Stony Hill Vineyard

Media Coverage

Ten Independence Day Wines
Eric Arnold 07.02.08, 4:00 PM ET

For the past several years, it seems, California winemakers have led the charge for bigger, richer, oakier, smoother chardonnays.

And then there's Stony Hill, which has been saying all along that there's a better way. Stony Hill's chardonnay is fermented in older vessels that impart little if any oaky flavor, and the wine is kept crisp and acidic, not made overly rich and smooth.

Stony Hill is one of a handful of winemakers that can--and often do--show a bit of a rebellious streak through their product. In some cases it's because the winemakers need their bottles to stand out from the thousands of others in the market. In other cases, they simply believe tastes and trends have moved in the wrong direction, and it's time to turn things around.

To find other wines made by independent, family producers who are challenging convention and standard practices, we turned to Tyler Colman PhD, a.k.a. Dr. Vino, the man behind the blog www.drvino.com, as well as author of Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink and the upcoming A Year of Wine: Perfect Pairings, Great Buys and What to Sip for Each Season.

The Peidmont Post - The Wine Corner by Pierre DuMont

2005 Stony Hill Chardonnay - You are drinking history here. The McCrea family planted the vineyard on Spring Mountain in 1947 and this wine became the first "cult classic"... It is lean and crisp and has sharp apple and pear flavors. It also has the ability to improve in the bottle for 15 to 20 years.

The POUR by Eric Asimov

Riesling - February 23, 2007

Appellation by Reputation: An Interview with Stony Hill Vineyard's Peter McCrea, by Alan Goldfarb, September 22, 2006

"Chardonnay Royalty" by John Winthrop Haeger, photos by Peter Menzel. First published in Saveur June/July 2006, Issue #94. Reprinted by permission. www.menzelphoto.com - "Chardonnay Royalty"

Narsai's on air comments - mp3 file - June 15, 2006

Narsai's on air comments - text file - June 15, 2006

Stony Hill Vineyard, Napa Valley (California) Chardonnay 2002 ($30): Delicate aromas and flavors of ripe pear the primary attraction in this wine, with nicely integrated mineral and citrus notes. It has lovely balance, subtle oak for texture and layered fruit through the lengthy finish. This is a Chardonnay that smells and tastes like Chardonnay. 92 - by Gerald D. Boyd

Spring/Summer 2006 - Napa Valley: The Benchmark - by Amy Marr

Taking stock of the classic wine-country getaway

…I’m quite particular about chardonnay---the rich, buttery varietals are definitely not my thing. With that in mind, I head up to Stony Hill Vineyard, on the flanks of Spring Mountain, where owner Peter McCrea shows me to the tasting room, a terrace overlooking a garden brimming with zinnias. McCrea pours me a glass of his straw-colored chardonnay, which his father began producing in the 1950s. I stick my nose in the glass and am pleasantly surprised to breathe in a burst of ripe pear fragrance: This is a chardonnay I could learn to love. I take a swallow, savoring the mineral and citrus flavors that linger on my tongue.