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theCompass mobile application is a winery, brewery, and distillery locator for North America. |
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Starry Night Winery
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Starry Night Winery became a bonded winery in 1999 and our first commercially available wines were introduced in November of 2000. The story of how we came into existence though starts many years earlier when the four of us, Wayne Hansen, Skip Granger, Mike Miller and Bruce Walker started making wine at an amateur level. Our motivation for this came from a shared, life long passion for wine and an increasing disdain for the over priced and often mass-produced wines found in the market. In our first year, we crushed several hundred pounds of grapes and produced about fifty cases of Zinfandel,
Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in Wayne’s basement, which worked well, since with his food processing background, Wayne was destined to become our winemaker. By combining the best of both new and traditional methods, we found that we could make outstanding wine. We also spent time researching wine making methods, taking classes at UC Davis and received the advice of some very helpful commercial winemakers. Our philosophy in wine making is based upon first using the finest grapes possible. From there, we employ methods that minimally impact the grapes, as excess handling can detract from their quality. These methods include the use of gravity to move the grapes into the destemmer and fermenters, employing smaller open top fermenters, hand punch downs of the must and again using gravity (as opposed to must pumps) to move the must into the press. We focus on providing a sterile environment during all phases of the process and employ a government certified laboratory for most of our analytical testing. We believe that this attention to detail, as well as keeping our production of any one wine to below 1000 cases, provides us a very high quality hand crafted wine that along with our moderate prices distinguishes us from many of our larger competitors. Our primary focus at Starry Night is Zinfandel, which accounts for over 40% of our production. We think Zinfandel, which is uniquely American, is not only a great wine, but also offers a significant value when compared to many other grape varietals. In 2001 we became a member of The Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) organization, which promotes Zinfandel worldwide. We are also excited by Rhone varietals, which we believe are making significant gains in popularity. We make a Russian River as well as a Lodi vineyard designated Syrah, and in 2001 introduced our Adara, which is a blend of wines made from grapes found in the Rhone region of France. Because we love Chardonnay, we also produce a barrel fermented, 100% malolactic, but well balanced Chardonnay. At Starry Night, our goal is to produce the finest wines possible that accentuate the regions from where the grapes are best grown. We currently produce Chardonnay, Syrah and Zinfandel from the Russian River Valley, Zinfandel from Napa Valley, Zinfandel from Amador and Lake Counties and Zinfandel, Syrah and other Rhone varietals from the
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Adara (Rhone Style Blend)
Named after a star in the Canis Major constellation, our 2003 Adara is a blend of Carignane, Grenache and Syrah, three grape varietals common to the Rhone Valley of France. It has soft tannins and lively fresh fruit flavors of strawberries, plums and wild blueberries with hints of sage and lavender. Adara can be enjoyed alone or with a wide variety of foods including pasta, pork, chicken and lamb. Aged in French and American oak barrels, our production of this wine was approximately 750 cases.
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Amador County Zinfandel
Our 2004 Amador County Zinfandel comes from Wilderotter Vineyard located at an 1,100 foot elevation in the Sierra Nevada Foothills near the town of Plymouth. This well balanced wine has rich flavors of cherries and blackberries with hints of plums, black pepper and spice.
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Lodi Zinfandel
Our 2003 Lodi Zinfandel is made using traditional winemaking methods and is representative of the fine Zinfandels that have been grown in this appellation for over 100 years. This wine is well structured with fresh flavors of blackberries, cherries and pepper and hints of spice and eucalyptus. Our Lodi Zinfandel can be paired with many dishes, but is especially good with pasta, steak, lamb and burgers.
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Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Our 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a single vineyard located in the northern part of Napa Valley near Calistoga. The fruit was crushed into small open top fermenters and after pressing, was aged in a combination of all new French and American oak barrels.
This classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has deep rich aromas and flavors including currant, cassis, black cherry and mint. While quite drinkable now, this wine will continue to improve with age.
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Napa Valley Zinfandel
Our 2001 Napa Valley Zinfandel was crushed directly into small open top fermenters and was produced using traditional winemaking techniques including hand punch downs and a focus on the gentle handling of the grapes and wine throughout the entire winemaking process.
This is a deep, rich wine containing raspberry and cherry flavors with hints of rosemary, mint and bay leaves.
This wine will pair well with steak, burgers, and hearty meat and pasta dishes.
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NVOC, Russian River Valley Zinfandel
Our 2004 NVOC Russian River Zinfandel comes from a young vineyard that was grown with cuttings from a well known vineyard that was planted in 1928 and has retained many of the characteristics common to its lineage. This wine is well structured with fresh flavors of plums, blackberries and cherries with hints of pepper and spice.
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Russian River Valley Chardonnay
Made from grapes grown in the rolling hills above the Russian River in an area marked by cool refreshing nights and long warm summer days, our 2004 Chardonnay is barrel fermented in a combination of French and American oak barrels.
This Chardonnay has round and full rich flavors of apples, pears and vanilla with a warm creamy and roasty finish.
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Russian River Valley Syrah
Our 2002 Russian River Valley Syrah is made from grapes grown in the rolling hills above the Russian River. The area is marked by long warm days and cool refreshing nights, and the fruit from this region is rich, bright and intense. Our 2002 Russian River Syrah was produced using traditional winemaking methods that included the use of small open top fermenters and hand punch downs of the fermenting grapes.
The result is a wine with bright fresh fruit flavors including red cherries, blueberries and raspberries with hints of lavender. Production 300 cases
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Terra Alta Lodi Syrah
The Terra Alta Vineyard is located in the rolling hills that lead to the Sierra. Our 2001 Syrah was lovingly made with traditional winemaking methods that included the use of small open top fermenters and hand punch downs of the fermenting grapes. This resulted in a wine with deep long flavors and rich pleasing aromas including cherries, plums and black pepper with hints of lavender. Our Syrah can be paired with many dishes and is especially good with pasta, pork, lamb and chicken.
Aged in both French and American oak barrels, our production of this wine was approximately 720 cases.
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Terre Vermeille Lake County Zinfandel
Our 2002 Lake County Zinfandel comes from Terre Vermeille Vineyard, located on a hillside 2000 feet above Clear Lake. The red volcanic soil and warm days helped to produce a deep rich wine with flavors of ripe blackberries, cassis and black cherries with hints of pepper and spice. Aged in both French and American oak barrels, our production of this wine was approximately 295 cases.
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Tom Feeney Ranch Old Vine Zinfandel
This Old Vine Zinfandel comes from two vineyards on Tom Feeney Ranch. The Montafi Vineyard was planted in the early part of the last century and the Piner Vineyard was planted in the mid-1940?s. These vines are dry farmed and produce a very limited crop. This results in deep and complex fruit and spice flavors including raspberry, cherry and cassis, with hints of anise and white pepper.
This rich and elegant wine is well balanced and complex and while ready to drink now, will continue to improve over several years.
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Tom Feeney Ranch, Old Vine Zinfandel
This Old Vine Zinfandel comes from three vineyards on Tom Feeney Ranch. The Montafi Vineyard was planted in the early part of the last century, Piner Vineyard was planted in the mid -1940s, and Barbieri Vineyard in 1928. These vines are dry farmed and produce a very limited crop. This results in deep and complex fruit and spice flavors including raspberry, cherry and cassis, with hints of anise and white pepper.
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