Nearly a Decade in the Making, New Rutherford Icon Cabernet Sauvignon Crafted by Winemaker Celia Welch to Launch Late March 2022
(Rutherford, Calif.)— January 19, 2022—Tim and Sabrina Persson, the second-generation vintners of Hess Persson Estates, overcame a cellar-destroying earthquake, landslide, droughts, and wildfires over the course of nearly a decade to produce Stalworth ($250/167 cases), which will be released late March 2022. This single icon wine is made by famed winemaker Celia Welch, a name that has become synonymous over the last three decades with some of the most acclaimed wines to come out of Napa Valley.
“Stalworth” is an Old English word that first started being used in the 12th Century. Derived from terms like “foundation” and “worth,” its use evolved over time to describe someone who shows determination, bravery, or courage, eventually giving way to the modern-day term “stalwart.” Stalworth is also the perfect name for this very personal wine project from Tim and Sabrina Persson, who have faced more adversity in the wine business over the last decade than most do in a lifetime.
Tim and Sabrina moved to Napa in 2012 to directly oversee their family’s wine business (what is now called Hess Persson Estates). Taking over in the 30th vintage, their early vision had been to modernize the winery and to focus on making luxury Cabernet wines for the next generation.
But Mother Nature had other plans.
An earthquake in 2014 destroyed one of their main cellars. In the moment of realizing they would have to fundamentally rebuild, came the inspiration for Stalworth, which would put a silver lining on the event by creating an iconic wine for the next generation. Armed with the ideal vineyard site and ideal winemaker—Celia Welch — Tim and Sabrina were eager to produce their first vintage of Stalworth in 2015.
But 2015 turned out to be a major drought year, resulting in a very meager crop and not enough fruit to support a first release. In 2016, Napa Valley finally got the rain it was waiting for, but it caused a major landslide that cut off power and access to the winery. The next year brought devastating wildfires, and the smoke rendered the crop unusable.
Finally, in 2018, and just as the project to rehabilitate the earthquake-damaged cellar into a state-of-the-art winemaking facility was complete, Stalworth became a reality. Fittingly, it turned out to be a consummate inaugural vintage. The pleasantly uneventful growing season was free of drought, heat spikes, fires, and yield issues, and the critics have since labeled the 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet vintage one of the finest in two decades (Wine Spectator rated the vintage 99 points).
The Team
Stalworth proprietor and CEO Tim Persson was born in Ireland but grew up in a small kingdom in southern Africa called Swaziland (now Eswatini). He moved to London as an adult, where he qualified as a corporate law attorney, practicing for six years in London and New York. But everything changed when he met his future wife, Sabrina Weyeneth. Sabrina grew up in London, studied at Oxford University and has worked as a licensed psychotherapist for nearly two decades in London and San Francisco.
In 2010 Persson’s father-in-law Donald Hess asked him to join the family’s wine business. The couple relocated to the Napa Valley in 2012 to directly oversee the family’s 30-year-old wine venture and today, Persson is the proprietor and CEO of what’s recently been renamed Hess Persson Estates. As the second-generation steward, his primary task has been to lead the winery into a new era, focusing above all on quality and producing premium Napa Valley Cabernet for the next generation. In 2014, the Perssons began to lay the groundwork for their own brand, Stalworth, a singular icon wine that would fully represent the second generation’s vision and passion for wine.
Stalworth winemaker Celia Welch began working with the Perssons in 2013 when they started a project to reimagine the icon tier wines within the Hess Persson portfolio. A trailblazer for women in wine, Welch brings more than 30 years of winemaking experience and has made some of the most acclaimed wines from the Napa Valley.
The Rutherford Bench
Most Napa Valley winemakers have a favorite pocket for Cabernet and for the Perssons, it’s always been Rutherford. It’s one of many reasons they sought out Welch, who cut her teeth in the renowned Rutherford AVA that’s characterized by its “dust” — fine dusty tannins with hints of cocoa powder — that has made this tiny subregion one of the most sought after by Napa Cabernet producers and enthusiasts alike.
The Perssons wanted to make a wine from a specific part of the Rutherford AVA called the Rutherford Bench, where several alluvial fans drain the eastern slope of the Mayacamas mountains, spreading tumbled rocks over Bale loam soils that are rich in organic materials and tumbled rocks. Thanks to a prime location from the San Pablo Bay (not too close, nor too far) and warm days with cooler evenings, Cabernets from the Rutherford Bench are touted for their impeccable balance of ripe fruit flavors, like cherry, cassis, and blackberry, and a touch of the floral, anise, and bay leaf notes that the world’s most classic Bordeaux wines possess.
In 2015, the Perssons found the perfect site for Stalworth: a small organically farmed vineyard in the heart of the Rutherford bench. Stalworth fruit is sourced from the southern half of the vineyard (about 7 acres). To ensure quality and balance, Welch and her team make four to five separate picks across this small area during harvest.
The Wine
The 2018 vintage of Stalworth will be released late March 2022 for $250/bottle. Sourced from a single vineyard in the Rutherford Bench, it is 100% Cabernet and aged 100% in new French oak for 22 months. Welch utilizes a signature hands-off approach to allow the vineyard to shine through in the glass. Label artist Michael McDermott created a simple, monochrome, and abstract label featuring embryonic imagery that represents the second generation’s new beginning. The irreverent neon yellow capsule is a call to levity (even when one has had significant setbacks). Only 167 cases of the 2018 vintage were produced; the 2019 vintage will yield nearly 400 cases.
Experiencing Stalworth
Private, by-appointment-only tastings of Stalworth are available on a limited basis. Please visit the website and join the mailing list for additional details and information on a series of intimate pre-launch events.
ABOUT STALWORTH
Stalworth was conceived in 2014 by Tim and Sabrina Persson, second-generation vintners of Hess Persson Estates. Their vision was to create a next-generation icon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Working with revered Napa Valley winemaker Celia Welch, the Perssons faced an earthquake, drought, landslide, and wildfires before producing their inaugural 2018 vintage, which wine critics have designated as one of the finest in two decades. For more information on Stalworth or to join the mailing list, please visit www.stalworthwine.com.
