Wednesday, April 21, 2010

MEET THE VINTNERS: BAKER LANE VINEYARDS

We are little more than a week away from the 2010 Philbrook Wine Experience. We have an amazing lineup of vintners for this year's event. Over the next few days we are going to tell you a little about some of these participants.

First up...Baker Lane Vineyards


Baker Lane Vineyards is a winery about place. The wines are produced from vineyards situated on opposing slopes of a small north/south valley that is part of the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed just outside of Sebastopol, California.

In 2002, pursuing a lifelong dream, Stephen Singer bought a beautiful hillside property in Sebastopol for the purposes of creating a vineyard, olive orchard and homestead. RoadsEnd Farm, which he operates with his wife, Michel, represents the culmination of all of his interests–aesthetic, viticultural, gustatory and environmental. The wines are produced under the watchful eye of winemaker Steven Canter. Mr. Singer, a native Tulsan, even has his own brand of olive oil, called "Stephen Singer, Olio".

Stephen Singer, Olio is an importing venture that I began over 14 years ago based on a couple of simple, but passionately held ideas. The first was rooted in the constantly deepening appreciation that I was experiencing for the pleasures of the Italian table. The second was an entrepreneurial impulse to seek out and provide to the restaurant associations that I then had the kinds of distinctive oils and vinegars that inspired my quest for flavor.”

-Stephen Singer