It's a very Californian wine, but with some Old World beauty.
This wine is made from multiple clones of Pinot Noir grown in multiple vineyards around the Santa Rita Hills AVA within Santa Barbara.
All of our fields are sustainably grown and harvested by hand.
Harvesting and fermentation are done on a clone-by-clone basis.
For aroma and mouthfeel, we ferment whole bunches whenever possible.
Approximately 50% of this wine is whole-cluster fermented.
The beer is brewed using indigenous yeasts to avoid over-extraction.
We aim to highlight not only the fruity aroma, but also other aromas and the characteristics of the vintage.
These aromas disappear when over-extracted, a common practice in California.
Punch down once during the first fermentation and press.
From this point onwards the wine is moved by gravity alone.
Malolactic fermentation began the following spring, after which the wine was aged for 11 months in French oak barrels (10% new).
Only small amounts of SO2 are used.
It is bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Owner and winemaker Graham Tatomer has been working in wineries in his hometown of Santa Barbara since he was just 16 years old, when he became fascinated with the old Riesling vines of Lafond Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills, said to be the oldest in California.
The wines produced in California's cool climates are light, rich in flavor nuances, and characterized by a crisp acidity.
The most representative variety of this style is Riesling.
Riesling is a unique white grape variety in that the characteristics of the soil in which the grapes grow, as well as the inherent charm, power, focus and beauty of the variety are transmitted directly to the wine.
In 2003, Graham became fascinated with Riesling and studied under Emmerich Knoll, one of Austria's leading dry Riesling producers. Over the course of four harvests, he gained expertise in aromatic varieties.
The Knoll family became like a second family to Graham, and he learned about the appeal of Grüner Veltliner, Austria's indigenous grape variety.
After returning to the UK in 2008, he founded his own winery, Tatomer, releasing two single-vineyard Rieslings and later began cultivating Grüner Veltliner.
Tatomer's upper class wines will be released in a "big dry" style, rather than the "semi-dry" styles currently available on the market.
Released in 2017, Steinhügel is brewed in an approachable “dry” style as an entry-level wine.
The rich acidity inherent to the grapes can be felt in the wine, making it delicious to drink as is immediately after release, but it is also a wine that can withstand long-term aging and can be paired with food.
The winery produces just 2,000 cases per year.
Graham was featured in the American national newspaper San Francisco Chronicle in 2014 as "the winemaker to watch today," and is said to be a pioneer of aromatic varieties in California, second only to him.