Year in Review

2013 was an amazingly busy year for our little winery.  As the final blog post for 2013, I thought I’d recap a few highlights as we put this year to rest:  

Pacific Coast Wine Trail is launched in January- Working together with the six other tasting rooms along the Coast from San Simeon to Cayucos, we successfully launched the first coastal wine trail in California.  The trail meanders down HWY 1 and boasts multiple activities to enjoy along with first class wine tasting.  The Pacific Coast Wine Trail was highlighted in several publications this year and organized its first charitable fundraiser for Project Surf Camp.  We have big expectations for next year and are already planning our events (which I am super excited about!)  If you want to check out our first event for 2014, join us for dinner on January 26, 2014 as we attempt to do the impossible; pair 2 wines with each of 4 courses!  The Winemaker Dinner is part of the ever popular Cambria Art & Wine Festival weekend.  

Sunset Magazine visits Stolo Family Winery- September 2013 was a memorable month.  We were  tapped to host an Adventure Tour for Sunset Savor the Central Coast 2013.  A huge honor for a boutique winery.  Guests were invited out to the vineyard and winery to learn all about growing coastal.  They toured the vineyard and property, planted their own vines, tasted through two flights of estate grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, had lunch, and enjoyed the day.  We hosted guests from all over the country as well as staff from Sunset Magazine, Food Channel, and  lifestyle blogs.  What an amazing day!

First Crush at Stolo Family Winery-  2013 harvest brought with it the long anticipated first crush at our own facility.  The opportunity to realize the completion of our plan set out in 2004 had finally arrived.  We harvested a remarkable crop both in quantity and quality.  The press, destemmer, tanks, and barrels were all put to the test and performed without a hitch.  The family is grateful for all the hard work our winemaker, vineyard consultant, staff and crew put into making our first crush so successful.

Wine Enthusiast Magazine pick for Editor’s Choice-  Being the little guy is great, but we’re not always easily recognized in the wine world.  Which is why we were so pleased to learn our 2011 Stolo Family Vineyards Chardonnay was chosen as Editor’s Choice among the 100’s of other submissions to Wine Enthusiast Magazine.  Our boutique size bars us from many competitions and reviewers.  It was refreshing to see a national magazine shine its light on a small producer.

Inclusion in The New California Wine by Jon Bonne-  I got a call from Jon Fall of 2012.  He said he had finished writing a book and that he was doing some fact checking.  He asked me a few questions about the vineyard and our family.  I asked him what the book was about and he said it was about the the winemakers and vineyards on the forefront of the revolution in winemaking.  Speechless.  I managed to thank him for including us and hung up.  Us?  On the forefront of the revolution in winemaking?  WOW.  We were forced to wait until November 2013 to actually read his newly released book.  Again, I was immediately touched to be included along side many prestigious labels.  It has been wonderful to watch the publication gain such momentum since its release a month ago.

Above all, a fantastic year.  Many thanks to all who helped make it so.  The bar is set high for 2014.  I’m ready...

-Cent'Anni!