Robert Stemmler is a pioneer, an early and passionate producer of outstanding California Pinot Noir. He is also a dear friend of the Racke family. And that is why our label bears his name.

Robert arrived in Napa Valley in 1961 after making wine for nearly a decade in his native Germany. He worked at the prestigious Charles Krug Winery with the Mondavi brothers, then became winemaker at historic Simi in Sonoma County. He also consulted for other prominent wineries like Inglenook, St. Clement and Raymond, and in 1976, founded his own winery in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley. In 1982, having found a cool-climate Russian River Valley fruit source, he released his first Pinot Noir to great critical acclaim. 

Meanwhile, Marcus and Anne Moller-Racke arrived from Germany in 1981 to work at their family’s Buena Vista Winery in the Carneros region. Anne was named vineyard manager in 1983, and she learned her craft from, among others, legendary winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff.  At the same time, Robert was mentoring young Pinot Noir producers like Davis Bynum and Gary Farrell.

Robert traveled widely, tirelessly promoting his Pinot Noir at tastings dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay producers, and he steadily developed his own following. It was in Aspen, Colorado, in 1984 that Marcus Moller-Racke introduced him to Anne and their friendship began.

In 1989, weary of travel, Robert retired from full-time winemaking after 35 years. His friends, the Rackes, purchased his label, maintaining it as a wine club and tasting room brand within Buena Vista.

By the late 1990’s, Anne was vice president of vineyard operations, managing a thousand acres of vines and replanting half of them. During the same period, Kenneth Juhasz honed his skills making Pinot Noir at Flynn Vineyards in Oregon.

When Buena Vista sold to Allied Domecq in 2001, the Racke family kept one jewel of a vineyard they called The Donum Estate, where Anne launched an “ultimate Pinot Noir” project to create wines of exquisite quality. With the addition of Ferguson Block and Nugent as estate vineyards, Robert Stemmler became Donum’s sister brand.

In 2002, Kenneth Juhasz joined a devoted team of professionals who share Robert Stemmler’s passion for Pinot Noir and who also enjoy his counsel during his periodic visits to talk and taste with them. Today, Stemmler wines are available at fine restaurants and retail shops in key markets throughout the United States

Our Label

We encourage cover crops and add organic matter to naturally replenish the soil with nitrogen and increase diversity of flora and fauna while preventing erosion. These cover crops also reduce need for fumigation and support beneficial insects for pest management; they help conserve water and soil, creating the basis for sustained production and fine quality wines.

We encourage the proliferation of natural predators to control vine pests and rodents.

We use recycled water for irrigation.

We reduce insect pests, powdery mildew and bunch rot through leaf removal and canopy management. Character and balance in the grapes are enhanced by improved sunlight and air penetration.

We crop thin and remove shoots to naturally control vigor and limit yield per vine, increasing flavors and aromas.

Our ecosystems and sustainable winegrowing programs work in harmony, with each element playing an important role in the integrity and quality of our estate grown wines. As part of our commitment, every person, from vineyard management to production to administration, is responsible for maintaining and introducing conservation and sustainable programs. Erosion control, cover crops, energy and water conservation and waste reduction measures are just some of the practices integrated into our daily routine. Such practices require a high degree of management of biological resources, and a firm commitment to long-term sustainable growth.

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