How many wineries you know named after a wife? Kriselle Cellars, located in Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, is one.
Scott Steingraber, owner, and winemaker at Kriselle Cellars, began making wine almost two decades ago. Still, he didn’t start as a winemaker.
It’s a familiar story for many boutique wineries – change of careers and following the passion. One of our recent stories like that was on Hawkins Cellars and somewhat similar to Kriselle Cellars.
Kriselle Cellars History
As a civil engineer, Scott moved to the San Francisco Bay area for work, which is an only hour away from Napa and Sonoma Valleys. That’s where his wine story began. He started touring wineries and vineyards on weekends. Most lovers are satisfied with that but not Scott.
At first, his passion for wine turned him into a garagist winemaker. As he experimented, Scott attended many extension courses at UC Davis to hone his skills and fill the know-how gaps.
Recalling those early years and their journey towards the winery, Scott’s wife and partner Krisell Steingraber (yes, no “e” at the end of her name) said this:
“Eventually, Scott’s civil engineering work took our family to Washington, where we experimented with the local grape varietals and techniques. We had a lot of fun with those first wines. We kept at it, and the wine quality we were looking for has shown through over the years.
By 2003, we knew that we wanted to turn our intensive hobby into a new career and began to passionately work toward that goal. Today, we are immersed in this new phase of our life journey. It is an exciting time for our family and us.”
And that’s how Kriselle Cellars was born.
Kriselle Vineyard
The Kriselle Cellars Estate vineyard is located on south-facing slopes between the Upper Table Rock Plateau and the Rogue River in southern Oregon.
As a former riverbed vineyard’s soil is primarily comprised of round river rock and alluvial silt. The stones and low soil nutrition makes vines to struggle a bit. It’s excellent for grapes because it results in lower yields, more concentrated flavors, and character. The river rocks also reflect heat during the long summer days and help grapes ripen fully and develop higher intensity to flavors.
Rogue River moderates the vineyard microclimate by producing evening breezes that cool the vineyard and balance the sun. The resulting diurnal temperature fluctuations help grapes to retain the acid and balance the sugars in the fruit.
Kriselle Cellars cultivate several grape varieties, with most of 25 acres planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Tempranillo. They also grow small amounts of Malbec, Sangiovese, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc.
Kriselle Winemaking
Kriselle Cellars produces under 5,000 cases per year. They make wine from the estate grows grapes and fruit of other local vineyards.
All wines are made at Kriselle’s family ranch in a 5,000 square foot winery. It’s a complete facility with a traditional processing room and temperature and humidity-controlled barrel ageing room.
The grapes are hand-harvested and fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and aged in oak barrels.
Their primary focus is on Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Tempranillo. Scott Steingraber’s goal is to emphasize varietal character with as little intervention as possible through thoughtful winemaking and careful oak treatment.
Our Recommendations
First, we would highly recommend visiting the winery when you’re wine swinging in Southern Oregon. They have a modern, spacious tasting room overlooking the valley. And it’s a perfect place to stop for lunch while touring the wineries because they serve great food.
We tasted ten wines during our visit. The flights’ favorites were 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Select, 2015 and 2016 Cabernet Franc, and very impressive 2016 Sangiovese.
Many wineries grow and make Sangiovese in Oregon and Washington, with only a few doing it successfully. Kriselle Cellars is among those select few.
Did you wine swing in Southern Oregon yet? Any favorite wineries?
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