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Buena Vista Carneros(TM) Celebrates 150 Years of Winemaking
PRNewswire

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California's First Premium Winery Honors Its Past and Announces New Winemaking Direction for the Future
SONOMA, Calif., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Founded in 1857 as California's first premium winery, Buena Vista Carneros(TM) celebrates its 150th anniversary this year and is proud that this historic milestone also marks a complete renovation of its viticultural practices, winemaking direction and portfolio focus. Bringing its legacy of industry innovation into the 21st century, Buena Vista's rebirth is the culmination of four years of significant winery improvements and capital investments, as well as a major vineyard replant led by talented cool-climate winemaker Jeff Stewart and viticulturist Craig Weaver. With a new focus on estate fruit, limited production and cool-climate varietals that showcase its remarkable 800-acre Estate vineyard, Buena Vista Carneros is positioned to be a leading quality wine producer in Carneros.

"2007 is a milestone year for Buena Vista Carneros, and we are excited to celebrate our 150th year as California's first premium winery and honor the evolution of California's wine industry," says winemaker Jeff Stewart. "We are incredibly passionate about Buena Vista's Sonoma winemaking heritage and are more focused than ever on producing exceptional estate wines that fully express the essence of the Carneros winegrowing region."

Investments in Viticulture, Science and Artistry

Founded by California wine industry pioneer Agoston Haraszthy, Buena Vista Carneros has endured the ups and downs of California winemaking history, to its current renaissance under winemaker Jeff Stewart. Now, the winery has committed its future to artisan winemaking techniques and terroir-specific viticultural practices that focus on the superior quality of its Carneros estate. In alignment with that vision, Buena Vista Carneros has invested millions in winemaking and viticulture over the past four years, including 63 new open top fermentors and meticulous replanting of its 800-acre Ramal Vineyard, introducing new clone and rootstock combinations, higher vine density and site-specific matching for various soil types.

"We are exceptionally fortunate that our founder recognized the potential of this region 150 years ago, and that our estate vineyard lies in the heart of one of the most celebrated winegrowing regions in the world. Knowing what we now know about the capabilities of this appellation, our new mission at Buena Vista Carneros is to ensure that each and every step of our winemaking process articulates the remarkable character of our Carneros fruit," says Stewart.

Committed to ensuring that this remarkable character is preserved from the vineyard to the table, Stewart is also a passionate advocate of the use of screw cap closures to capture and preserve wine quality, freshness and consistency of flavors. Says Stewart, "I want every Buena Vista Carneros wine to express the same stunning fruit and complexity that we experience at the winery, and screw cap closures are the best closures available to guarantee this high standard of quality in every bottle." Under Stewart's direction, Buena Vista Carneros will release its first wines sealed with screw cap closures in 2008 and transition the entire portfolio by 2009.

Formerly winemaker at La Crema, Stewart joined Buena Vista Carneros in 2003 and has spent the last four years carefully assessing the terroir of Buena Vista's estate vineyard and orchestrating a meticulous replanting of its 800-acre Ramal Vineyard, the largest in the Carneros appellation. Replanting about 100 acres of the Ramal Vineyard every year, with each new block Stewart and the viticultural team review the structure of the soil to determine exactly which variety, clone and rootstock should be planted to achieve the best results. To date, Stewart has planted 13 Pinot Noir clones and 23 unique Chardonnay clones alone, dividing the vineyard into more than 167 separate blocks based on soil and exposure. As Stewart says, "It's not about finding better ways to make more wine -- it's about finding more ways to make better wine." By 2010, 100 percent of Buena Vista's 800-acre Ramal Vineyard will have been replanted.

New Era of Carneros Winemaking with Focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

One of the first wineries to invest in the Carneros region back in 1969, Buena Vista Carneros has also refocused winemaking on the cool-climate varietals Carneros is best suited for: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Merlot -- the only wine varieties being produced by Buena Vista Carneros today. Total production, once as high as 375,000 cases prior to Stewart's arrival, has been reduced to 55,000. As the new, young vines come into production, Buena Vista Carneros projects it will level off at 80,000 cases, keeping production small enough to maintain Stewart's exacting standards of quality.

Always hand-harvested at night and crafted from one-hundred percent Carneros fruit, Buena Vista Carneros now offers two distinct wine tiers: the Carneros Series, carefully made to fully express the intensely flavored fruit grown in Carneros, and the Ramal Vineyard Series, featuring limited-production artisan wines showcasing the winery's estate vineyard. The newly released 2005 Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and the 2005 Ramal Vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, are now available nationally.

150th Anniversary Event

To commemorate this landmark year, Buena Vista Carneros will host a special 150th anniversary celebration at the winery's historic tasting room in Sonoma on September 7th for trade, media and select consumers. In preparation for this year's festivities, the winery has recently updated its historic tasting room while maintaining the historic integrity and charm of the site, a designated California Historic Landmark. Throughout the month of September, California Wine Month, every visitor to the tasting room will also receive a complimentary commemorative glass honoring the anniversary. Earlier this year, Agoston Haraszthy was inducted as part the inaugural class of wine industry "founders" into the Vintner's Hall of Fame in St. Helena, California, and the winery is due to receive a Congressional Resolution marking its place in California's wine history later this year.

Editor's Note: Interviews with winemaker Jeff Stewart available upon request. Historic photography, 150th anniversary artwork and bottle images also available.

About Buena Vista Carneros
Founded in 1857 as California's first premium winery, Buena Vista Carneros(TM), produces cool-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah from its 1000 acre estate property in Carneros, and is the largest vineyard landholder in the Carneros appellation. Under the guidance of winemaker Jeff Stewart and viticulturist Craig Weaver, the winery will complete a total replant of its estate vineyards in 2010. Set along a breathtaking series of rolling south-facing hillsides overlooking the San Pablo Bay, Buena Vista Carneros is one of the leading quality wine producers in Carneros and is a part of Beam Wine Estates, Inc., the wine group of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. To learn more about the winery, please visit www.buenavistacarneros.com

Savor Our Fine Wine Responsibly (C)2007 Buena Vista Winery, Inc., Sonoma, CA SOURCE Buena Vista Carneros