Estate Bottling
The true art of winemaking begins with bud break in the spring and ends with a cork going into the bottle over two years later. To make wine otherwise is like framing someone else's painting and calling yourself an artist.
Estate bottling is a term used in wine labeling that is intended to help the consumer distinguish which wines are actually made by the application of the true art. The words 'Estate Bottled' also imply that the wine is bottled on the estate.
Spring Mountain is such a producer. We make wine only from grapes that we grow, that we make into wine, and we bottle on, and without leaving, our single estate.
Unfortunately, the designation, Estate Bottled, often means less. Under pressure from larger wineries that buy their grapes, the BATF has established labeling regulations that allow wineries with "long term contracts" which give the winery the right to "control all acts of viticulture" to use "Estate Bottled" on their label.
"Long term" is often interpreted as three years and "Controlling all acts of viticulture" is often only words written in the three year contract.
The number of wineries that truly Estate Bottle is a fraction of the number of wineries that use Estate Bottled on their label. The number of wineries that exclusively make wine from their own estate grown fruit is tiny. We are proud to be a member of the latter.