Napa Valley
Stereograph is a new brand launched in 2025 with red wines produced from the 2023 vintage and white wines made from grapes harvested in 2024, but founding partner and winemaker Sally Johnson Blum is a well-respected Napa Valley winemaker who has been at her craft for many years. She first became interested in wine when she studied in France in the 1990s and completed a dual degree in French literature and biology at the University of Michigan and studied winemaking and viticulture at University of California at Davis, where she earned her master’s degree. She was the winemaker at Saint Francis Winery for eight years and then at Pride Mountain Vineyards for fifteen years. To date she has spent nearly 30 years making wine in Napa and Sonoma. She has received two perfect 100-point scores from Robert Parker and has had three wines on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines in the World list. She is proud of all these accolades, but probably most proud to have her wine served at White House State dinners and to be named by Glamour Magazine as one of their “Thirteen Badass Female Winemakers.”
Sally and her husband Max run a tight mom and pop winery where she handles all the interaction with grape growers as well as winemaking and blending duties. Max does everything visual including label art, website design, and promotional materials. Together they promote and market the wines including hosting tastings in Calistoga at Tamber Bey Vineyards.
To make this delicious wine, Sally sourced grapes from Volker Eisele, Blackbird, Renteria 360, Langtry, and True Dog vineyards. All grape harvesting was conducted at night and once the fruit reached the winery it was put through the optical sorter to remove imperfect grapes. Each parcel was fermented separately with a four-to-eight-day cold soak followed by fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Sally then performed pump overs and allowed the wine to complete malolactic fermentation. The resulting wines were aged for 18 months in 60 percent new French oak, and the final blend was assembled eight months prior to bottling. After blending she returned the wine to barrel for a few more months to “marry” the flavors and bottled the wine un-fined and un-filtered.
In addition to the Stereograph 2023 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon sent to club members recently Sally also makes a Chenin Blanc, Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Semillon, and an impressive Merlot and Cab blend.
Club members wishing to visit with Sally and taste her wines can do so at Tamber Bey Vineyards.
