Belden Barns

Open Year Round

History:

One of the first to plant grapes in the Sonoma Mountain / Bennett Valley region after a 60 year absence, Dave Steiner was viewed as a pioneer when he established the vineyard in the early 1970's.  Dave originally planted Cabernet Sauvignon and had success with the initial vintages produced by Stonegate and Joseph Swan, among others.  Over time, as the site proved too cool to consistently produce high quality Cabernet, Rod Berglund of Joseph Swan convinced Dave to plant Pinot Noir instead.  As a result, Steiner Vineyard became the source of grapes for highly acclaimed California Pinot Noirs beginning in the early 1990's.

After different turns in ownership, we were lucky enough to acquire the site in 2005, and began the painstaking process of re-developing the vineyard to bring it back to its historic standards.  Roughly ten of the original thirty acres under vine were still standing.  Most of those vines were virused and impacted by phyloxera.  In the end, we were able to save only one block - a 1.5 acre stand of Pinot Noir clone 667 planted in 1998.  The remainder of the 19.5 acres developed to date were installed in high-density, state-of-the-art plantings.  We grow Pinot Noir, Syrah, Grenache, Grüner Veltliner, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.

We proudly view our vineyard as one of the best in California.  Our fruit is used by highly discerning wine producers including:  Argot, Carlisle, Cold Heaven, Donelan Family, Eric Kent, Holdredge and Morgado.  Out of respect for Dave Steiner's hard work in establishing the site and a desire by our winemaking clients to be associated with the quality standard Dave initiated, you will find Steiner Vineyard designated on these producers' best bottlings.