 IJ Weekend - December 23, 2004
The Storied History of Stony Hill
Every month or so it seems, stunning new wineries open with grand architecture and expensive wines – particularly those cult cabernets – of which some of us have never heard.
But razzle-dazzle isn’t always the name of the game. In a season so steeped in tradition, maybe it’s time to take a walk on the quiet side and talk about a winery that is low-key, historic and unusual in several aspects.
Stony Hill was established more than 50 years ago, at a time when you could have counted the number of Napa Valley wineries on the fingers of two hands. Fred and Eleanor McCrea of San Francisco visited a 160-acre goat ranch on the northeast slope of Spring Mountain in 1943. It took them a while to decide to go into the wine business, but in 1947 – nearly 20 years before Robert Mondavi founded his winery – they bought a used tractor and hired people to start planting grapevines in the rocky soils between 400 and 800 feet above the valley floor in St. Helena.
That elevation and its mild microclimate turned out to be ideal for premium white grapes. The McCreas wanted to plant only chardonnay, because they loved the white wine of Burgundy. At the time, however, only 200 acres of chardonnay were planted in the entire state, and viticulturists from the University of California convinced them to diversify with tiny amounts of White Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Semillon.
Stony Hill (named for the location) produced its first commercial vintage of chardonnay in 1952, the same year the McCreas finished building their small, stucco-clad winery with wooden doors carved out of Filipino mahogany; the doors are still in use today.
To sell the wine, Fred McCrea wrote notes to friends, the first direct-marketing campaign in the California wine business. “Dear Jerry,” began one written in 1954, “After all the planning and talking our friends have lived through, we now have 50 cases of Pinot Chardonnay for sale,…We hate to get too enthusiastic because that isn’t our nature, but we are very pleased with this first outcome. …If you really want any, let us know as soon as possible. …Sincerely, Fred.”
The wine sold for a total of $21.69 a case, including tax and delivery.
To this day, Stony Hill sells only to individuals who have asked to be put on the mailing list, along with a few restaurants in San Francisco and other big cities. Fred and Eleanor’s son, Peter, grew up working at the winery and eventually his wife, Willinda, began helping Eleanor in the office. In 1971, Mike Chelini joined the team as vineyard manager, becoming winemaker two years later.
Peter and Willinda McCrea, who have owned the winery since his parents’ deaths, agree with Chelini that Stony Hill’s wines need a certain tartness, especially to pair well with food. To maintain that acidity, the wines receive no malolactic fermentation, which softens the taste. All the wines are whites and at a recent tasting, each of them worked beautifully with foods as varied as olives, goat cheese, hot sweet peppers and cured meats. They are priced between $15 and $30 a bottle.
Visitors are welcome to make an appointment for tastings, which are conducted, by the way, at the McCrea’s home, either in the great room or on a sunny patio. That may be the best if not the only way to sample these wines, but as Matt Kramer pointed out in the Wine spectator, trying to get a bottle in the early days was “like trying to order a unicorn. Forget it. …It made Screaming Eagle’s mailing list look positively democratic.”
— Marty Olmstead, IJ Correspondent |
