Launching a new wine brand on April 1, 2020, is not a very funny Fools’ Day joke, given that America was in the most anxious throes of the pandemic on that date, with no idea whether even essential businesses would survive, let alone luxury goods like $30-and-up wine. But that’s when Flocking Fabulous flew onto the Santa Barbara County scene, and, against long odds, proceeded to flex celebrity connections and social media clout to chart a flight path toward survival and success.
The brand is a collaboration between longtime winemaker/preservation architect John Wright of Standing Sun in Buellton and a couple named Jeremy Fraser and Tim Tighe, who run a tasting room called The Hideaway in Los Olivos . Both Fraser, who works as a photographer by day, and Tighe, who dabbles in real estate, have a wide range of famous friends from their many years of living in downtown Los Angeles. And Wright is no stranger to that world either, having been married for more than 20 years to his ex-wife, the soap opera star Laura Wright.
“We can either figure this out, or sulk and drink ourselves out of wine,” said Fraser. They figured it wouldn’t hurt to send some of their social-media-savvy friends the new Flocking Fabulous lineup — a sauvignon blanc, rosé of syrah, and grenache-based red blend, all in squat bottles adorned with playful, flamingo-laden labels — see if they liked it, and encourage them to spread the news if so.