In 2008, Lisa Liberati and Michael Fogelman attended a one-month U.C. Davis winemaking program in Dijon. A month after coming home, Michael decided to try to make wine in his second floor, white-carpeted apartment on Sweetzer Avenue in the heart of West Hollywood. Undaunted by his lack of experience, armed with a willing cellar hand (Lisa) and a wealth of information (internet), he dove in. Crushing and destemming in the carport, fermenting in the dining room, pressing in the kitchen, cold stabilizing in an ice-filled bathtub became an annual ritual. What began in 2008 with 700 pounds of Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma expanded to 2000 pounds of Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara County in 2012.
By 2013, the winemaking project had outgrown the apartment and Sweetzer Cellars became a fully bonded winery (but no longer on Sweetzer Avenue). While they still live in Los Angeles and haven’t quit their day jobs as test-prep tutors, Lisa and Michael can be found every weekend in Lompoc at their tasting room and the shared facility where they make their wines, still committed to a hands-on approach. The singular style that developed in the apartment – clean, balanced, complex wines made with minimal intervention and a respect for terroir – continues today. Their initial focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay eventually grew to include other varietals – all bearing the Sweetzer signature style, and all made with care, love, and dedication born in a second-floor apartment.