Local organic winery to open tasting room next to Sacramento’s Device brewery this month

Update: Voluptuary and Lucid’s tasting room opening has been rescheduled for the weekend of May 16-17 due to the statewide coronavirus outbreak.

Local winemaker Kevin Luther is converting his southeastern Sacramento production facility into a tasting room for his two brands, Voluptuary and Lucid, with a grand opening scheduled for March 28.

Luther has been selling Voluptuary wines to restaurants and bars, at private events and on a subscription basis since 2017; Lucid was added late last year. He sources most of his grapes from the Sierra Nevada foothills and makes the wines in a 1,000 square foot warehouse at 8161 Belvedere Ave. in the same industrial park as Device Brewing Co.’s brewery.

Now with the addition of a bar and stools — plus the hiring of a second employee, his brother Jerome — it’ll double as a tasting room.

“It’ll be me making wine, and if someone comes in, I’ll stop making it and start serving them wine,” Luther said.

Tastings are by appointment only until the grand opening, at which point the tasting room will be open once or twice per week from about 2 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with the exact days dependent on a Facebook poll, Luther said. He plans to experiment with ciders, meads and a locally-gathered wild cherry vermouth in addition to the 16 wines between Voluptuary and Lucid.

The grapes used for Voluptuary wines are certified organic; Lucid grapes don’t use pesticides either but lack the USDA seal of approval, Luther said. Both are sulfite-free, and $1 from every bottle sold goes to the Sacramento Tree Foundation’s Seed to Seedling program, which gives area teachers lesson plans centered around the history and impact of California’s native oaks.

“I don’t want to just do this for commercial reasons. I want to be an ethical business down to the core,” Luther said. “This is something I’m really passionate about that I want to have a lot of fun with.”

Luther grew up “well below the poverty line” in south Sacramento before earning a bachelor’s degree from UC Davis’ viticulture and enology program and an executive MBA in wine business, he said. He made wine in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Oregon, Paso Robles and Sonoma prior to coming back to Sacramento, where he was the vineyard manager and winemaker at Wise Villa Winery in Lincoln from 2010 until last year.

His humble, local roots are on display at the tasting room/production facility. Luther and his three brothers all worked at their uncle’s woodworking shop growing up and two remain in the profession today, with wares throughout the room and in subscription packages.

The tasting room will tap into Sacramento’s artists as well as artisans: Luther plans to hire fire spinners, magicians and LED light shows for the outside patio, as well as food trucks. Local artist Michael Crandall-Bear draws all Lucid labels.

“I try to keep the snooty wine vibe away from it. With me, wine is something delicious that people should enjoy the same way they enjoy beer,” Luther said. “It feels more like a brewery than a winery in that sense. There’s no fancy mansion or chandeliers. It’s a warehouse with some barrels.”

The warehouse may lack accoutrements, but organic wines produced in one or two barrels per vintage have a price point to match. Voluptuary wines range from $28 for a Picpoul blanc to $68 per bottle of pinot noir, while Lucid wines are $18 to $38.

The two brands are carried at more than 40 local restaurants and bars ranging from The Kitchen to Q Street Bar & Grill, and both just became available at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. Tastings will be $8-$18 but are free at the grand opening.

This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.