Sterling Vineyards

Long-time friends and colleagues, Michael Stone and Peter Newton, had a lot of passions in common. At the top of their list were: wine, business, vacationing in the Greek Islands, and Northern California. Natives of Britain, they loved the warm sun, natural beauty, and relaxed, welcoming vibe of Greece and Northern California, so much so that they decided to open their own winery. The place they had in mind would offer high-quality yet affordable wines and a friendly space, with a neighborhood feeling, where they could hang out with their local friends and welcome new ones from around the globe. In 1964, Sterling Vineyards was born.

The winery itself, modeled after Mykonos’s famous white stucco houses, was the first in Napa to put the guest experience at the core of its architectural plan. And their aerial gondola turned every arrival into an awe-inspiring event. It’s still the only winery gondola in the world.

A large part of Michael and Peter ’s business success had always been innovation. Their Sterling Winery venture was no exception. They were among the first to use European winemaking techniques in Napa Valley. In the vineyards, they chose to boldly branch out from the popular Cabernet Sauvignon to grow Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Merlot in their terroir.

Throughout our 60 years, we’ve followed the path of innovation blazed by Michael and Peter, fine-tuning our winemaking methods, branching out beyond our estate to add fruit grown in a variety of quality vineyards to our winemakers’ tool kit, advancing sustainability, and elevating the quality and value of our wines and visitor experience with every new vintage.

Our sustainability achievements so far and projects underway:

  • 100% powered by sustainable energy, including gondola
  • Constructing solar installation to cover 100% of our electricity needs
  • New water-use-minimizing landscaping, including drought-resistant plants
  • Turned trees and shrubs damaged by wildfire on our property into mulch chips to combat erosion and compost to promote soil health
  • Capturing rainwater in new, significantly larger tank for use on our grounds and for fire control
  • Electric vehicle charging stations available at 26 parking spaces

features

napa green

certified vineyard

napa green

certified winery

soil to bottle

certified

regenerative

vineyard

climate smart

winery

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