Within seconds of flipping open my laptop this morning, I knew what today’s article would be. Among the first of my unread emails was a press release. The very next email was my daily e-version of the SF Chronicle, the top story being an in-depth article on the same bombshell news from Napa Valley. I shifted my gaze to the kitchen counter, where sat an unopened sample of Chardonnay, which I anticipated to be precise and electric. Today, Stony Hill Vineyard belongs to the Hall family of Long Meadow Ranch.

Stony Hill Vineyard has been one of the oldest remaining family-owned and operated wineries in Napa Valley. Fred and Eleanor McCrea founded it on Spring Mountain in 1943. Mike Chelini has been winemaker there since 1972, giving him the longest current tenure of any non-proprietor winemaker in Napa Valley. That site, the McCrea’s vision, and Chelani’s hand created icons—elegant, fresh, and complex wines built to age—every year for four decades.

Those wines, bright and unblinking, have been Napa Valley’s North Star. Irrespective of vintage or fashion, Stony Hill Chardonnay has remained true to itself, providing an unmoving reference point from which the changes in others can be measured. And, like its younger yet still venerable neighbor, Smith-Madrone, Stony Hill never stopped demonstrating the beauty of Spring Mountain Riesling.

See my article on Stony Hill Vineyard from August 31, 2016.

Napa Valley Winery Ownership

It’s a great time to be a Napa Valley winery. It’s a hard time to be a Napa Valley winery. International recognition, wine prices, and property values are sky high. So are the costs of physical improvements, acquiring necessary permits and maintaining awareness in the market. And with Napa Valley’s great reputation and those high bottle prices—plus increasing global competition—come expectations not just for consistent quality, but for continual improvement. 

The vineyard and winery business in Napa Valley has, over the past 50-some years, largely shifted from small, family-owned wineries, to multi-brand corporate ownership, and then to proprietorships of uber-wealthy people who needn’t worry about shareholder dividends. It’s true; the majority of Napa wineries are small—under 10,000 cases—and family-owned. But that doesn’t mean they are lower-middle class, mom-and-pop operations.

Margins in the wine-business are not high. Everything about running a wine business is expensive and getting more so. Between general increases in the cost of living, skyrocketing rents, political forces, and the attentive, high-touch vineyard management necessary for the highest quality, rapidly rising labor costs are a huge concern. For many long-term, family winery owners, the only way to fund retirement for themselves and their employees, divide assets among children, or fund improvement or expansion is to sell.

That is the reality. No amount of complaining will change it. Family owners need to do what’s best for their families and employees. Under the best circumstances, they can to sell to parties which will be stewards rather than exploiters or transformers.

The Stony Hill Vineyard Transition

The McCrea family believe the Halls, whom they have known and been friendly with for 30 years, to be stewards. Ted Hall, president and CEO of Long Meadow Ranch, says, “We have admired Stony Hill for more than 30 years and look forward to continuing the traditions established by the McCrea family including their commitment to producing terroir-driven, age-worthy wines with low-alcohol, beautiful acidity and minerality.”

An email from Sarah McCrea tells me her family now have an equity interest in the Long Meadow Ranch holding company, she will be an executive in that company, and her father, Peter McCrea, will be on the advisory team.  According to the press release, Mike Chelini will continue as winemaker through this year’s harvest and then transition to winemaker emeritus. After 46 years, he’s certainly entitled to slow down a bit. In other good news, Sarah says the Long Meadow Ranch viticultural team has been working with Stony Hill throughout this year to transition the vineyard into being fully organic.

Everyone who loves Stony Hill Vineyard, and what it represents to Napa Valley, hopes all changes are positive and the wine style and quality remain steady. Of course, while we wait to see how things turn out, there are excellent current and library releases to enjoy.

2015 Stony Hill Vineyard Chardonnay Reviewed

2015 Stony Hill Vineyard Chardonnay 93 13.0% 750ml $54 (estimated)

Stony Hill Vineyard Chardonnay is aged in neutral oak barrels and malolactic conversion is impeded. Thus, the wines are always a pure expression of vine and vineyard. The 2015 vintage is lemon-colored with aromas and flavors led by green apple and limestone. Golden apple, lemon, lime pith are present too. The nose is expressive, but elegant. The medium-bodied palate is more intense and savory, yet fine-boned with silky texture. Its brisk acidity is mouthwatering and suggests excellent aging potential, but is sufficiently balanced for happy drinking now. The finish is long, with gentle waves of acidity and the savory mineral gradually overtaking, but not entirely eclipsing, fruit. Drink now through 2035.

Note: The latest, current release Stony Hill Vineyard Chardonnay is 2013. So, you may want to get on their list to get a crack at the 2015 when it goes on sale.

Copyright Fred Swan 2018. Horizontal photo courtesy Stony Hill Vineyard.  All rights reserved.

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