Stephen amuses us every day with his dry sense of humor, his extremely diverse love of music and his cool, calm and collected demeanor. Just when Kathy thinks things are wrapped up, he has a knack of putting forward a most provoking question. Never missing a beat – he is thorough, interested in the challenge, and is always willing to go the extra mile.

A lifelong resident of Lompoc, Stephen barely migrated out of the area as he attended the University of California, Santa Barbara. While there, he expanded his oenological pursuits by working in a local wine shop… there he expanded his appreciation for the diversity of wine and wine regions (beyond his mother’s cellar) and developed an understanding of the wine business, especially with relating to consumers. This experience makes it very easy for Stephen to jump in and address technical questions with visitors, share harvest stories with a tasting room tour, and run the cash register flawlessly (unlike Kathy!). And as his former employer still stocks Fiddlehead, we’re pretty sure they’ve forgiven us for stealing him away.

Joining the Fiddlehead team in 2008, Stephen has worked his way up through the ranks, starting out as lead grape sorter for harvest; then onto a permanent position as cellar rat. Now as the exalted Assistant Winemaker, he works closely with Kathy on even the most critical winemaking decisions.

Stephen maintains an active lifestyle, including competitive league basketball, running and biking (even after a grueling day of work!). These days he often runs on the glorious grounds of our local Santa Ynez Mission and bikes through the scenic Los Padres National Forest. In the near future we intend to toast him with Fiddlehead when he successfully completes his first marathon.

Oh Fiddlestix! How could I not have fun when it came time to name my Vineyard?! After all, there are all those “stix” in the ground and there is that natural connection to all my other “fiddle” names…fiddlehead, fiddlechix, fiddlefriend, frequent fiddle club…..!

Fiddlehead is all about sense of place. I created Fiddlehead to focus on Pinot Noir and the place it is grown is essential to the personality of the brand.

In the early years, 1989–1993, I was lucky to be allocated a perfect little block at Sierra Madre Vineyard in Santa Maria…I was even luckier to have my wine selected for the White House Cellar (and yes, they even paid for it!). After Sierra Madre sold, there was little Pinot Noir to be had from Santa Barbara County, and even less that was the top quality that I demanded for Fiddlehead. I knew the only way I could progress my commitment to Pinot Noir was to invest in the development of bare ground.

I tasted my way through a myriad of Pinot Noir districts and was impressed by just how delicious some of those old Sanford & Benedict wines tasted and was challenged to invest in a little-known, cool-climate district. Many more years into my palate development, I learned that it was the clay soils that I found to be most interesting in their imparting a sprier, broader, more layered component to these finicky, delicate, enticing wines. Hence, my search for land turned to what was then known as “the western, cool climate district of the Santa Ynez Valley”, and more specifically the Santa Rosa Road corridor, where clay soils make their home.

After what seemed like an eternal search, I spotted a flower farm, not on the market, directly across the street from the historic Sanford & Benedict Vineyard. In 1996, I wrapped up “secret” negotiations to purchase the old Bodger property and found myself with 96 potential, glorious acres just waiting for Pinot Noir!

I took almost 2 years to explore clones and rootstocks, the soils and the water, row direction and trellis system options and farming choices. I selected 6 clones (Pommard 4 and 5, Dijon 113, 115, 667, 777), 3 rootstocks (mostly 101–14 and 3309 and a little 110R) and designed a plat of 35 unique blocks.

The first blocks were planted in 1998 with dormant grafted vines and the first tiny crop of Lollapalooza was produced in 2000! In 2001, a group of us local winemakers successfully earned the Sta. Rita Hills AVA designation. Now world renowned and recognized for its ideal, cool climate for Pinot Noir, this uniquely east-west oriented valley was perfect for Pinot Noir.

96 acres is clearly more than my petite brand wanted to produce, but Fiddlestix provides exactly the quality that Fiddlehead needs and wants. So it was very easy to spread the love to other small, hands-on producers that take it upon themselves to sing the praises of the place. There are now 14 winemakers that I sell grapes to who share the love of the fruit and join together every year to share their enticing nectar. We call it “FiddleFest” and we gather in the magical barn, in the manicured Fiddlestix Vineyard, in the glorious Sta. Rita Hills, on the winding Santa Rosa Road. We each add our individual creative hand to these luscious wines, and at the same time showcase the thread of similarity, having all come from that mile marker 7.28 on Santa Rosa Road. We use this opportunity to celebrate with Pinot Noir lovers, give recognition and support to our farm workers who help us make it happen, and we enjoy the local flavor of the Sta. Rita Hills with live FiddleTunes and wine country cuisine that celebrates both fresh and local.

This event happens only once a year and it’s my way of sharing my little place in paradise. Please join me on Saturday, June 18 for camaraderie and an education of a lifetime. Read more about it at: www.fiddlefestatfiddlestix.com.

10. There’s no better way to start out a great Vintners’ Festival weekend (than with a trip to the Lompoc Wine Ghetto!).

9. When else do you get to see men strutting their stylish pink shoes?

8. You are sure to be wowed by Wine Club member and Winery friend Theresa Anderson’s cupcake creations (which in our book are award winning). At least 4 different flavors to please your palate…submit your flavor request, today!

7. Fun PRIZES for the best costumes!

6. There are many bad rosés out there. But we are always getting feedback that ours delivers more (probably because the entire grape is devoted to this wine). Many tasters are surprised they like it!  

5. We serve a lot more than just pink wine…you never know what Kathy is going to pull out of her cellar!

4. Steve’s paella.  Enough said.

3. Discounts on Fiddlehead wines this night for attendees only.

2. It’s an excuse to get out of that stuffy shirt and dress up in costume! We all need a good laugh and you are guaranteed to leave with new friends.

And the number one reason.…

1. It’s a rare opportunity to dine with the winemaker (and wait ‘till you see her costume!).  And she is tons of fun to boot!

Space is limited to only 50 guests — Get your tickets today!
800–251-1225 or www.fiddleheadcellars.com/events

I had a crazy idea — I would like to connect with you guys more often and in a more accessible way. So every once in a while I am going to hang out at a restaurant and open a bottle of Fiddlehead and share stories of the day!

I am starting the New Year with a visit to Biba Restaurant in Sacramento on Tuesday, January 18th from 5:15 — 7:15pm. Pull up a chair and share a taste of Fiddlestix Pinot and more; I will order the first round of apps and you can compliment the restaurant by staying for dinner!

In addition you may catch me on one of my market trips to your state. My list of stops to date is shown below. And be sure to email me (info@fiddleheadcellars.com) if you would like more details on my market visit.

COLORADO (the Mountains): Feb 1 — 3
DAVIS, Fiddlehead Warehouse: “New Release Party”, Feb 5
DAVIS, Mondavi Center: “Women, Wine and Chocolate”, Feb 12
SANTA BARBARA: Paradise Cafe Meet & Greet, Feb 15
SHELL BEACH: World of Pinot Noir, March 4 — 5
NORTH CAROLINA: March 8 — 10
SAN FRANCISCO: Kathy Meet & Greet, Mid-March — stay tuned!
NAPA VALLEY (Healdsburg): “Pigs & Pinot”, March 18
ATLANTA: High Museum Auction and more, March 23 — 26
LAS VEGAS: March 29 — 30
LOMPOC: “Pinkie & Paella”, April 15
LOMPOC: Vintners’ Festival and Open House, April 16 — 17
OHIO: April 19 — 21
CHICAGO: April 25 — 28
OHIO: Wooster Wine Festival, April 29 — 30
DAVIS, Fiddlehead Warehouse: “Library Wines Tasting”, May 21
ORANGE COUNTY: Kathy Meet & Greet — postponed — stay tuned for new dates!
LOS ANGELES: Kathy Meet & Greet — Corkbar, June 1st 6pm-close
LOMPOC, Fiddlestix Vineyard: “FiddleFest”, June 18
NEW YORK: June 21 — 24

The wait is over — our 2007 Doyle has been released to our Wine Club members and now we’re offering the few remaining bottles to you!

A mere 270 bottles were produced; only 23 bottles are left!

The 2007 vintage of Doyle may be the best yet. Remember it’s that one barrel of Fiddlestix Pinot Noir (out of 100 acres of grapes) that had perfect balance and won my heart. Every bottle is uniquely numbered, just like every great piece of original art. This year’s label was once again created by Tom’s boyhood classmate, Joseph Balistreri.

If you are like me and are planning to drink this wine at your upcoming Holiday feast, you will enjoy how this wine becomes more expressive with every sip. And with your very last sip, you will see its true personality is released and its full aromatics have blossomed. For those of you who choose to wait, I am very confident this wine has life that will only get more delicious with time in the bottle.

Please email your interest to fiddlenews@fiddleheadcellars.com.
$166/bottle — 3 bottle limit per person.

UPDATE ON 12/22/10: Only 11 bottles left!! And there is no 2008!

Do you have a bottle of Hunnysuckle hiding in your cellar that could use a culinary companion? Try this exquisite Baked Onion Soup from the kitchen of Babette Joseph (Kathy’s mom!). This is a perfect Fall recipe that is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

We are thrilled to have opportunities to support our local vineyard and farm workers!  Steve, our Tasting Room Manager, will be pouring and representing Fiddlehead at the 3rd annual “Vino de Sueños” in Santa Ynez on Saturday, November 6th.  A new Fiddlestix Pinot Noir made just for this event will feature the artwork of Santa Ynez Valley local Zoë Nathan.  And that’s not all…event attendees will have the opportunity to taste wines from 16 other Santa Barbara County wineries, all of which feature labels with original artwork by 16 unique artists.  All wine and original artwork pieces for sale at value prices and all proceeds benefit “People Helping People”.  Check out all the details at www.vinodesuenos.com!

Our 4th annual First String Fiddlers Luncheon was a great success and I would like to thank all of our Wine Club members who joined us for the occassion!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous.  Chef Rick wowed us with a delicious meal; just ask anyone who attended and they are sure to agree!  I dug deep into my cellar to pull out some real gems to share (the biggest hit of the afternoon was the 2003 Oldsville Reserve Pinot Noir!).  And Rafa, my Vineyard Foreman, even treated us to tour of the vineyard on our tractor-drawn flower cart.  Mark your calendar for next year — Saturday, October 22nd!

My job is crazy…but good crazy!

I wake up an hour before the picking crew arrives, color code maps to outline the day’s pick, transport the pickers between vineyard blocks in my truck, ride on the light trailers to sort every bucket of grapes, practice my very bad Spanish, work closely with the pickers and vineyard foreman to deliver the best of the crop to the winery, supervise the picking of grapes for winemaker clients, coordinate the trucking and delivery schedules, manage the irrigation schedules for the vineyard, and then I rush back to the winery to feed the crew and celebrate the vintage with our neighboring wineries over lunch.

What a great life!

Of course, it’s not for everyone. You don’t get a lot of sleep. Your professional and personal lives are forever intertwined. You need active right and left brains. You have to learn quickly from your mistakes. And you have to continually think outside the box in good times and in bad. 

For those of you who think you want to get up with me at 2 am to night harvest and field sort the grapes, for those of you who want to work the assembly (oops, I mean bottling) line, for those of you who want to taste 160 unrefined barrel samples looking for Lollapalooza (and have to defend that decision 2 years later), for those of you financial types who want to help me convince our customers of the incredible value in Fiddlehead wines, and for those of you who love to write and want to share the Fiddlehead story but saying it differently every time under deadline … I invite you to think twice.

But holy smokes! I love the entertainment quotient.  I love to refine the story. I love to remember my college chemistry and why I was attracted to winemaking in the first place.  And I love the fact that the world has now given recognition to all of my grape growing places by awarding them all with an AVA (American Viticultural Area)…with “Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara” becoming official in October 2009.  Remember my mission since 1989 was to “grow the Fiddlehead brand with growing recognition of superb but yet-to-be-discovered grape growing places excellent for Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc”. 

And of course, ya gotta love the wine! The romance is nice but it’s a packaged deal. I know I will never be bored.  Cheers to that!

2010 had one of the coolest Springs on record.  Our average annual rainfall of about 17 inches per year was dwarfed by the 30 inches we received this past Winter season.  We often talk about the benefit of “hang time” (the time the grapes mature on the vine), inferring increased flavor complexity.  In past years, Fiddlestix has been very predictable, with harvest typically starting around September 5^th.  This year, our first harvest day was September 25^th…almost 3 weeks of additional hang time!  We love these flavors with low to moderate brix (sugar) measurements.  At the same time, I observed that all clones in the vineyard were tracking the same maturity path, meaning that all 100 acres would be ready to pick at the same time.  So our typical 3–4 week pick window was narrowing daily.  Wearing my farming hat, my challenge was to figure out how to manage the prediction that all of the grapes would be ready the same day. 

It seemed too good to be true and a most glorious vintage…until the 100 degree temperatures arrived on September 25^th and all hell broke loose!  The battle of Kathy Joseph against Mother Nature was on.  We learned our lesson in 2004 when a similar 4-day heat wave hit around Labor Day.  That year we did not have the capability to harvest at night, but we managed to pick Fiddlestix in 10 days.  Those of you who have come to our library tastings have left with testimonials on how glorious our 2004 Fiddlestix pinots have aged.

Fast forward to 2010…we are now equipped with trailers retrofit with light systems that allow us to pick in the early morning hours when temperatures are colder, the grapes are firmer, and the fragile, ripe grapes can better withstand the physical handling of picking.  Now we commence picking between 1 and 3 am (any volunteers?!) and, at Fiddlehead, we also have built a cold storage room which we chill to 35 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing us to chill the grape temperature down even further to protect the berries during the de-stemming process.  This year, we anticipate picking the entire vineyard at Fiddlestix again in 10 days, but under greatly improved conditions!