Bottleology – She moved from California to Washington to make wine. Hillary Sjolund of Di Stefano Winery, is obviously a smart woman!

Hillary Sjolund grew up in the heart of Anderson Valley on the Mendocino coast in Northern California, but that wasn’t where she found her love affair with wine—it was while attending UC Davis as a Pre Med student. Hillary said, “I had no clue whatsoever that it was a wine making school and that wine making was a degreed program,” so she took wine making as an elective.  The course, instructed by Carole Meredith of Lagier Meredith Winery, was one that enthralled Hillary and captured the culture and history of wine.  It was in that class, “I figured out what I wanted to do,” she said.

Her start: Her first job in the wine business was at Pine Ridge Winery in Napa Valley as a lab tech, where she said “I became the intern that never went away,” that is until she headed south to make wine for a stint in the Colchagua Valley of Chile.

Heads up: Mark Newton of Di Stefano Winery in Woodenville, Washington, had been growing the winery and it got to the point that he needed help from a wine making diva. Mark decided to hire a head hunter [obviously a good one].   Hillary clearly made the right choice and left California fro Washington State!

This is why I’m hot: In California there is a lot of competition, and working on your own projects as a winemaker is much more expensive.  So, here in Washington, Hillary has more freedom to buy the highest quality grapes and more of them—some girls would call that shopping. “Washington is still a very young industry here, it’s very collaborative and I’ve had a lot of fun working with the growers and other winemakers—it’s been a good time,” she said.

Psssssst: Look for a release coming soon from her own personal label—she’s big on Cabernet Sauvignon.

Mama Mia: Hillary looks to soon incorporate Italian varietals into the Di Stefano portfolio to the winery’s program to better brand its Italian heritage.

Mad Scientist Stuff: “This is the first year I’ve done it—but I’ve been playing around with letting the growers collaborate with me in making a field blend. They picked the grapes in the field and combined them in the bins, I then co-fermented them in the winery.  “I’ve done some small batches this year,” Hillary said.

Her epiphany moment: Hillary’s most memorable wine experience was at Pine Ridge while she was the Assistant Winemaker.  One year, after the harvest, the owner was having a party—he evidently had an amazing private cellar.  He asked Hillary to go into his cellar, take a turn and pick something off the shelf. “It doesn’t matter what it was” he said.  Hillary ended up picking a 1962 Chateau Latour, they drank that wine, and Hillary said, “It was singularly the greatest moment yet in my career—tasting that wine.”

Nick Name: “Gringa Loca”

Pick Your Poison: Hillary’s favorite beverage is Champagne! She’s a member of a San Francisco wine shops (D&M) “Champagne Society,” which sends her bubbly every other month of small, “grower” French Champagne.

Philosophical: Hillary says, “I just want to make wine with great character.  The whole idea of finding the nuance that has some kind of authenticity in terms of where they’re located and the soils that they’re on is what I strive for. Find the greatest grapes that you can and hope you don’t muck it up.  For me I want to translate something that I find in the field, directly into your glass and let you know that this is where it came from—and you can taste it!”

A mouth full: Di Stefano, 2006  Cabernet Sauvignon, Winemakers Reserve, Columbia Valley $45 93 Cs.

Hillary chose this wine for Bottleology, because it’s a wine that she said she “selfishly makes for herself.” This is wine from the four best barrels in the winery. Hillary, thanks for sharing this very personal product.

On the nose this wine is quiet and restrained with subtle oak indicators like cinnamon, cardamom spice and ginger bread—its red color flirting with the color brown.  A wine far from the typical fruit bomb of Washington State, this one is made more like a European.  Some dried fruit tones of cranberry and cherry, however it offers more of a textural sensation than a full flavored experience. Acid levels and tannin remain firm from a touch of plum skin character, but its style seems perhaps intentionally Italian.

Distefano Winery
12280 Woodinville Dr. NE
Woodinville, WA 98072

info@distefanowinery.com

For an interview please contact me: dave@winomagazine.com