Kenny Likitprakong’s winery is nothing fancy: The 100-year-old Santa Rosa warehouse has a view of a condominium complex and the Smart Train tracks. When visitors arrive, they sink into a couch sandwiched between stacks of barrels and a corner that doubles as a staff kitchen and a chemistry lab.
It’s a fittingly low-key space for a winemaker who has quietly pushed the boundaries of California wine for the last 24 years. Likitprakong has consistently been at the forefront of trends — dialing back alcohol levels, seeking out under-the-radar grape varieties and experimenting with oxidative white winemaking before these things became de rigueur for a certain set of California winemakers. But if there’s anything he should be known for, it’s his unyielding commitment to keeping wines affordable: It’s hard to name a winemaker making a more exciting lineup of sub-$25 California wines right now.
Likitprakong’s brands include Hobo, Folk Machine, Camp, Edith & Ida and Ghostwriter. Folk Machine’s White Light bottling, a blend of the Italian and Iberian grapes Friulano, Vermentino, Verdelho and Albariño, is a $17 marvel. Zippy and bright, it smells like sea salt and apple blossoms. The wines under the Camp label, priced between $16-$23, are far more interesting than those in their peer group: Where most $20 California Cabernets are jammy fruit bombs, the Camp Cab is grippy and herbaceous…