Who are they/Where are they located?

Mayacamas, named after the mountain range it sits on that separates Napa and Sonoma, has changed hands a few times over the years. John Henry Fisher, a German immigrant and pickle merchant in San Francisco, first purchased the property in 1889, built the stone winery that still stands today and planted Zinfandel grapes. The great earthquake and fire of 1906 forced his businesses in SF into bankruptcy and the estate was sold at auction.

Jack Taylor, a chemist, and his wife, Mary purchased the land in 1941. The Taylor’s not only created the wine label that is still used today but the vineyards, cellar, and current winemaking techniques are largely due to their efforts. Throughout the 1950s, they added more modern fermentation and expanded their inventory of large oak casks. Jack planted the first Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon vines on the property.

In 1968, Bob and Eleanor Travers became the owners of Mayacamas. Bob was only 30 at the time but he possessed an unwavering commitment to traditional winemaking from his apprenticeship at Heitz Cellars. The quality of his wines were undeniable - so much so that his 1971 vintage was selected for the Judgment of Paris tasting, legitimizing the quality of California winemaking to the world. Bob’s legendary 45 vintages at Mayacamas set the standard for the winery’s future.

What are they making?

Because of the high elevation and cool mountain climate, they have the longest growing season and the lowest yields in Napa Valley. They’ve maintained the same approach to winemaking since the 40’s which is to pick early to preserve acidity, use open-top cement tank fermentation, extended aging in neutral oak barrels of various sizes, some of which are now nearly 100 years old and hold wines back for years in neutral oak and in bottle before their release.

Although many traditions have been kept alive, the 2017 wildfire destruction on the property forced an upgrade of infrastructure and equipment allowing for more precision, efficiency and quality control. The estate’s 52 acres of vineyards have since been replanted to pull any vines that were diseased, burned, or phylloxera-afflicted, allowing them to give the soils a chance to regenerate, transition into new varietals, institute organic viticulture, and continue dry-farming, reviving the estate’s yields for the next generation. They currently make Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.

Why do we love them?

Since 2013, the newest owners, the Schottenstein family, and winemakers Andy Erickson and Braiden Albrecht have rigorously preserved the identity of Mayacamas. They continue to produce some of the finest wines in the history of California. These are stunning, pure expressions of the varietals and an absolute must-try next time you want to splurge a little.

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-Michelle-

For those of you who are mezcal-curious but not trying to drop $80 on a bottle you’re not even sure you’ll like — we now have all four expressions of the Legendario Domingo mezcals in hip-flask sized bottles.

Try the purple Cenizo if something deep, creamy, and smoky sounds good to you. If something more tropical strikes your fancy, check out the pink Michoacan. Or try my personal favorite, the green Papalote, which has a kind of cucumber-lime vegetality I can’t stop sipping.

And speaking of sipping — Legendary Domingo also makes matching handmade clay copitas for you to drink from. A bottle plus matching copitas? Basically begging to be a gift.

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-Sara-

Who are they?

After years on the Mexico City bartending scene, Hillhamn Salome decided she wanted to deep dive into her favorite spirit: mezcal. 

In 2015, she founded Mexico’s first female-powered distillery, staffed by a lean team of five women. Their signature offering, Xila (pronounced “SHEE-la”), means “woman” in the indigenous Oaxacan language  of Zapotec.

What are they making?

Flor du Luna’s signature offering is Xila Licor de Agave, a mezcal-based aperitif. The aperitif’s journey starts in Oaxaca, where Salome sources the base Espadin mezcal from mezcalero Edilberto Bautista, who manages the palenque (mezcal distillery) with his wife. 

Once the base mezcal arrives at Flor du Luna’s Mexico City distillery, the team macerates the mezcal with botanicals for seven days. Each of the botanicals — roasted pineapple, ancho Chile, cinnamon, pepper, clove, hibiscus, and lavender —  are hand-picked by the Flor du Luna team for quality and consistency, with one team member taking full responsibility for each botanical.

Then, the team blends the mezcal with homemade simple syrup, bringing the ABV of the mezcal down from 50% to 20% — aka the perfect proof for a buzzy brunch cocktail.

Why do we like them?

I’ll be honest. I think Xila is one of the most slept-on spirits here at Stanley’s. Once tasted, its unique flavor profile sticks in your mind. It’s warmly spiced, but just as at home in a summer spritz as in a boozy coffee drink. It has an edge of tropicality, and an almost cocoa-like sumptuousness to it. 

It can be intimidating to buy a liqueur, but you don’t have to overthink Xila: put some over ice, and you’ve got a great sipper.

But, if you feel like getting a little more ambitious, try this variation on a mezcal Negroni, inspired by Andrew Saglia’s Tierra del Fuego:

Xila Negroni
1oz Aperitivo Cappelletti
1oz Xila Licor de Agave
1/2 oz Angelisco Tequila Blanco
1/2oz Fidencio Espadin Mezcal
3 dashes Dashfire Mole bitters

-Sara-

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Who are they?

+Roland Velich is the zealous winemaker behind Moric (pronounced Moritz). 

+He began his career working with his family’s estate, making the sweet wines the region was once famous for before starting his own project in 2002.

Where are they from?

+Mittelburgenland, Austria, close to the Hungarian border, east of Vienna.

+His estate is comprised of 55 acres of 50-100+ year old vines situated on steep slopes.

What are they making?

+Wines primarily from Blaufränkisch, also known as Lemberger in the US and Germany or Kékfrankos in Hungary. 

+While most winemakers in Austria treat this grape like a warm climate grape and pile on new oak and push for more extraction, Roland sees it differently and treats it as if it were Grand Cru Burgundy, showing that this grape that can be terroir-transparent in the right hands.

+His approach was to find old vineyards with unique terroir and combine rigorous selection in the biodynamic vineyards with low yields, natural fermentation, and patient, low-intervention winemaking with fairly primitive techniques. With each vintage, Roland has refined his style, creating something that did not previously exist in Austria.

+Initially he made single vineyard wines separately and then blended them, but since 2019 he has made three single-vineyard bottlings. Even though the vineyards are close in proximity, the wines are distinctly different. Some of them from more than 110 year old vines producing only enough fruit to make a few hundred bottles of wine per acre.

Why do we like them? 

+Roland’s commitment to terroir expression is so strong that he finds himself at odds with the Austrian governmental tasting panels each year. Several of his wines are regularly refused DAC status because they don't follow the panels stylistic interpretation. They want classically clean and clear wines, fined, filtered and with plenty of SO2. Roland refuses to engage in that much manipulation, feeling it diminishes the sense of place. So his wines are often labelled simply as “Osterreich”, or Austria. To him, nothing is more important than expressing place and to not adhere to a regulated style.

+Roland Velich is one of the defining winemakers of the Austrian wine scene. A pioneer of elegance and finesse. He just might be making the best Blaufränkisch in the world, just saying!

-Michelle McDermott-

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Owner and winemaker Mike Lucia has been finding his way in the California wine world since he moved to Healdsburg as a teenager in 1992. Working in restaurants in the area, he started to get to know some local winemakers and his first wine job was working a harvest at DeLoach Vineyards in the Russian River Valley. Although he had no experience, during his interview with the winemaker, Mike was asked what he wanted to do and his response was something every winemaker dreams of hearing when looking for harvest interns — “I want to clean!” And just like that, he was in.

This experience sparked something in him as he met people in the industry from the winemaking side, hospitality, vineyard, and even in maintenance who clearly loved what they did. And he felt inspired by watching people taste the wines and see their eyes light up from something he helped make. Working at DeLoach led to jobs at many other well-respected wineries such as Ridge, Forchini, Goldeneye, and Copain. Mike fell in love along the way with the wines of Burgundy and sought to find a similarly nuanced, terroir-driven experience at home in California. 

In 2014, while still the assistant winemaker at Copain, Mike started a side project of the kind of wines he loved to drink and so began Rootdown, referencing to the influence the soil has on a wine. Today, Mike has expanded to include a few more brands: Es Okay, which was a way to help growers find a home for leftover fruit and as it turns out is way better than “okay” and Cole Ranch which pays homage to John Cole who planted the high-elevation, 55 acre Cole Ranch Vineyard in ’73 with Riesling, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon - old school, classy, structured sort of wines. Cole Ranch happens to also be America’s smallest AVA and in 2019, Mike became an owner of it. He’s since shifted the focus for Rootdown to all Jura-inspired wines and has grafted 6 acres to Trousseau, Pinot Noir, Poulsard, Savignin and Chardonnay.

Mike’s intention is to let curiosity form an experiment, while making serious wines that over-deliver at their affordable price points. Stylistically, his wines are low alcohol, high acid, and more delicate. He’s very hands-off, allowing the grapes and sites to speak for themselves. The wines are fermented with native yeast, no new oak, bottled within 10 months to preserve freshness and varietal character, and sulfur is used only in amounts less or equal to what is found naturally on the vine and added at bottling. The vineyards are farmed organically and harvested to lead with earth and texture rather than only fruit. We have the Trousseau and Chardonnay available in the shop now but it’s super limited and almost gone sooo..see you soon! 

Shop Rootdown

-Michelle-