Some of these new-wave producers have been recognized as stars in their own right, like Arnot-Roberts, Copain, Scholium Project and Wind Gap. Many others are on the rise, gradually gaining attention as their wines are tasted and their names passed around. Few own land yet, and if they do it’s in less-acclaimed regions. Most buy grapes from trusted vineyard sources. Many, in fact, have full-time jobs in the wine industry and make their own wines on the side.

They exist, and excel, largely outside the realm of the familiar wine authorities whose scores in the past could have made or broken a winery. Most make small amounts of wine, and so particular bottles are often difficult to find. Here are 10 of them, in alphabetical order, all producers worth seeking out in case you spot them in a store or on a restaurant wine list.

Bedrock Wine Company specializes in intense wines made from very old vines, with the aim of capturing and expressing California’s wine heritage. Its zinfandels are simultaneously powerful, richly fruity yet agile and well balanced, perhaps not surprising since Bedrock was founded by Morgan Twain-Peterson, son of Joel Peterson, the founder of Ravenswood, a signature zinfandel producer. I especially like Bedrock’s Ode to Lulu rosé, made of old-vine mourvèdre in the Bandol style, fresh, vibrant and lightly floral with an underlying savory note and a steely spine of acidity.

Birichino, a new venture from alumni of Bonny Doon Vineyard, makes wines from Mediterranean grapes grown on the Central Coast and in Lodi. I’ve yet to have the rosé or the malvasia Bianca, but I loved its 2011 grenache from the Besson Vineyard; fresh, fragrant, sweetly fruity and deliciously spicy.