Story

Homefire is a winery .. a business, and most of all, a passion.. for the fruit, the land and the science. Our hands are red from the crush .. not green from cash.. It is a joy .. a calling, an obsession, sometimes a mistake. We are a collaboration of Growers and "Fermentistas" at home in the field and the lab. We, at Homefire, use only those interventions that do not deviate from nature's intended outcome - ie. barrels, yeast, cold soaks, and blendings. When a year has passed.. and the wine is finally put to bed, there is a satisfaction ... Not unlike the moment an artist signs his work - though, by full disclosure, the wine did most of the work.

Vineyards

Homefire sources its fruit from select Dry Creek Valley sites.
Hales Vineyard – The old vines were planted in 1952. Half the vineyard is trellised, the other half; head pruned. Wilfred Wong calls the wine produced from these old vines a classic Dry Creek Zin.
Mounts Vineyard – This vineyard lies on a western hillside next to A Rafanelli. It was once purchased entirely by Gallo to make “Hearty Burgundy” in the 1960s. It's been replanted into a patchwork of great zinfandel vines. The ’07 Homecoming and the soon to be released ’09 “Muse” were conceived under a starry night here.
Traumerei Vineyard – We were happy to discover Will Spencer’s vineyard just before the 2010 harvest. After tasting the barrel samples in the Spring of 2011, we found an incredibly balanced complex wine.

Vintner

Mike Sterling was born into the dairy industry – but traded milk for wine early on. Mike traveled through France in the 1970’s where he discovered the great vineyards of Saint-Émilion. That’s where he began studying French winemaking methods. After returning to the U.S., he switched course and picked up a degree in Journalism and went on to become an Emmy Award winning television producer. But after a few years, he decided to return to his true passion. In 2000, he began studying Enology at UC Davis. Two years later, Mike created Homefire and began making Zins. In 2005, the Hales Vineyard “Old Vine” scored “Double Gold” at the California Zinfandel Championships. The ‘07 "Hales" was one of 30 wines out of 3,000 to win “4-Star Gold” at Orange Co.