 |
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1977 |
David Graves and Richard Ward meet in a brewing class at U.C Davis |
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1978 |
David and Dick are housemates working the Napa Valley harvest at Chappellet and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars |
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1981 |
Saintsbury Winery is founded and produces its first wines in borrowed space at Pine Ridge Winery-1000 cases of Chardonnay and 2000 cases of Pinot Noir |
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1982 |
First wines released-Chardonnay ($7.50) and Rancho Carneros Pinot Noir ($8) |
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Production rises to 7,500 cases |
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First wine to be labeled with the "Carneros" appellation is produced |
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1983 |
Ground broken on winery facility in June with completion in December |
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First employee hired: Bill Knuttel, later named winemaker |
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Production rises to 10,500 cases |
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1984 |
First "Garnet" Pinot Noir released, appropriately named by Dick (1983 Vintage) |
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1985 |
Byron Kosuge hired as Assistant Winemaker |
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First bottling line purchased |
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1986 |
First estate vineyard (13 acres) planted with attention given to carrying out rootstock (no AxR1) and clonal experiments |
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1987 |
First "Reserve" Chardonnay Released (1985 vintage) |
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Wine Spectator's James Laube does feature article on Saintsbury |
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Production rises to 28,000 cases |
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| 1988 |
Cellar expanded with dedicated bottling area |
| |
First wine exported by Saintsbury |
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1989 |
All Pinot Noirs from this vintage forward bottled without filtration |
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1990 |
First “Vin Gris” released (1989 Vintage) |
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Brown Ranch property acquired |
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1991 |
Second estate vineyard planted in Carneros (11 acres) |
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1992 |
Brown Ranch planted using predominantly Dijon clones, the largest planting of Dijon 667 and 777 in California at the time |
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First “Reserve” Pinot Noir released (1990 Vintage) |
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1993 |
Robert Parker dubs the 1990 Reserve Pinot Noir, “unquestionably one of the finest Pinot Noirs I have tasted from California.” |
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1994 |
Decision taken to stop filtering of Chardonnay, slight haze from ML bacteria taken as a badge of honor |
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1995 |
Brown Ranch grapes begin to see significant use in Reserve Pinot Noir |
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1996 |
First vintage of Brown Ranch Pinot Noir produced |
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Byron Kosuge promoted to Winemaker as Bill Knuttel leaves after fourteen years to take job at Chalk Hill |
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1997 |
Wine Spectator names 1995 Reserve Chardonnay winner in top California Chardonnay vs. White Burgundy taste-off |
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1998 |
Open-top fermenters installed in the winery with an eye toward developing batches of wine with a more fruit forward character |
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1999 |
Saintsbury called, “the best of the Carneros-based wineries” in Stephen Brooks comprehensive book, “The Wines of California” |
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2002 |
First vintage of Brown Ranch Chardonnay produced |
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Winery production tops out at 60,000 cases |
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New technology (cross-flow filter @ $100,000 a copy) allows filtration without the impacts of traditional filters. This combats sporadic Brettanomyces bloom in bottle. |
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2003 |
Wall Street Journal calls Saintsbury, America’s “most consistent producer of Pinot Noir” |
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Vin Gris labeled as “Code Pink” in a lighthearted response to the Homeland Security Department’s more serious color-coded alert system |
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2004 |
Jerome Chery is hired as winemaker. Jerome trained in Dijon and spent 7 years in Napa Valley most recently as Associate Winemaker at Littorai for four years |
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Saintsbury Pinot Noir named the Most Popular Pinot Noir in Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Annual Restaurant Poll |
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2002 Carneros Chardonnay named as Best American Chardonnay $20 and under by FOOD & WINE magazine |
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