Napa Valley’s big little disruptor

During a summer visit to Napa Valley, California, earlier this year, after I had tasted superbly structured Cabernets and technically perfect white wines over four action-packed days, I wanted something different. “So we don’t have an attachment to a specific style.” This is what makes Tank Garage unique. Started in 2014, Tank Garage is Canadian-born founder-owner James Harden’s “garage project”. “With Tank Garage, James wanted to explore themes, messaging—he has been a counter-culture rebel,” says Feuchuk. “The longer we have been in the business, the easier it has been to experiment, even connect with the occasional weird and oddball grape.” For instance, even their winemaking team had not heard of the grape Cabernet Pfeffer when they came across it “but we decided to make a 100% version called Temple of Flora in 2019 and it was delicious—cracked black pepper and dark cherry—a very small batch which sold out fast,” says Feuchuk.