Sterling Vineyards

Infobox Winery
winery_name = Sterling Vineyards
winery_
location_city = Calistoga, California
location_country = USA
appellation = Napa Valley AVA
former_name =
other_labels=
year_founded = 1964
first_vintage = 1969
key_people = Peter Newton, Founder; Mike Westrick , Winemaker
parent_company = Diageo
cases_per_year = 400,000
signature_wine = Napa Cabernet
varietal1 = Cabernet Sauvignon
varietal2 = Merlot
varietal3 = Chardonnay
varietal4 = Sauvignon Blanc
varietal5 =
varietal6 =
varietal7 =
varietal8 =
varietal9 =
varietal10 =
other_product1=
other_product2=
other_product3=
other_product4=
other_product5=
homepage= http://www.sterlingvineyards.com/
distribution
tasting= tasting room

Sterling Vineyards, is a winery near Calistoga, California. The winery achieved international recognition when its wine won first place in the Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981.

Description

Visitors to the winery take a short tram to gain access. [cite book | author=George M. Taber | title= Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine | publisher=Scribner, NY | date=2005]

Sterling Vineyards farms convert|1200|acre|ha|0 of vines in various parts of Napa Valley. Production emphasizes Bordeaux and Burgundy-style wines, and is split in several tiers: the entry-level "Napa Valley" wines for which it is most famous, "Reserve" wines (their highest level), "Single Vineyard" wines (specialty wines for enthusiasts), "Vintner's Collection" (value wines for restaurants and mass distribution), and "Cellar Club" (limited production and eclectic wines for their wine club members).

Sterling Vineyards is a popular destination for tourists, in part for an aerial tram that shuttles visitors from a parking lot to the winery, which sits on a volcanic hill convert|300|ft|m|0 above the valley floor. The building is designed to appear like the white villages of the Greek island Mykonos, and incorporates bells from St. Dunstans's in London, England, a church destroyed in World War II.cite web | url=http://www.cellarnotes.net/sterlingvineyards.htm | publisher=Cellarnotes | title=Sterling Vineyards | accessdate=2007-07-10]

History

English expatriate Peter Newton founded the company in 1964, with the first year of production in 1969. He planted Merlot and Chardonnay, now very common in Napa Valley, at a time most vineyards were focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon. Under long-time winemaker Ric Forman (later of Abreu Vineyards), they released California's first vintage-dated Merlot.cite news | publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|accessdate=2007-08-01|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/08/WIGHOG1BSB1.DTL|date=December 8, 2005|author=Linda Murphy|title=Winemaker of the Year:Duckhorn Takes Wing] The Coca Cola Company bought the winery in 1977, in a short-lived attempt to enter the wine market. Seagram bought the winery in 1982, and was in turn purchased by Diageo in 2001.

ee also

*California wine

References

External links

* [http://www.sterlingvineyards.com/ Sterling Vineyards]