Storrs Winery

Open: Year Round

"Storrs is the creation of two people who firmly believed in the potential that the Santa Cruz Mountains held for truly great wine. Using their knowledge gleaned in years of winemaking at other operations and in their studies at UC Davis, Stephen Storrs and Pamela Bianchini-Storrs began their winery with the vintage of 1988. With the release of their very first wine - an excellent White Riesling they were capturing Gold Medals (at the prestigious San Francisco National Wine Competition, in this case). When Steve attended UCD, he specialized in viticulture. Both Steve and Pamela agree that Steve's intimate knowledge of grapes is the key to much of their success. Pamela's emphasis (outside of dance) was enology and food microbiology... And like most Davis winemaking grads, she has carefully forgotten the "stuff" that seems to get in the way of good winemaking, and adopted a much more laissez-faire Burgundian approach that allows the wines to achieve their greatest potential. Their gift lies in their ability to blend wines that are a sum greater than its parts.

When they began, their case production totaled 1,200 cases. Over the years, they have steadily improved their facility and their equipment and now they have grown to a comfortable 12,000 cases, just right for two winemakers.

With the birth of their first child whose business card read, "Cellar & Rug Rat," they have become a truly family-oriented company. Their three children represent the tenth generation of Storrs to be born in America. Samuel Storrs of Nottingham-cum-laude first arrived in Barnstable, Massachusetts in 1664. Yes, Storrs are related to Storrs, Connecticut where the Storrs eventually settled and where brothers Charles and Augustus Storrs gave the land for Storrs Agricultural School that later became UConn (Go Huskies!). "