A Family Affair
It all depends on what you read. Some stories about Esterlina Vineyards will lead off with the point that they are one of the few African-American-owned wineries in the country. Others will tell you they make exceptional wines, including a Pinot Noir that Sunset magazine recently named one of the best.
But Esterlina's Vice President of Operations Craig Sterling thinks it's simpler than that. "One of the appeals of our winery is that there are real people making wines," he says.
 Those real people include the entire Sterling family (Esterlina is Spanish for Sterling). Each of the three brothers and their parents are all involved in some aspect of the winery. The idea took root, literally, in the '90s, when Murio Sterling, the family patriarch, and son Eric, an ER physician, decided to invest in land in the Alexander Valley and the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County.
The family had been farming for over 30 years but had never grown grapes. They simply had a love of wine.
"Eric taught himself," says Craig Sterling. "But he did have an undergraduate degree in biochemistry. As a wine-drinker, he had an idea of what he wanted. Getting the palate was the most important part."
In time, the entire family was involved, applying their respective career fields, including law and business, to the winery. Esterlina grew to include America's smallest appellation, Cole Ranch, around 250 acres in Mendocino County between Booneville and Ukiah. The family also discovered the perfect place to set up their winery in 2000, a 55-acre patch of land in the Anderson Valley formerly known as Pepperwood Springs.
"We think it's the most beautiful winery in North America," Sterling says of the panoramic view over the lush Anderson Valley. "We also love the Pinot we get here. We're close to 1,200 feet in elevation, which gives us great weather and good ripeness."
The Sterlings are not the only ones who love their Pinot. In addition to magazine recommendations, Esterlina's Anderson Valley Pinot Noir won a gold medal at the 2005 California State Fair. The Tres Appellations Chardonnay and Cole Ranch Riesling also took medals.
Through magazines, awards and personal recommendations, people are hearing about Esterlina. Since the beginning of 2004, their wine club membership has grown from 300 to 1,300.
"We're big believers in word of mouth," says Sterling. "The best way to get your wines out there is to have loyal customers tell their friends about it.
"I think the fact that we're African-American may get some people interested, but it doesn't hinder us," he continues. "We hope there are more minority wine-drinkers, but that's not our focus. Our challenge is the same as any other family-owned winery - to continue to market and make great wines. We don't want to make 10,000 cases. We want to make really good wines."
Esterlina has been very careful to not only mini-mize their production, but also to work with care-fully selected vendors. Raley's is the only major grocer to carry their wines.
"Raley's is a great company," says Sterling. "The people who shop at Raley's appreciate food and want a higher quality. Our wines pair with that. People who buy our wines are looking for something high quality, but not run of the mill."
Part of Raley's commitment to carrying only the finest products includes making sure our experts are experts on everything we carry. For Raley's Wine Consultant Paul Arretche, who recently spent a day at Esterlina sampling their wines and asking questions, Esterlina is a perfect match.
"I've had customers asking about these wines," he says. "My customers are really interested in wines and they trust my opinion. And having tried them, I think they're going to be very popular. The Pinot and Chardonnay, in particular, are amazing."
That's just what Craig Sterling likes to hear.
"We want our wines to be so good that you can't wait to tell someone," he says.
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