How it all started
Our Story
The brains behind Madness and Cures bring a wealth and diversity of experience to the project that include grape growing in the southern hemisphere and Swedish diplomacy in the southwestern United States. Founder and owner Mattias Stolpe is a native of Sweden who, since the 80's, has been in the wine trade in Arizona where he is also an honorary consul for the Consulate of Sweden. His wife, Laura, has been instrumental in developing new business opportunities for their growing wine marketing company. The winemaker, Reed Renaudin, worked in Australia after receiving winemaking degrees from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and UC Davis and later founded Amicus and X Winery in Napa, Calif. While they took separate paths, the three ended up in the same place; they know business and they know wine.
Knowing that the cure for mediocre wines begins with finding better grapes, winemaker Reed Renaudin and the husband and wife team of Mattias and Laura Stolpe knew just where to find the ingredients for their elixir. In the Alexander Valley of Sonoma County, the team discovered small vineyards that produced vibrant and exciting fruit, which was fermented in a combination of open-and closed-top tanks. After the wine aged for about six months in 35% new French oak and 65% neutral oak, the winemaking team blended the various wine lots together and let it age for another four months. The finished wine, Sanity Red Blend, is a potent potion with enough flavor and verve to cure the madness of mediocrity.