In the early 1990's, working in restaurants and wine shops in her native New York, Louisa Sawyer Lindquist became exposed to a wide variety of wines, from first growth Bordeaux to Albariño. She was lucky that her employers stocked many Spanish wines: In fact, one of the wine shops carried a dozen Albariños. Looking back now, Louisa finds that fact "amazing, considering how esoteric the grape was at the time."

With the basis for her love of Spanish wines firmly established, Sawyer began working for a wine importer, selling Morgadio Albariño and Tinto Pesquera, among others. After a move to San Francisco in 1992, Louisa looked around wine country and wondered why Spanish varietals hadn't taken a foot hold. That same year, she met Qupe Wine Cellars's Bob Lindquist and eventually they tied the knot. Soon enough, Sawyer Lindquist started thinking about Spanish varietals and Verdad was born. She had noticed that one of the favorite expressions in Spain, repeated on a regular basis, was "es la verdad" (that's the truth).

The first release was a 2000 Verdad Albariño. In addition, Verdad makes a dry Rosé and a Tempranillo with a bit of Syrah and Grenache blended in. Verdad was the first in California to be solely devoted to Spanish varietals (Bokisch Vineyards in Lodi is the only other one). Production, carried out at the shared Au Bon Climat/Qupé facility at Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria, is about 2300 cases.