Kory Burke, Owner and Winemaker for Dresser Winery in Paso Robles, California, is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Business Communications and Sonoma State University’s Executive Wine Business MBA program. Kory spent the first nine years of his career in Sports Marketing working for several MLB, NBA and NHL teams and as an Assistant Athletic Director for Georgia State University before falling into the technology world. He spent 11 years as a Business Development and Enterprise Sales executive working in streaming video for Adobe and three start-up companies in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Austria. Kory got his first taste of wine while studying abroad in Australia travelling in the Barossa Valley. Since 2020 he and his wife Catherine have been the co-owners of Dresser Winery with Kory serving as the sole winemaker while farming seven different varietals on their property and managing a luxury vacation rental as part of the winery and vineyard. Media Inquiries: Kory@DresserWinery.com | www.DresserWinery.com.
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
As a small husband and wife team literally wearing every hat at Dresser Winery, my wife and I were originally the average wine consumer. I started my career mostly working for Major League Baseball teams in marketing, while my wife pursued her passion for architecture working for one of the world’s most well-known architecture firms designing hotels and resorts globally. Wine was a passion for us but so was the experience around wine…the flavors and aromas of wine, the tasting experience and the beauty that surrounds it both literally and figuratively. When we started our path to wine, we saw others like us intimidated by the wine experience. The industry seemed to be alienating those who enjoy wine. We had a dream to make amazing wine while offering casual but memorable experiences that anyone can enjoy without the pressure and understanding of how to taste and describe wine.
In 2017 we were ready for a change in our life with the birth of our daughter, Kaia, wanting a life where we were surrounded by the outdoors and not by the confines of the inside of airplanes sending us on weekly work trips. That led us to Paso Robles where the community felt like family and lives in a “rising tides lifts all ships” mentality. We first purchased a small 2-acre property with a home that we renovated into a vacation rental and had 1.5 acres of Zin planted on it. In 2018 we set out wanting to learn how to make wine and create our own little brand. That led to the Geneseo District where our now boutique vineyard, winery and luxury vacation rental property known as Dresser Winery. In March of 2020, just months after we moved to Paso, we agreed to buy our property…just days before the pandemic shut down California.
The silver lining though was the opportunity to rethink our vineyard, the winemaking process, and the experience overall. This led us to create what we call the “Un-winery Winery” where you can have an amazing laid-back wine tasting at our barrel room typically led by me, the winemaker, without the stereotypical pretentiousness sometimes seen. Guests can enjoy unique vineyard and wine tours, taste wines in our small wine cellar or stay overnight with your family and friends.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
There are three areas where I’d love to focus more without constraints. The first is complete sustainability on our vineyard. While we farm with a land-first mentality, we are limited to fully focusing on sustainability throughout without further financial considerations. With water being at a constant concern in California more storage and reclamation would be high on the list. Second, I’d grow our vineyard to include more experimental varietals to future-proof our business as we work with climate change. In addition, we’d rethink our production and storage areas which are extremely small currently leaving us to play a constant game of Tetris. That would include focusing more on creating more efficiencies throughout the production space. Finally, I’d grow our winery to bring where I originally fell in love with wine, Australia. It would be amazing to have a small boutique vineyard and winery operation in Australia to further our wine dream while also providing our daughter with an opportunity to experience other cultures consistently.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
While just a boutique winery, we still create around 17 different wines and 1800 cases each year with a focus on making bold red wines. The wine that has become iconic for us is our SFR, aka Sh*T Faced Red. Born of the challenges of the blending process where diligence is of the utmost importance as we taste through 80 barrels and multiple difference blend percentages, the SFR is a Petite Sirah forward wine supported by Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. This wine is synonymous with sharing time with family and friends around a campfire with black cherry, ripe strawberries, peppercorn, mesquite and cayenne and finishing with dark coca through each sip. To tie a bow on the SFR experience, we’ve found a great artist in California named Chris Efstratis whose focus on painting almost Picasso-like faces works perfectly on our label. Read the SFR wine review by clicking here.
What’s the one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?
I’m a three-time Ironman finisher. In 2015 I was looking for a new challenge and having never done any triathlons, let alone a full marathon, I set out to really push myself and signed up for a full Ironman in Mexico. Six months later I completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and full 26.2-mile marathon as my first triathlon. Since then, I’ve completed two more Ironman races with the original hope of doing one each year. Jumping into our new wine career has put a temporary pause on training enough to complete my fourth but slowly I’m getting back on the bike and hope to be back on the path soon.