Wines of Jed Steele

Saturday, May 26
4:30 - 7:00

For this Saturday's tasting we are going to sample some wines from one of our favorite California winemakers: Jed Steele.  I first came across Steele wines as I was just getting into wines as a whole in the mid 1990s.  Some of Jed's single vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs were among the very first California vineyard specific wines I worked with, and his California Cuvée Chardonnay was a staple on every wine list I put together over my entire restaurant career.  Through both his namesake label and his Shooting Star label of Lake County and Washington State wines, Jed has perfectly balanced traditional styles with more adventurous and experimental wines.  His bottling of Aligote is unique and delicious, a perfect example of his more idiosyncratic wines, and always a big hit at tastings.  The Steele Pacini Vineyard Zinfandel is truly classic California, and has been our best selling Zinfandel of the last several years.  With Jed's wines, there is always something for everyone!
A New Yorker by birth, Jed moved with his family to San Francisco in 1950. Jed worked as a cellar rat for Stony Hill Winery in Napa Valley in 1968, and then went on to earn his MS in enology from U.C. Davis in 1974. From 1974 through 1982 he was the winemaker and vineyard manager at Edmeades Winery in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. He went on to become head winemaker at Kendall-Jackson Winery taking them from 35,000 cases to 1 million cases in 9 vintages. He then decided to start his own brand in 1991. Jed’s vision had always been to make a number of different varietal wines in small lots, using minimally invasive winemaking techniques and allowing the vineyard and grape variety to dictate style. Today Jed continues his vision by crushing 22 different varietals and producing 40 different wines, most in lots of under 1,000 cases. Steele Wines owns five vineyards and leases three additional vineyards from the Dorn family, original settlers of Lake County. Jed also buys grapes from families he’s worked with for many years, from Santa Barbara County to Washington State.
Our good friend Greg Pfaender from Empire Distributors will be on hand Saturday to walk us through
five selections of Steele and Shooting Star Wines.

Shooting Star Sauvignon Blanc
Lake County, California, 2016

Shooting Star Aligote
Washington State, 2014

Steele Wines 'Cuvée' Chardonnay
California, 2015

Steele Wines Cabernet Franc
Lake County, California, 2015

Steele Wines 'Pacini Vineyard' Zinfandel
Mendocino County, California, 2014