experience.

The wines at m2 are made in a new world style where the fruit is allowed to express its varietal characteristics. In addition, a purposeful selection of yeasts and the application of oak aging in American and French barrels bring balance and complexity to the final product. The results are wines that are both food friendly and excellent on their own. m2 wines and grilled meats are a can’t miss combination.

I’ve made two trips down to m2 over the last couple months. This last Saturday I was on hand to help the m2 team bottle a small lot of a slightly sweet Zinfandel called “Zinlady”. Wine production at m2 is truly a team effort and on this day I met Chris and Layne’s biggest supporters: their wives, Diana and Karen. Also on hand were a few friends and willing volunteers. Everyone was very friendly and I think we all had a great time.

Since the amount of wine to be bottled was small (about 150 gallons) and it was destined for half bottles, we were going to bottle this zin the old fashioned way, by hand. The zin was hoisted in the air about 4 feet off the ground in a large blending container (see the white container in the upper right corner of the photograph above).

A siphon hose connected to the bottom of the container fed the wine down to the bottle filler.

As bottles were filled they moved along to the corking “machine” where Chris operated the hand corker.

Pressing over 1,000 corks into bottles was without a doubt the most demanding job on the line but Chris mowed through nearly 90 cases of wine without (too much) complaint.

Once the cork was inserted, the top of each bottle received a decorative foil cap. The cap was shrink wrapped onto the bottle by rotating it over a hot air blower that looked like an industrial grade hair dryer.

At this point the bottled wine was put back into boxes and stacked on a palette. All that was left was some cleanup, some quick forklift duties, and the job was done.

It was great to be able to help out m2, if even in a small way. Layne and Chris are making some fantastic wines and their passion comes through in the final product.

m2 wines can be purchased from the m2 website or at several local fine restaurants and wine retailers.