The Bastardo Society is a port club for those that crave uncompromising quality, originality, and authenticity. A society for those looking for something different. A club unlike anything else in California.
1970
Tim Spencer
Was a rebel, a troublemaker,
an outside-of-the-box thinker
Tim went left when everyone else went right. In the 1970’s, when California was just falling in love with Chardonnay and Cabernet, he planted Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cao, Bastardo and other Portuguese varieties.
1981
His Vision
Was Simple
Grow world-class port-styled wines in his Amador County vineyard. The first harvest was sold to an equally passionate winemaker that failed to pay for the grapes. Tim, undeterred, took matters into his own hands, and bootlegged several hundred gallons of freshly fermenting wine. He concluded he was quite capable of going broke himself and didn’t need anyone else’s help.
That was 1981, and that wine became his very first vintage port. And St. Amant Winery was born!
1982 - 2002
The Road Less Travelled
Over the next two decades, Tim became a leading expert, expanding the St. Amant line up to include dry table wines, white ports, and tawny ports all from traditional Portuguese varieties grown in his Amador County vineyard. He didn’t follow the road less travelled...He was the road less travelled!
2006
On September 12, 2006, at the age of 68, Tim passed away after a hard-fought two-year battle with Lymphoma. Three days later, Tim’s son, Stuart was picking grapes for that year’s harvest. There was no time to feel sorry, or dwell in the loss, the harvest would not wait! And Tim would have expected no less.
Stuart was determined to build on his father’s legacy and vision.
2007
Tim Was Particularly
Fond of Bastardo
Bastardo is an obscure, and aptly named, thin-skinned Portuguese variety with tight clusters, uneven ripening, quick to rot and a real bastard to grow. A variety few farmers would choose to plant, but Tim did, believing his best ports always had a touch of Bastardo. Equally crazy, foolish, or rebellious, Stuart doubled down on Bastardo, tripling their planted acres.
2020
But it was more than just that
Bastardo is a rebel of a grape
Bastardo is the punk rock, indie, counterculture independent thinker that makes wine interesting. And that was Tim! But in 501 jeans, farmer boots, and a blue pickup truck.
2023
Tim had another vision...
That if he ever started a wine club, it would be called the Bastardo Society. He would be the
Grand Bastardo, and all the members would be Little Bastardos. His club had two rules. No BS
and no A-holes!
