SANTA ROSA, California

When Kenny Likitprakong founded Hobo Wine Company 20 years ago, he was trying to get back to an older way of doing things, to produce lower alcohol, fresher wines that were more appropriate for the dinner table than the behemoth wines that were popular at the time.  This was the era of peak Parkerization: “wines were turning into cocktails and that was something I wasn’t really into,” Kenny says.  His mission was to return to thinking about wine as an accompaniment to food or even as a food itself.  With the cleaner style, brighter presence and a focus on organic agriculture, people started calling their wines ‘hippie wines,’ a term Kenny gladly embraces.  

Over the last two decades the company has grown, producing between 30,000-35,000 cases in a year from about 200 acres, 70 of which they farm themselves.  As much as the company has expanded, the core principles have remained unchanged: no inoculations, clean, high quality fruit grown by excellent farmers and a focus on community.  If anything, the hippie thing has only gotten deeper: “we’ve become really aware of the carbon footprint we’re creating” Kenny says “I’m very focused on the environmental consequences - how we can be stewards of a better planet.”