The traveling winemaker: How Kenny Likitprakong built Hobo Wine on gratitude, affordable pours

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- Kenny Likitprakong doesn't think of himself as a luxury producer. He thinks of himself as someone who makes wine he can afford to drink - and has spent 25 years building a business around that idea.

"I think wine at its best is something that brings people together," says the founder of Hobo Wine Company. "It's part of a meal. I like the idea of our wines being part of that."

Growing up in Sonoma County, where his father worked at a winery before Kenny was even born, winemaking felt less like a career choice and more like a natural pull. It wasn't until his early 20s, working at a wine marketing company in San Francisco, that the pull became intentional. Surrounded by bottles and the stories behind them, he got curious - and when his girlfriend enrolled at UC Davis, he followed her there to pursue a winemaking degree.

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The name Hobo Wine came from a place equal parts practical and romantic. His last name - Likitprakong - doesn't exactly roll off the tongue on a wine label. Deep into Woody Guthrie at the time, he was drawn to the image of the hobo not as a drifter but as a working traveler. "To me, a hobo is like a traveling, working person," he says. "I kind of romanticized that idea." The name also captured the reality of those early years: no vineyard, no winery, no infrastructure. Everything was transient, everything figured out as they went.

What hasn't changed in 25 years is the approach to price. Likitprakong builds his wines backwards from a number - what does he want a bottle to cost, and can he get there honestly? "It's always been my goal to make wine that I personally could afford to drink," he says. "You've got to feel comfortable selling the product if you're making it."

That philosophy sits at the center of everything at Hobo. Likitprakong never saw himself selling expensive wine, and so he didn't try. Twenty-five years later, still in Sonoma County, still working backwards from a price point, he finds himself grateful to still be part of the conversation at all.

"It's a luxury to drink wine," he says. "Nobody needs to be doing it, and then even within that, there are so many choices. For our wines to be part of that - we're very grateful for that, especially after 25 years."