Fall 2004

GREETINGS! We completed construction on our guest cottage on our estate with a number of our adopt-a-vine "Vine Parents" already taking advantage of it to experience this glorious wine country lifestyle here in the heart of Napa Valley. We'll write more on the vineyard cottage in next month's newsletter. But, in the meantime, hold off on booking your Napa Valley bed and breakfast because you may want to instead stay with us! This vineyard guest cottage is perfect for experiencing the area during your next wine country tour or romantic getaway.

Harvest
We have just finished harvest here at the winery. If you've paid attention recently to any wine reports, you'll know that wine country is abuzz with this years' unusually early harvest.

For us, we started harvesting Cabernet Sauvignon grapes on Thursday, September 16 from our "adopted" vines in our Fleur de Vigne vineyards. In total we picked and crushed over 12 tons of grapes this year, which should yield some 500 cases (to be bottle in June 2006). For you adopt-a-vine parents, you'll be happy to hear that your vines all contributed to this year's harvest and we look forward to tasting and experiencing the resulting wines when they're released in two years!

This year's harvest was particularly special for Paulette and I, as our son Kristian (pictured left) traveled from San Diego to Napa Valley with his family to help us with harvest. Kristian experienced first hand what it takes to produce wine while enjoying the "winemaker's" lifestyle. He learned quickly that winemaking can be an exhausting job; he is returning to San Diego with deep purple stained hands - the true sign of a winemaker.

We are excited that he is interested in winemaking and we'll keep you updated on whether or not he'd like to make a career and lifestyle change. Whatever his decision, it was great to share our joy of winemaking and wine country with him.

Update on 2002 Wine Release
As we mentioned in our July email newsletter, for the 2002 vintage we only produced Sympa, our reserve level Cabernet Sauvignon wine. The exceptional quality of the 2002 harvest warranted only producing our highest caliber wine. To date, we have sold more than half our 350 cases we produced for 2002. If you want to guarantee you or your loved ones receive this incredible wine, please order today through our Adopt –A –Vine program. Don't forget these make wonderful Christmas gifts. (Over half our adopters were Christmas gifts!)

Click here to order.

Thank you for reading and best wishes from St. Helena Winery.

Peter and Paulette Story
info@sthelenawinery.com
www.sthelenawinery.com
707-967-WINE (9463)

Vineyard Cottage

A two bedroom, two bath vineyard guest cottage with kitchenette.

Harvest Photo Album
Here are several photos we shot during this year's Harvest. We hope you enjoy!

Peter Story 'punching down' the grapes in the 'fermentation bins'

Kristian Story doing a 'Brix' calculation that tells us how much the wine has fermented with both alcohol and sugar content.

Peter Story and Javier Montes (vineyard supervisor) doing the final press of skins, seeds and wine, and then putting the pressed wine into barrels.

Our filled barrels ready to be put back into the winery. Fermentation and press is now complete, with the two (2) year aging process now begins in the coolness of the winery.