food
The Hobo Winemaker

November 14, 2011

As a skateboard kid, Kenny Likitprakong romanticized the rail-riding era of the American hobo. He spent his teens and twenties in similar rambling fashion–traveling the world on the fly, drinking a lot of wine. So when it came time to make a living, he wanted to stay true to that individual spirit. Enter Hobo Wines, a company with no winery,vineyard or warehouse to call its own but the freedom to operate by its own code. We spoke to this self-styled “menace to the wine industry” about the hobo approach to making good wine, a good life and a good way back to skateboarding.

culturePOP: What’s the upside of making wine without a winery?

Kenny Likitrapkong: The advantage of not owning anything is the flexibility to operate in a very lean way. I don’t have a lot of overhead or fixed monthly costs so we can adjust our situation to our sales and stay on top of things. I think this has saved my ass. Flexibility also means being able to work with different growers and really find the best grapes from the best regions. As a recent example, a friend of mine in Arroyo Seco offered me some Vermentino this year. Sounded fun so we picked some up from him. But if it was our own vineyard, we would be committed for life to Vermentino.

CP: You call your wines “unforced.” What does that mean?

KL: Winemaking is a pretty invasive process and I think that we try to pay attention to our grapes’ destiny/direction and avoid creating wines to fit a specific idea. We let the wines/grapes go their own direction to some extent. For instance, we picked a Pinot Noir vineyard last Saturday at a fairly low sugar (lower than what I expect is the industry standard) but I felt like the vineyard was telling us that it was tired and we wanted to respect that, let it stop working, and give it a rest so it could prepare for next year. We avoid additives and winemaking that feel heavy-handed.

CP: You have the freedom to work the way you want, so what inspires you?

KL: I try to make wine the way I want to live my life. Wine is a big part of how we spend our time so we try to incorporate it into our family life in a way that improves our lives. Travel, music, skateboarding, and family are all high on the list.

CP: You’ve created a vintage with professional skateboarder Dylan Rieder that’s selling in skate shops. How did that come about?

KL: Dylan mentioned to Jim Thiebaud [skateboard company DLXSF] that he liked wine. Jim and I are friends. They hatched the idea for the collaboration and then hit me up. The energy around DLX is always so positive that I’m stoked to participate in anything I can with them.