Getting to Stefania Wine took us onto a meandering country road through the golden hills of west Gilroy. We pulled up front to the tasting room, adjacent to the winemakers’ home owned by Stefania and Paul Romero.
As married business partners, Stefania and Paul take care of the business together; she, a self-described lab rat while he drives the tractor.
All of Stefania wines are made in small lots and barrel aged in French oak and all are made to be very dry wines. Extra steps are taken throughout the winemaking process to give the wines an exceptional bouquet and full fruit flavors.
Their generous tasting menu offered seven pours starting with a crisp, well-balanced 2015 Viognier ($20) made from San Benito grapes. It is a dry, aromatic wine but showing so much fruit on the palate, it has a tantalizing sweet quality to it.
With three beautiful Cabernets on the line-up, the first one is the 2013 from Santa Clara County ($35). A real crowd pleaser, this cab is very complex with spices and lots of fruit.
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Crimson Clover Ranch ($45) with layers of cherry and blackberry, and perfectly ripe tannins, it is no wonder that it is their top selling wine.
The final coup de grâce pour is the 2007 Cabernet Santa Cruz Mountains ($50). The depth and complexity of this well-aged wine makes it taste like berry pie. With notes of tobacco and smoked meats, it lingers long on the finish.
