Fall 2008 Newsletter

Dear Friends:

Willinda and I visited Burgundy early in June. Since much of our winemaking style reflects the philosophy of the top vintners of the Cote de Beaune and Chablis,we wanted to see how their vineyard and winery practices have evolved since we were there over 40 years ago. The beauty and orderliness of the landscape still take your breath away, and the Burgundians’ focus on the unique terroir of each small vineyard parcel still dominates their winemaking practices.

It is rare to find in the Grand and Premier Cru wines individual lots of more than 400 or 500 cases, and many are much smaller. Each lot comes from a small vineyard holding, and the winemakers try to tailor their winemaking style to bring out the best qualities of these small holdings. The result is that the subtle differences in each vineyard including soil, exposure, and age of the vineyards are reflected in the individual wines. Winemaker ego takes a backseat to producing wines that reflect the unique qualities of the grapes and the land that they grow on.

Since this is the philosophy that we try to follow at Stony Hill, we clearly felt at home in this remarkable region. We also began to realize that there could be an opportunity to further segment the grapes from our own vineyard into smaller lots that would reflect the different soils and exposures of the six individual vineyards that go into making our Stony Hill Chardonnay. You may hear more about this in a couple of years as we refine our thinking.

We are extremely proud of the wines in this year’s offering. Each is a unique wine with its own attributes, but all of them clearly reflect the special care that we put into each of our varietals. We hope you enjoy them.

Sincerely,

Peter and Willinda McCrea, Proprietors -Mike Chelini, Winemaker

P.S. From our travels to other wine regions and our visits to other wineries here in Napa Valley, we are reminded of the many, possibly endless, opportunities there are for you to enjoy a bottle of wine. So let us thank you and tell you how grateful we are to have such a loyal following of Stony Hill fans.  We would not be here without your long and continued support.

2008 New Releases

2006 Stony Hill Chardonnay – 2,352 cases

Winemaker Mike Chelini says of the 2006 vintage, “Not that we haven’t made serious wine before, but this is a really serious wine! And he ought to know having made the wines at Stony Hill for the past thirty-six years. He thinks the 2006 vintage stands out because of its more intense and mature qualities, which bring a new dimension to our non-oaky, non-malolactic Chardonnay. Mary Burklow says the bouquet reminds her of “wet stones after the first rain drops,” focusing on the mineral quality of the wine while Mike detected the youthful, slowly emerging aromas of pure Chardonnay fruit as he swirled his glass. In the mouth the wine carries more than usual weight with already integrated fruit and mineral flavors, and its finish lingers and carries to the end of the palate. We frankly do not understand what has made this wine so complex so early in its life, but we think that it probably reflects the continued aging and maturing of our vines, particularly from Vineyards #1 and #2. These are Stony Hill’s original Chardonnay vineyards first planted in 1947 and 1948 and replanted with their own bud wood in 1987 and 1988. They are our favorite vineyards and have always given us intense yet delicate fruit. In the 2006 vintage we see the perfect transition from the vine to the glass.

2007 SHV Chardonnay – 328 cases

How better to introduce our 2007 SHV Chardonnay than to say “fruit, fruit, fruit! Your first sniff of the glass will bring you red apple, overtones of fresh cut pineapple and citrus zest. Your first sip will reveal an intense mouth feel, firm acidity and the taste of stone fruit flavors and citrus. Since the youngest vines contributing to our SHV are now 14 years old, we think this wine is showing more sophistication than in the past and will have a somewhat longer aging potential, up to five years. One of our tasters said, “I can’t put the bottle down.” And another said, “If somebody opens a bottle of this wine, they’re going to open another!” The point is it’s a very pleasing wine and a good bargain as well. We suggest serving it as an aperitif with melon and prosciutto, figs and blue cheese, or a black bean and corn salad.

2007 Stony Hill White Riesling – 372 cases

Our 2007 White Riesling is palest straw in color with a brilliant light to it. Try this test to see how brilliant your wine is. Tilt your glass sideways and let a ray of sunshine pass through it. Then playing with the light, see if it makes a brilliant star on the white cloth beneath. If it does, you’ll know you have a quality white wine of notable clarity and acidity. The bouquet in our 2007 Riesling is perfumed with apricots, delicate fresh fruit and a clean hint of mint. On the palate you will taste a mineral quality as well as green grapes and apricots. In addition you’ll note a touch of sweetness which, at one percent residual sugar, we call off-dry. We’ve been serving our Riesling with fresh pea and mint soup and summer corn soup, both of which have a degree of sweetness that enhances this off-dry quality. Other serving suggestions: sushi or Dungeness crab on corn pancakes.

2007 Stony Hill Gewurztraminer – 300 cases

We feel lucky to have about two and a half acres of the 1, 670 acres of Gewurztraminer planted in California. Yes, ours is a miniscule portion of the whole Gewurztraminer planting. But then compare that to the 480,000 acre total of wine grapes in the state, and you have to ask yourself, “why so little Gewurztraminer,” when with one taste you realize what a distinctive wine it is. We can’t answer the profounder Gewurztraminer questions pondered over the years by such eminent wine writers as Hugh Johnson and Bob Thompson. But we can be specific regarding our 2007 vintage. It is palest straw in color with a delicate but persistent bouquet of grapefruit, ripe cantaloupe and the flintiness of just chipped stone. In the mouth its tartness and fruitiness are nicely balanced with flavors of green melon and a hint of clove and white pepper underneath. This is a ‘sit on the porch and savor” kind of wine. Despite being ‘bone dry,” it is so fragrant that its aromas will bring you much pleasure just in themselves. But of course sipping is also allowed! We suggest you pair this wine with a slice of cucumber topped with a crescent of jalapeno chili and a sprinkle of sea salt, or grilled albacore tuna squares with a caper, lemon juice, olive oil and green onion relish.

2006 Semillon de Soleil – 360 six packs

For the past several years we’ve been selling out of Semillon the first week after release because of short supply. This year, however, we have plenty of the 2006 vintage so we hope that everyone who wants to enjoy this luscious wine will be able to. The grapes were picked later than usual, beginning September 29, from Stony Hill Vineyard and Two Dog Vineyard in Calistoga, then dehydrated in the sun for an average of 11 days to concentrate the sugars, and finally crushed at 32% sugar. The resulting wine is a pale gold color with hints of crème brulee in the aroma and is very light on the palate with a fair amount of acidity. It has 10 percent residual sugar, less than usual and in no way cloying, and 12 percent alcohol, lower than usual and barely noticeable. This is a delicate, delectable wine which any chef would be pleased to serve. We suggest accompanying it with fruit-based desserts such as pear tart, peach cobbler or apricot soufflé.