If you’ve browsed any of the numerous natural wine shops in the East Bay, chances are you’ve seen a bottle of Oest Wines’ 2021 Rachis. The wine is an eye-catching, deeply hued pink, made from a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes. A taste of Rachis presents a delicate balance of a savory, herbaceous nose with notes of citrus fruit — a wine that can truly be enjoyed on its own while also having enough grip and body to stand up to various types of food, from light appetizers to a hearty supper.
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Rachis embodies the characteristics of the wine that Tahnee Shields, co-founder and now sole owner of Oest Wines, aims to produce: balanced natural wines with depth and character, telling the stories of the land where the grapes were harvested.
From a young age, Shields has always had a strong relationship to food and its relationship to agriculture, in large part due to both her grandfathers. One of them worked in construction and the other as an electrician, yet both still found the time to tend to their gardens with fervor.
“I saw the pull to a more agrarian way of life that [my grandfathers] both had been raised with, but pulled away from with post-war urbanization and baby booming,” recalls Shields. “I was always aware of this gap between their desire for a more intimate relationship to land and their suburban existence. Their love for growing food impacted me, stayed with me as a deeply important and satisfying way to spend time.”
Shields stayed connected to food throughout her childhood and adolescence, helping make ravioli by hand with her family for special occasions and working in restaurants before graduating with a history degree from UCLA. Post graduation, she gravitated towards agricultural jobs, working on organic farms and helping to launch the produce program at the online grocery service Good Eggs. While living in Oakland near wine bar Ordinaire, she met neighbor and future Oest Wines co-founder Brad Artziniega. They bonded over the process of natural winemaking, educating themselves about the different regions of grape harvesting and the various farming practices in the current wine industry.
“My interest in wine, natural wines or alive wines from well-farmed land in particular, was peaking, and I thought, well, wine is at the center of my table. I had really just become aware of wine as an agricultural creation rather than some massively produced beverage out of monocropped hellscapes,” recalls Shields. “I decided then to spend time learning to make wine with hopes of it becoming the center of my life, an anchor for gathering loved ones and a magnet to the table for other people who enjoy my wines.”
Shields and Artziniega traveled to Nevada City during the 2019 harvest, making two barrels of wine under the close guidance of Gideon and Saron at Clos Saron Winery. Shields describes the resulting wines, a gentle press of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes (Oest Wines’ 2019 Open Field) along with a Clos Saron-inspired blend of Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel grapes (Oest Wines’ 2019 Cygnus), as “enigmatic and full of energy.” With their first wines under their belts, Oest Wines was established and would continue as a partnership for the next three years, with Shields and Artziniega traveling from their respective homes to harvest grapes in the Sierra foothills and producing the wine at the Clos Saron facilities.
But 2022 was a year of change for Oest Wines: A late spring frost in the Sierra foothills led to experimentation in grape harvesting regions, resulting in wines made from grapes grown in the foothills as well as Arroyo Seco and Clarksburg. Oest Wines would also become a one-person operation following Artziniega’s departure.
“The endeavor of making wine had become a really heavy lift, especially since neither of us lived in the place we were making wine,” Shields says. “2022 was our last vintage making wine together, and these wines carry a little weight with them.”
Despite the waves, Oest Wines’ 2022 vintage brought a solid array of wines showcasing their mixed grape harvest, including their first stab at a traditional California white wine made with macerated Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay grapes (Oest Wines 2022 Runner), a refreshing Piquette (Oest Wines 2022 Piccolo), a rosé made from only Zinfandel grapes (Oest Wines 2022 Open Field), a light red blend of Zinfandel and Chardonnay grapes (Oest Wines 2022 Another Time), their Cygnus red, and, perhaps the most intriguing, a lightly sparkling red blend co-fermented with honey (Oest Wines 2022 Ruckus).
Shields now produces Oest Wines out of Richmond, where she lives with her wife, Julia, and their two children.
“Richmond has a thriving winemaking scene. While the long-form dream is to live where I’m growing grapes, the next best thing is to make wine near home, especially after making wine so far from home my first four vintages,” Shields says. “Dani [Rozman], from la onda, graciously asked me to partner with him in the Les Lunes space in 2023, which I jumped at. He’s an epically meticulous grape grower and winemaker, and I learn from him every time I see him.”
Shields produced her first solo vintage in 2023 with grapes harvested primarily from the Ponderosa Vineyards in Nevada City. The wines will also see a return to a more classic palate after the more experimental 2022 vintage.
“You can get beautifully ripened fruit [in the foothills] that retains its acidity because of some cooling that happens at night, which really creates this backbone of wines that can age, if picked at the right time, for decades,” Shields says. “For my first solo harvest, I’m keeping the cellar work really simple in order to make wines I’ve come to love most: a macerated rosé, a terroir-driven red, and a lightly macerated, textured white.”
While Shields favors the fruits grown in the foothills for their complexity, she also feels drawn to the foothills because of her family. Upon sharing the news about her winemaking pursuits with her maternal grandfather, he mentioned that he considered buying land near Nevada City in the 1960s, with dreams of living on an apple orchard. Shields’ wife Julia also has an aunt and uncle who own land in Nevada City.
Shields’ winemaking journey thus far is not unlike the process of producing one of her very own natural wines, listening for cues, adapting to the unexpected and seeking balance among the layers of life’s complexities. This makes the name, Oest Wines, all the more apt: “Oest is between East and West,” Shields muses. “Oest is not quite a place.”
When asked about the future of Oest Wines, Shields seems uncertain yet confident, saying that the project is still very much alive and constantly evolving.
“Is this going to lead me to a place that is closer to my family in LA or are we going up to the foothills to settle in? I’m not a winemaker who has it all figured out,” Shields clarifies. “I know how to make wines in a style that I like to represent the regions, hopefully. Wines that are drinkable for my aunt who has never had a natural wine, and then also the kids at Snail Bar who find this really compelling. I want the wines to feel inclusive, to include lots of different palates. I want that and I think I’m good at that.”
For more information on where to find Oest Wines, follow Oest Wines on Instagram or contact Merchants of Thirst for a list of stockists.
