Affectionately referred to as “Cap,” for its location on Capitolio Street, the new Timbre Winery facility in SLO also represents a huge feather in founder and winemaker Joshua Klapper’s cap.
An extension of its busy tasting room in Arroyo Grande, the new endeavor consolidates winemaking in an expansive 6,500-square-foot space with the capacity for an estimated 50 guests.
Tasting room manager Denise Cotinola envisions reserve, library, barrel, and private tastings as well as tours and club-member-only access to a lounge that will be “comfortable and cozy, yet swanky and posh,” she said.
“Club members … can bring friends and hang, relax after a long day, or have privacy for a meeting,” Cotinola said. “We’re sure it will be highly sought after, so be sure to make a reservation.”
Mirroring the popularity of the Arroyo Grande location, which opened in 2017, the team anticipates equally packed tasting quarters at Cap, with a grand opening slated for April.
The winery is situated in an area referred to by locals as “LoBro,” for Lower Broad, sandwiched between downtown SLO and the SLO County Regional Airport.
“It is a fantastic location for production,” Klapper said. “This industrial [complex] is now home to breweries, a cider house, and soon more wineries. There is a lot of home and condo development within a mile or so of the winery, so we are ripe to become a hangout for those locals that wouldn’t naturally come down and hang out in Arroyo Grande.”
The Timbre crew—several of whom have been with the winery since its inception—are a tight-knit group of food, wine, and music lovers whose overarching goal is simple: “To make wines that taste good,” according to Klapper.
His deep hospitality experience kicked off in his native New York—at Coco Pazzo Trattoria and Café Boulud—followed by Sona Restaurant in Los Angeles.
As sommelier and wine director at Sona, Klapper developed a world-class wine list that earned the Grand Award from Wine Spectator magazine in 2004 and subsequent years.
Not surprisingly, he turned to winemaking, learning the ropes from Central Coast trailblazers Bob Lindquist and the late Jim Clendenen of Qupé and Au Bon Climat, respectively.
In 2005 Klapper went solo at Santa Maria’s Central Coast Wine Services—now Miller Family Wine Company—founding La Fenêtre Wines, which became Timbre in 2016.
As a childhood choir singer who can hold his own on vocals and guitar in casual settings, Klapper selected a music-focused name, pronounced TAM-ber or TIM-ber and meaning the color or quality of tone.
“It is what makes two voices sound different, even when singing the same song,” Timbre’s website explains. “It is why two winemakers, working with the same vineyards, make unique wine. As a terroir-driven winery, we make wines expressive of the places and times from which they came. As winemakers, we channel those sites through our experience, adding our own mark—our timbre—to the resulting wines.”
“When I was in restaurants,” Klapper added, “I described food in musical terms, and with wine it’s the same thing.”
Timbre produces an estimated 4,500 cases annually. Grapes are sourced primarily from SLO and Santa Barbara counties, with a heavy focus on the SLO Coast American Viticultural Area.
Varieties run the gamut from chardonnay, pinot noir, and cabernet sauvignon to Rhones, riesling, and even hard apple cider.
“I want to make wines that are expressive of the place where the grapes are grown,” Klapper said, and also ensure that “the fruit is ripe enough that all the tannins are resolved and the acids are balanced as soon as the wine is released.”
The Timbre crew lets loose with music-themed names ranging from Rare Groove and Stereophonic to Dancing Queen.
Winery business partner Gary Gates, of Dalkey, Ireland, partnered with direct salesperson and social media manager Bethany Watje, of Arroyo Grande, to make Dancing Queen, with Klapper’s encouragement and blessing.
Grapes for the rosé, producing only 50 cases, hail from the same vineyard Klapper uses for his Lead Vocals pinot noir.
“In the past, that was Bien Nacido and Pali [in Santa Barbara County],” Gates explained. “This year it’s Spanish Springs [in the SLO Coast AVA].
Regarding the name, “I am a child of the disco era, so I have a certain reverence for ABBA,” Gates said. “I’m also gay, so there’s that.
“It’s definitely a playful reference. While Timbre does a lot of community give-backs in a variety of ways, the 10 percent of proceeds to LGBT causes—to SLO’s Gala Pride and Diversity Center for the 2022 vintage—is specific to Dancing Queen.”
Gates is also debuting his own label, Antiphon, which means a musical refrain, in time for Timbre’s grand opening. It will specialize in small-production red blends, and the first vintage is a 2021 grenache-syrah-mourvedre.
“Part of the proceeds from Antiphon will go to a program at the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra—my hometown in Pennsylvania—that supports youth music education,” Gates said.
Gates has been on the Klapper bandwagon for nearly 25 years.
He and husband Mike Beary met Klapper shortly after moving to Los Angeles, where Gates worked as a demographer at UCLA.
“[Klapper] was the sommelier at nearby Sona, [and his] wine expertise was amazing,” Gates explained. “We became friends just as he was starting to make wine. We still have some of his 2004 vintages in our collection. We remained big fans of his wine and eventually became business partners. I started coming to work at harvests in 2016 after I retired.
“Josh is a great friend and mentor. He welcomed my interest in winemaking and has provided the opportunity for me to learn the craft in a fun and supportive environment.”
Cotinola and Watje have also been with Klapper since Timbre launched and concur that it’s the perfect place to work.
“It’s been really fun,” Watje said. “He is the best educator, and everything I’ve learned is from the last six years [with] him.” Δ
Flavor Writer Cherish Whyte thoroughly enjoyed Timbre pours and hanging with the band. Reach her at cwhyte@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Mar 9-19, 2023.