The Stanton family has been growing grapes in the Napa Valley since 1947. They began making their own wine in 1999. For this first vintage and the next three they used grapes exclusively from our Oakville vineyard. In addition to the Oakville property, the Stanton family owns two vineyards in St. Helena. They presently grow seven different red-wine varieties which include: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Petite Sirah and Mouvedre.

More than a few small wineries have started in a garage, but we may be the only Winery to begin that way, move on to bigger and better quarters, and still be in a garage. Founded in 1980 in a small garage on the outskirts of town, in 1982 the Winery moved to its present location, the historic Miners Foundry Garage, on Spring St in downtown Nevada City. Remarkably, the Winery is located less than two blocks from where the original Nevada City Winery stood over a century ago. The Winery was begun by Allan Haley, a Nevada County native with a European wine education and a dream of bringing winemaking back to our region. In 1880 there were over 300 acres of grapes in the County. In 1980 when the Winery opened there was one small vineyard, recently planted. Twenty years later there are again well over 300 acres of grapes and the wine industry is flourishing once more.

They say, “Variety is the spice of life”, well we needed more spice! We are now growing and harvesting Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Petite Sirah, Gewurztraminer, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Some of these grapes will be put back into the wines for blending to add some complexity to our wines. Other grapes, like our Petite Sirah are going to be used exclusively on our award winning Select Harvest, that recently won a Double Gold, in the 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Contest.