LAUNE x Dancing
Dancing is a Sonoma-based wine and fragrance brand founded by a mother-daughter duo, rooted in place and sensory experience. Set on a historic vineyard in Dry Creek Valley, it brings a fresh, intuitive approach to winemaking and scent, balancing tradition with something more playful and unexpected. At its core, the brand is about connection and creating moments to be shared. Below, the founders share more on the story behind Dancing and what’s next.
1. Tell me about yourselves and Dancing. How was it created and what inspired the name?
We bought a historic vineyard in Dry Creek Valley during the pandemic as an escape and felt the strong desire to restore it and bring it back to life. In doing that, we discovered the magic of winemaking and the power of scent in one of the most beautiful spots in the world: Sonoma. In everything we do, we try to bottle our sense of terroir and place. It turns out the land makes beautiful wine if you carefully farm and craft the product. And the orchard, soil, trees, and wine-making process deliver such wonderful sensory experiences. We were both up for a challenge. We took classes, hired some experts and started the company. But we think too that being outsiders and underdogs is an advantage for us in creating something new!
The name: We think it’s a playful, universalizing name. In the literal sense, Cynthia grew up in California as a dancer and danced in college. Beyond that, we often say that Dancing is one of the purest forms of human expression. We’re called Dancing because each season we create our own sensory compositions that are enjoyed in the moment — and bring out your inner dance. We love that everyone can dance and do so in their own unique rhythms, yet together you can create a really fun harmony. Wine and fragrance are both experienced similarly. Everyone will have a distinct experience with the product, yet they’re vehicles to bring people together for enjoyment, reverie, and personal expression.
2. What is the LAUNE (mood) of Dancing?
Playful, expressive and, a bit irreverent.
3. What inspires you?
Art is infused into what we do - from our collection of art housed at the vineyard to the hand drawn illustrations on our bottle. We travel the world going to art shows and soaking in creativity to further inspire our brand. Winemaking and fragrance formulation are both art and science.
Great food, wine, and friends. We’re constantly discovering new restaurants, traveling the world, and trying to expand our palettes and experiences. Our products are intentionally crafted to bring unique people together for experiences. We truly live that ourselves.
Scents and beauty! There is so much innovation happening in the industry which is so exciting. People are experimenting a lot more with scent and we’re in such good company.
4. Wine can feel intimidating—Dancing feels the opposite. Was that intentional from the start?
Yes, Dancing was founded on the belief that "you can't drink wine when your mouth is full of adjectives.” Wine is an ancient art form, and we respect the heritage, while trying to bridge a new audience toward wine, and introduce the next generation to its beauty with new messaging. We’re trying to break down the boundaries of intimating wine language and experiences by inviting people in with clear, inviting language and visuals as well as other sensory products, such as fragrance. Dancing helps you find your inner dance. That means be who you are, embrace imperfection, enjoy the moment, connect with others.
5. You focus on Zinfandel—what draws you to that grape specifically?
We live in the most storied Zinfandels region in the world. It has a long history, but it is also an underdog grape. Our climate makes for perfect Zin and our vines are 50+ years old. Our neighbors are many 3rd and 4 generation producers. As multigenerational founders, we love bridging old and new. We’re pushing the boundaries of Zin and bringing a fresh take and vision.
6. You’ve also launched fragrances. What does the creative process look like?
We wanted to create scents that evoke the experience of the vineyard. We wanted scents that bridge old and new. So each scent is unique but also grounded in tradition. The experience was fascinating. It was visceral and instinctual. We were given hundreds of samples, and had gut reactions to certain scents that were often hard to articulate. We came to our perfumer with the notion of 3 experiences we wanted to embody: the redwood trees, a wine cave, and springtime at the vineyard. It was super open-ended.
7. How do you want people to feel when they open a bottle of Dancing?
Immediately invited in. Warm, cozy. Happy, excited, wowed. Whatever they want to feel! It invites emotion and connection of all kinds.
8. What’s next for Dancing?
We’re going to continue to harness the power of our estate in Healdsburg to inspire new products that are outside of the box and unexpected.. We’re about to launch an incredibly chic wine bag!
We’ve also just launched our wine club (Dance Club) which will offer early access to events and 20% off our products. We want to create a community.
Rapid Fire:
1. Sweet or savory?
LR: Sweet
CR: Savory
2. Hot or iced?
LR: Iced
CR: Hot
3. Early mornings or sleeping in?
LR: sleeping in
CR: early mornings
4. Dream collab?
LR: Rhode or Soft Services for beauty!
CR: Etro
5. Favorite place?
Healdsburg, of course.
6. Favorite restaurant in Healdsburg?
LR: Single Thread for a life changing experience or Diavola for the best down-to-earth vibe
7. Favorite drinks spot in Healdsburg?
Madrona - the chicest boutique hotel at the end of our street. They serve our Old Vine Zin by the glass but also have fantastic cocktails. In town, we love Little Saint which often serves our rosé and sparkling rosé by the glass. But truly, nothing competes with a glass of wine looking out at the vineyard.
8. Favorite movie?
LR: Crazy, Stupid Love
CR: Titanic
9. What are you loving right now?
Springtime flowers are in bloom everywhere. Recently at the vineyard, the vines were just beginning to bloom. I’m obsessed with the vibrant, chartreuse green color. There are seas of green everywhere – it’ s the color that inspired Gnarly Vines!
