Sterling Vineyards: Spotlight on Napa Valley's Premier WineryNapa Valley is world-renowned for its wine, and Sterling Vineyards is one of the most iconic wineries in the area. I had the opportunity to interview Lauren Kopit, winemaker at Sterling Vineyards, for the Obsessed with Wine podcast this week. In this post, I want to share some of the insights she shared with me about the winery and Napa Valley's wine industry. Stay tuned for my podcast episode featuring Lauren which is available Saturday, July 9th!

Sterling Vineyards - Napa Valley

Panoramic Views

Sterling Vineyards is a historic hilltop winery in the town of Calistoga, CA. Sterling separates itself from wineries on the valley floor with its brilliant white stucco and aerial tram. The aerial tram carries visitors from the parking lot to the entrance of the winery that sits atop a volcanic hill 300 feet above the Napa Valley. This elevation offers visitors stunning panoramic views of the Napa Valley making it one of the most visited wineries in the Napa Valley wine country.

Change of ownership

Sterling founder Peter Newton produced the first vintage in 1969 after establishing the winery in 1964. Peter Newton designed the winery to resemble a place originating from the Greek island Mykonos. The winery's towers house eight bells that came from London's church where Perter Newton was born. The winery was eventually purchased in 1977 by The Coca-Cola Company and then it was sold again in 1982 to Seagram before it was purchased by Diageo in 2001. Finally, Sterling Vineyards was purchased by the Australian wine giant Treasury Wine Estates in 2016.

The Glass Fire

Unfortunately, the aerial tram and parts of the winery were damaged in the Glass fire. The Glass Fire started on September 27, 2020, and damaged many wineries in the Napa/Sonoma area including the Sterling Vineyards winemaking facilities. Sterling is currently undergoing needed renovations including a new state-of-the-art winery that will be one of the most technologically advanced and sustainable wineries in California once it is completed.

The new winery will use 50% less water than traditional winemaking practices and will generate its own energy using solar panels. Construction has been slow due to the availability of materials as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic but the winery plans to re-open by the Summer of 2023. In the meantime, the wine is being made at Berringer, another winery owned by Treasury.

Lauren Kopit - Winemaker

Sterling Vineyards' winemaking is in the capable hands of Senior Winemaker Harry Hansen and winemaker Lauren Kopit. I had the opportunity to interview Lauren for my podcast Obsessed with Wine and she was very complimentary of her time at Sterling Vineyards where she has worked for over seven years.

Lauren was quoted as saying “I was at Sterling one week and I knew I wanted to work here forever”. I asked her about that comment and she noted that she gets to work with some of the smartest minds in wine and she really feels like the winemaking team is a family. Right now she can't imagine working anywhere else.

Like many people working in wine in the Napa Valley, Lauren went to college at UC Davis where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in microbiology before returning for her master's degree in Viticulture & Enology. She says her first wine job was as a Harvest Lab Intern at Franciscan Estates where she worked with V. Sattui winemaker Jason Moravec when they were both interns.

Lauren's wine journey took her to Matchbook Wine Company as a Lab Technician and then to Turkovich Family Wines as a tasting room associate while she finished college. She then moved