2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
Carver Vineyard

The grapes that made this exquisite wine come from the Carver Vineyard, located at the very top of York Mountain. With the dream of making truly distinctive wines from this remarkable setting, I helped develop this site in 1983. The south facing hillside exposure, 1,750-foot altitude, cool region 1 temperatures and sandy-clay soil unite to create the character that is expressed in this wine. Although some years have been a bit too cool to ripen the fruit ideally, 2001 was just right. We harvested mid-October with ideal conditions. The fruit was destemmed and transferred to an open top fermenter and was allowed to start with indigenous yeast due to vineyard age. After eight days the must was pressed and the resulting wine was pumped directly to one-year-old French and new American barrels. After three years in the barrel with four rackings, the wine was bottled without fining or filtration December 10, 2004.

This fine beverage has so much unique character, it is difficult to describe it. I’ll be saying that it is full-bodied with red fruit, eucalyptus, toasty oak and other good aromas. The finish has soft tannins with rich flavors that make it wonderful with just about any hearty meal, cheeses and chocolate.

2000 Stephen's Pinot Noir
York Mountain

This Pinot, my sixth release, is a blend of two small vineyards within the York Mountain AVA. The Carver and the Goldman vineyards are about equal in this blend.

After a gentle desteming directly into small open tanks via gravity, some whole clusters were added, then the must was cool soaked prior to inoculation with Assmanshausen yeast. After a week of fermentation and many punch downs, the must was pressed directly into two year old French barrels with lees. In April the wine was inert gas racked, barrel to barrel, followed with another later on. After twenty months the wines were blended and bottled in the Summer of 2002.

This wine, one of my best efforts, is mostly due to Mother Nature. She blessed this beverage with wonderful ripe fruit, floral aromas and succulent flavors of toasty oak, cherries and what ever your imagination can conger up. The finish is smooth yet zippy. My favorite food with this has to be grilled lamb with sweet mashed potatoes. Ya!

1999 Stephen’s Pinot Noir
York Mountain

This Pinot, my sixth release, is a blend of two small vineyards, both located in the York Mountain Area. The Goldman and Carver vineyards combine about equally. After picking in mid-September, the grapes were destemmed and some whole clusters were added directly into small open-top fermenters via gravity. The must was cool soaked for three days prior to inoculation with Assmanshausen yeast. The must was manually punched down two to four times a day for ten days prior to pressing and then immediately transferred to two to four year old French barrels with lees. Three inert gas rackings were done prior to bottling without fining or filtering in August 2001.

This Pinot, one of my finest, can be best described as a complete wine. The ripe cherry & violet aroma, balanced acid, soft tannins and medium body make this beverage wonderful for any occasion. I do recommend roasted lamb with sweet potatoes and carrots for a dinner treat.

1997 Stephen’s Pinot Noir
York Mountain

This Pinot Noir, my fourth release is a blend of fruit from three small vineyards all within the York Mountain AVA. The carver, the Harden and the Goldman vineyards all made up about a third each in this blend.

After a gentle desteming directly into small open top tanks via gravity, some whole clusters were added, then the must was cool soaked prior to inoculation with Lalvin RC212 yeast. After about a week of fermentation and many punch downs, the must was pressed to tank: then within a couple days transferred to three year old French Siruge barrels with lees. The wine was inert gas racked barrel to barrel and sulfited in March. After twenty-two month the wines were bottled May 99 with no finning nor filtration.

1996 Stephen's Pinot Noir
York Mountain

This Pinot Noir is a blend of fruit from three small vineyards all within the York Mountain Viticulture Appellation. About 40% is from the Goldman vineyard, 30% from the Carver vineyard and the balance from the Harden vineyard.

After a gentle desteming into open tanks with some whole clusters, the must was allowed to soak for two days prior to inoculation with Assmanshausen yeast. After eight days of fermentation and many punch downs, the must was pressed to French oak barrels sur lees. When malolactic fermentation was complete the wines were racked and sulfited and aged twenty-two month in barrel. With no fining or filtering the wine was bottled May 1999.

1995 Stephen's Pinot Noir
York Mountain

This Pinot, my second release under the Stephen’s brand is a blend from three small vineyards all within the York Mountain AVA. About 45% from the Goldman vineyard, 35% from the Carver and the rest from Mills vineyard.

After desteming directly into small open top tanks with some whole clusters, the must was soaked for a couple of days before inoculation with Assmanshausen yeast. After nine days of fermentation with many punch downs, the must was pressed and barreled three weeks later sur lees. After malolactic fermentation the wines were racked and sulfited and aged about two years in barrel. With no fining or filtering the blend was bottled April 1998.