The OG Cult Winery: Stony Hill’s 2025 Vintage Is a Certifiable GOLD RUSH!

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: The SHV Chardonnay 2025 isn't yet rated, but Decanter has weighed in on the SHV Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, a wine of "extraordinary focus, precision and tension,” it wrote, in a soaring 95-point review, with graphite "pronounced" against "rich cedarwood nuance," and none of the overripeness the vintage might have suggested. The review noted "a subtle touch of agave nectar" on the palate, backed by "impressive texture and firm tannin grip."

OUR TASTING NOTES: At our recent tasting, we poured the Chardonnay first, and it did exactly what Stony Hill Chardonnay has always done to us: made us all sit up a little straighter. No butter, no obvious oak, just citrus pith and wet stone and — most wonderful of all — a taut, almost stubborn line of acidity that runs right through the middle. It almost feels as if it were not a made thing but an  engineered thing, if that didn’t sound so soulless. A thrilling Chard, truly. The SHV Cabernet surprised us with its expressiveness and delicacy. It’s dark and brooding to start, then something almost smoky comes forth, and then, just as you prepare for it to begin its finish, it reveals another layer, opening out into something vibrant and soulful and rich. The Spring Mountain is a wine that needs a little time to decant, and then — wow. The way it evolves over the minutes, the way it opens to show you itself in layer after rich layer. The volcanic backbone is undeniable, and gives every sip its character and definition. 

THE STORY: Stony Hill didn’t start out to be a legend. It didn’t even start out to be a winery. Fred McCrea was an ad salesman in San Francisco, in the early 1940s, when he and his wife Eleanor bought 168 acres of steep, goat-grazed slope on Spring Mountain. What was the appeal? They simply wanted a place to spend summers. What they got, once they'd looked at the soil properly, was a rare limestone layer sitting high above the valley floor. In short, exactly the kind of terroir that makes a Burgundy lover's heart beat a little faster. So the McCreas planted Chardonnay cuttings from the Wente vineyards, in 1948. Viticultural experts had preached a diversity of varietals, but the McCreas ignored those suggestions. By 1954, demand had so badly outrun what a 20-acre hillside could produce that they started a mailing list, quietly inventing the model every cult winery in California would later copy. Buyers made the winding drive up the mountain for years just to collect their allocation. The McCreas were proud stewards of the land and the estate, until 2018, when age and economics finally forced a sale. A short stint under the Hall family nudged the vineyard toward organic farming, and then, in December 2020, Gaylon Lawrence Jr. and Carlton McCoy Jr., a master sommelier, bought the property outright and folded it into Lawrence Wine Estates (the same portfolio, by the way, that includes Heitz Cellar). They rebuilt the cellar, converted operations to biodynamic farming, replanted the fields vine by vine, and dedicated the upper reaches of the mountain to Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. An exciting new chapter for a great winery. And so far the results have been spectacular. 

WHAT TO PAIR THEM WITH: The Chardonnay is a superlative companion for shellfish, or a whole roasted fish with olive oil and herbs, or a simple risotto, or anything that lets that acidity do its job. The Cabernets are built for the grill: for a thick, dry-aged ribeye, or lamb chops with rosemary.

FUN FACT: A small, terraced block of Chardonnay vines at the vineyard can be traced all the way back to 1948.

OUR GUARANTEE: As always, we only buy and source directly from the producer to ensure that your bottles arrive as they should: with pristine provenance guaranteed. Secure your bottles and cases today!