(Wines&Vines) - Technical Spotlight: Estate winery fulfills 20 years of planning and dreaming

St. Helena, Calif.—It’s not uncommon for a winery startup to use a custom-crush facility for a few years while the brand is building a reputation, and Napa Valley’s Crocker & Starr is no exception. Winemaker and co-owner Pam Starr made the first wines in 1997 at the Napa Wine Company in Oakville, Calif., six miles down Highway 29 from where the grapes were grown on the 114-acre property in St. Helena that co-owner Charlie Crocker had bought in 1971. 

In 1997 she began dreaming of building a dedicated winery. But it was not until the 20th vintage in 2016 that Starr’s dream was realized. In between those two dates the University of California, Davis, graduate and former winemaker for Spottswoode Vineyard and Winery had more than enough time to design the winery in her mind.