Lance Cutler’s new website (winepatrol.com) has posters, books, videos, and a huge free library for anyone interested in wine.
Sonoma, California (July 9, 2024) – Lance Cutler, who has been a key player in the California wine scene for 45 years, has launched a new website. It’s all about wine, but in a completely unique way. The site is named winepatrol.com and it is filled with Cutler’s trademark humor, as well as in-depth articles about every aspect of wine and winemaking. The site offers his classic poster series on behalf of his The Cutler Cellar wines. The entire series of books he has written under his pseudonym, Jake Lorenzo is available, as well as a one hour and fifteen minute video entitled, Making Wine at Home the Professional Way. The added bonus is a treasure trove of writing he has done for Wine Business Monthly on virtually every aspect of wine and winemaking. It is titled Wine Patrol Library and is absolutely free.
Cutler, named Sonoma County Winemaker of the Year all the way back in 1983, spent 18 years as Winemaker/General Manager at the venerable Gundlach Bundschu Winery. While at that winery, he was an essential player in bringing humor into the staid wine business and championing the contributions of Mexicano workers to the California wine business. He helped develop and produce a legendary series of posters for Gundlach Bundschu. He organized and carried out the hijacking of the Napa Wine Train, the kidnapping of Richard Branson, and initiated the Cellar Rat Ball. He helped create Fortune Corks, Time for Wine Hats and the 120 foot long mural honoring Mexicano workers at Gundlach Bundschu.
Cutler had started writing as Jake Lorenzo in the early 1990s, becoming a regular featured columnist for Wine Business Monthly in 1994. Jake Lorenzo is a Wine Country private eye who interacts with both real and fictional people. His stories are timely, insightful, and funny. Bob Sessions, long-time winemaker for Hanzell Vineyards said, “In the wonderful, but complex world of wine, there is nobody like Jake Lorenzo. Nobody. He is our Henry Miller, our Paul Gauguin, our Robin Williams.” To date, there are six volumes of Jake Lorenzo books and all are available for sale at the winepatrol.com site.
After leaving Gundlach Bundschu, Cutler focused on writing. He authored The Tequila Lover’s Guide to Mexico, completed a video entitled Making Wine at Home the Professional Way, and became a featured writer for Wine Business Monthly where he has published marvelous, informative stories for 20 years. Close to one hundred of his articles are available in the Wine Patrol Library section of the website, all for free.
Asked about starting a website now, Lance Cutler said, “I guess it is mostly nostalgia. The business was different in the old days. Most people don’t know that a lot of us were having a blast doing creative things and how much that helped wine become popular with consumers. winepatrol.com gives them a glimpse into what it was like.”
Visit the site winepatrol.com
