Stone the Crows Wine

Stone the Crows Wine, not to be confused with Dancing Crow Vineyards in Mendocino County is a single vineyard producing one wine each year from a hillside vineyard planted in St. Helena. The vineyard itself is somewhat remote – located in the hills east of the town of St Helena on the northern slopes above Lake Hennessy. Initially one wine was produced annually, made from the vineyard’s several clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and a small percentage of Petit Verdot. After 5 years, a second wine was introduced, called Fallen Feather produced primarily from clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Proprietor Rick Talmadge has been coming to Napa for years – since his early twenties. He met a friend in law school and upon graduating his friend moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Rick would visit him, and they would often make the short drive up to the Napa Valley. After a successful career in Real Estate law based in New York, he began to look for property in the valley. A local real estate agent who happens to be the daughter of a Napa Valley winery owner showed him a number of pieces of property around the valley.

After a deal to purchase this property fell through with another buyer, Rick then acquired this land. Vineyards were not planted on the property at the time – as the land was originally used for cattle grazing. The first vines were planted in 2004 – today there are five acres of vines divided into four unique blocks. The property is at an elevation of about 700 feet. The vineyard is named the Three Twins Vineyard as a nod Rick’s children – he has triplets. This vineyard has fantastic views – overlooking Lake Hennessy and beyond its waters, additional hillsides which form the Pritchard Hill growing region.

The microclimate here is somewhat of a banana belt – perhaps influenced by nearby Lake Hennessy. The area remains fairly frost free and although it can certainly warm up here – breezes tend to moderate the temperature throughout the day.

A number of vineyards are planted in this hilly part of Napa Valley, but unlike the valley floor the terrain here is still primarily natural hillsides. Despite fairly strict county standards for developing new vineyard land, especially on the hillsides – new vineyards continue to be developed in the region. The well-regarded Pritchard Hill region is home to a number of prominent Napa producers to the south and east of the Lake. While not as many vineyards and wineries are on this side of the lake, there are several well-regarded vineyards on the north side of Lake Hennessy. Their closest winery neighbor to Stone the Crows is Buehler Vineyards. BOND, Fairchild and Amizetta either own or source from nearby vineyards.

Winemaker, Thomas Brown
Well regarded winemaker Thomas Brown has made very vintage. Before he was hired, Rick had spoken to him on the phone a number of times. Trying to arrange an in-person meeting, Rick told Thomas it would have to wait until he returned from his trip to Paris. As it turns out, Thomas was also in Paris at the same time, and they ended up meeting for the first time at a cafe along the Champs-Élysées.

Thomas is one of the busiest wine makers in the Napa Valley. Several producers have showed us lists of all the Napa brands that he consults for and or provides direct winemaking services; this is an extensive list. He is from South Carolina and developed an interest in wine while attending the University of Virginia where his major was not wine related (he studied English and Economics).

He moved to the Napa Valley in 1996 and took a job at All Seasons Bistro in Calistoga (known for their California cuisine, wine selection and long time in business – but unfortunately permanently closed in 2020). While there, Thomas met winemaker Ehren Jordan who was working for Larry Turley at the time of Turley Wine Cellars. Thomas took a job with Ehren in the cellar at Turley in 1997 – spent several years there before beginning his own career and starting to consult for various clients (some of which were clients that Ehren was already working with).

And within only 10 years of making wine in the Napa Valley Thomas received two 100-point scores from Robert Parker – regardless of what your perception is of scores, creating several wines within a short period of time that receive 100 points from Parker was a watershed moment in Thomas’s consulting career.

Today Thomas is highly sought after for his winemaking services, experience and access to premium area vineyards. And while he was once the student, over the years he has become the teacher. We have met with a number of winemakers who worked under Thomas – and consider him one of their mentors. These are winemakers who have gone on to establish their own brands or consult for other Napa based brands.

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The name Stone the Crows is rather intriguing, but it has nothing to do with actually throwing stones at Crows. Initially Rick and his family considered using his last name but that was already in use by another winery. Noticing all the large black crows that would perch on the fences on his property he creatively came up with the name.

The words “Stone the Crows” is actually an Australian expression one uses to indicate surprise or amazement or a wow factor. And it can aptly be used to describe Rick’s reaction when he first tried wine from his vineyard. Some vineyards have a bird problem when the grapes become ripe – but it is not usually crows doing the damage – rather starlings, or even wild Turkeys.

Select Wines
The first wine produced was from 2009; Stone the Crows made only 35 cases and did not release it commercially. 2010 is their first commercial vintage.

The 2012 Stone the Crows initially shows pleasing aromas of sage, cedar and black fruit. As the wine breathes the bouquet becomes more elegant and reveals a hint of baking spice. The mid palate is soft and rounded. The finish offers mocha, a bit of coffee bean, toasted cedar and lingering fruit. The tannins hit the palate delicately – first in the front and then slowly to the back lingering softly along with flavor for some time. A pure pleasure to drink.

We initially tried the 2011 Stone the Crows Cabernet Sauvignon soon after release at a local tasting and remember being impressed by that particular wine. Since then, we have tried a number of wines up and down the valley from this vintage. It was a challenging year for wine making based on rains all the way into June (think rain at the annual Napa Valley Wine Auction), a cool summer and early rains. Some of the best wines we have tried from that vintage were from the eastern hills in Napa Valley.

NOTE: this section of this review has been identified as needing a *major* update including tasting notes for much more recent vintages. We hope to taste through several new bottlings sometime by the end of 2025 and will update our notes here.

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Tastings
Private tastings of Stone the Crows are by appointment and are held in the Winemakers Den at Brasswood Winery located just north of St. Helena. This private room within the Brasswood Winery complex of buildings is a comfortable place to hang out; an hour can quickly turn into two with good friends and excellent wines. Formerly the St. Helena Factory Outlets, the property now features a number of tasting rooms, the physical winery, an art gallery and a restaurant and a gourmet deli.

This is a very unique Napa property. It is approximately 50 acres and straddles two sub appellations including Spring Mountain and St. Helena. While no grapes are currently planted on the property for commercial use, they have up to 20 acres to develop in the future. The property also comes with a variety of valuable permits – one being the extremely rare Napa permit to allow weddings on site.

This “campus” if you will, features four tasting rooms including the main tasting room where most walk-in visitors will taste wines), The Winemaker’s Den, an appointment only room across from the main tasting room, the Vintner’s Den just outside of the wine cave and one within the winery.

The property allows a number of their custom crush wineries to host visitors. Guests interested in tasting any of the wines from the Mondavi Sisters Collection can reserve several visit options including a sit-down tasting or a longer experience in which their wines are paired with a several course lunch from Brasswood Bar + Kitchen.

Food is an integral part of the property. Brasswood Bar + Kitchen is a Gastro Pub; the large window behind the bar looks north towards the actual winery facility; you can watch harvest activities on the crush pad during September and October from your bar-stool seat! Their founding chef has Michelin three-star experience; he joined them previously from The Restaurant at Meadowood, also located in St. Helena. The sizable commercial kitchen easily has enough space to accommodate both the restaurant and the cafe’s needs. Weather permitting, guests can eat outside on the patio overlooking the grounds, a great place to see and be seen, inside in the booths or at the bar.

Some of the fresh ingredients used by chef are sourced directly from the property – from a culinary garden growing on the south side of the property.

This experience typically lasts a minimum of 90 minutes up to 2.5 hours for a more leisurely lunch and occurs outside on the Brasswood patio (weather permitting) or inside the restaurant. Aloft wines are poured in between each course.

We always recommend guests coming to Brasswood Estate to arrive early to spend some time browsing the grounds including The Shop at Brasswood + Mercantile. This small store offers a collection of hand selected products from around the globe – it is a unique shopping experience for this part of Napa Valley. Both men and women’s fashion, home décor, artisan jewelry, culinary tools, fine textiles, ceramics, hand-blown glass, specialty cosmetics and even a few electronics are available.

And this shop also contains wines from Brasswood wine partners as well as products from Brasswood Spirits, American whiskey, gin and vodka.

Former Tasting Space
In early 2022 several brands including Matthew Wallace, Caterwaul and Post Parade moved into 810 Foothill Boulevard within the city limits of Calistoga (a few minute drive, slightly south of downtown). Later in the year, Aston Estate joined these other brands followed by Switchback Ridge; their wines are also available for purchase and tasting on site. Aston Estate focuses on single vineyard Pinot Noir.

As of 2023, a small brand called RIV founded by 4th generation Napa Valley resident, Alicia Regusci Hardin became part of the collective. And on November 1, 2023 wines from Stone the Crows were available for tastings – the first time in their history they have been part of a space to showcase their wines. However, Stone the Crows was in this space for a very short time and as of 2024 has already moved out. We keep our notes here for historical reference.

This space previously was used to host visitors for T-Vine Cellars and before that was Rainbow Agricultural services, a supplier of agricultural power equipment including John Deere tractors. After the most recent change in occupancy, the name was rebranded 810 Foothill to reflect the property address. Two primary buildings are on the property; the hospitality space with both interior bar seating and tables for guests along with a more private space upstairs. Weather permitting, some outdoor seating is available with great views of the vineyard to the east surrounding the property. A second building is used for storage including wines.

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For more information, to setup a tasting appointment or to join their mailing list, visit: www.stonethecrowswine.com