Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Documentation Project
name: label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.)
label: Collector
content: Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (Napa, California)
label: Interviewee
content: Bazán, Mario
label: Interviewee
content: Cline, Diane Hardigree
label: Interviewee
content: Fay Turnball, Mary Jane, 1924-2020
label: Interviewee
content: Fay, Nathan, 1914-2001
label: Interviewee
content: McPherson, Daniel
label: Interviewee
content: Ocho-Aylala, Benjamin
label: Interviewee
content: Painter, Brooks
label: Interviewee
content: Shapleigh, Terri
label: Interviewee
content: Silacci, Michael
label: Interviewee
content: Winiarski, Barbara, 1933-2021
label: Interviewee
content: Winiarski, Julia
label: Interviewee
content: Winiarski, Stephen
label: Interviewee
content: Winiarski, Warren, 1928-
topic: label: Topic
content: Wine industry
label: Topic
content: Wine and wine making
creator: label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.)
label: Collector
content: Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (Napa, California)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Documentation Project
abstract: label: Summary
content: The collections documents the growth and development of the American wine industry, 1996-2002, using the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars as a case study.  Materials include oral and video histories, photographs, business records, and printed materials.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The history of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a family history. It is also a story, in microcosm, of the development of Napa Valley, California as an international wine region and of the rising global acclaim for California wines.  Building on the skills and knowledge of earlier Napa winemakers, Warren Winiarski became one of the most influential vintners in the region and his premium wines some of the most prized.

Winiarski arrived in Napa Valley in 1964 with his wife, Barbara, and their children. Like many Napa winemakers of this era, he left behind another career, in his case, an academic position at the University of Chicago to create a family business in a rural setting. At the time, Napa was just beginning to rebuild its reputation after Prohibition, a devastating vine disease, and the widespread production of cheap wines had soured the image of California wines. After apprenticing with several local winemakers, including Lee Stewart and Robert Mondavi, he purchased the land and winery that would become Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (SLWC) in 1972.  Winiarski's choice of land was based, in part, Nathan Fay's success in growing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in an adjoining vineyard; Winiarski later added Fay's property to SLWC.  

To commemorate the American bicentennial in 1976, a blind wine tasting at L'Academie du Vin in Paris pitted the best of America's new wines against French classics.  Stunning the international wine community, many American wines outscored their French counterparts, with SLWC's 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon taking first place in its division. The accomplishment brought SLWC and Napa Valley worldwide recognition.  It excited a great demand for California wines and a new appreciation for American winemaking techniques, which combined new scientific methods with Old World traditions.

The Paris Tasting added momentum to changes already underway in the cultural, financial, and physical landscape of the Napa Valley. It spurred the development of many new wineries, the expansion of acreage under grape cultivation, and the growth of the region's tourism industry.  Stag's Leap Wine Cellars was an integral part of these transformations.  It continues to play a vital role in the region and the wine industry.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Cubic feet (11 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1960-2006, 2019
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0816
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Newsletters
label: Type
content: Oral history
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Videotapes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Series 1: Interview Transcripts and Abstracts, 1997, 2003

Series 2: Oral History Interview Sound and Video Recordings, 1996-1997

Subseries 2.1: Sound Recordings, 1997

Subseries 2.2: Video Tapes, 1996-1997

Series 3: Photographs, circa 1960-2000

Series 4: Video Tapes, undated

Subseries 3.1: Family Photographs: circa 1960-1980

Subseries 3.2: Smithsonian Documentary Photographs: 1997, 2000

Series 5: Business Records, 1974-1998

Series 6: Printed Materials, 1994-2005

Series 7: Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Thirtieth Anniversary, 2003
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Cindy Ott, 2002.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Reference copy cassettes of oral history interviews and reference copy VHS are available for researcher use.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings -- 1950-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews -- 2000-2010
label: Genre/Form
content: Newsletters -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes -- 1990-2000
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (SLWC) Documentation Project was conducted by an inter-disciplinary team at the National Museum of American History.  It is a part of a larger effort by the Museum's American Food and Wine team to document and interpret the changing ways in which Americans have produced, prepared, and consumed their food and drink, especially in the years after World War II.  Team members are Nanci Edwards (Office of Project Management and former Collections Manager of the Museum's Agriculture Collection), John Fleckner (Senior Archivist, Archives Center),  Rayna Green (Curator, Division of Home and Community Life), and Paula Johnson (Curator, Division of Work and Industry).  Jeff Tinsley of the Smithsonian's Office of Photographic Services accompanied the team and shot many of the slides and color photographs.  

This collection chronicles the growth and development of American viticulture and viniculture from its revival in the 1960s to the present.  It offers a case study in the art and business of making fine wine from the bud to the bottle. Warren Winiarski, founder of SLWC in California's Napa Valley, is deeply interested in the legacy of American winemaking and his winery's place within its broader history.  The Winiarski family has generously participated and financially supported the creation of this collection.

The documentation touches on all aspects of the wine business, including picking grapes in the vineyards, making wine in the cellar, marketing it from the business office, and promoting its sales in the tasting room and around the globe. SLWC employees describe the land, the work, the tools, the technical processes, the passions, and the motivations that create SLWC's world famous wines. The collection also provides insights into wider patterns of American immigration history, agricultural and environmental history, ethnic community development, land use in the West, product marketing, and consumerism. 

The archival collection is mainly comprised of recorded oral history interviews, documentary photographs, and video footage created by the documentation team in 1997.  It also includes company newsletters, vineyard and winery production data sheets, wine labels, and related printed materials collected in 1997 with additional materials added occasionally.  

It is divided into seven series, including interviews and abstracts, audiotapes, photographs and slides, videotapes, business records, and printed materials.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center

American Wine History Documentation Project Records, 1976-2002, Archives Center collection # 817, has recorded interviews, photographs, and other documentary materials created and collected by the American Food and Wine History team.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Division of Work and Industry holds many artifacts from SLWC, including a wine barrel, grape picking knives, shovels, and other vineyard tools; lab equipment used in winemaking; wine bottles, labels, glasses, and other consumer products; and a bottle of the award winning 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon.  See accessions: 1998.0181 and 1998.3058.