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About Us | Philosophy
| Adopt-a-Vine | Vineyards
 St.
Helena Winery produces traditional, hand made wines. In fact, the
only piece of equipment which is mechanized is a commercial-grade,
Delta E1 de-stemmer. The wine is not pumped, nor is it stored in
stainless steel fermenters.
Upon harvest, grapes are sent through the de-stemmer then sent to
the sorting table to remove any fruit that is not whole and healthy.
(If wineries even go to the trouble of hand sorting fruit, it is
typically done prior to de-stemming.) The fruit is moved by hand
into a small plastic, one ton fermenter (rather than a steel fermenter).
The Storys hand punch down the cap and do not use any mechanized
pumps.
A traditional wooden basket press uses a water-inflated balloon
to press skins against the press. Sympa is made from only 100% free
run juice, while Scandale uses some of the pressed wine.
As with the crushing process, St. Helena Winery's cooperage regime
is similarly traditional. The wine is moved by hand into all new
French oak barrels from five cooperages, using "heavy"
and "medium" toast levels. All wines are aged on-site.
Visiting
Guests may visit our estate by appointment only. Open 7 days per
week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call Peter Story at 707-967-WINE (9463).
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