Sally Ottoson,  Winemaker
Sally Ottoson became involved in the wine world in 1972, managing the first wine bar in California, Napa Valley's Wine Garden.  She learned her craft through apprenticeship and decades of winemaking experience over the last 30 years, combining Old World methods with current technology.  In 1983 she founded Star Hill Winery in the Napa Valley, handcrafting Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

A native of Mendocino County, Sally returned there in 1987 to establish Pacific Star Winery located twelve miles north of Fort Bragg,perched right on the edge of the dramatic pacific coastline. Gray whales spout and breech a few hundred feet from the cellar door on their migratory route to and from the Gulf of California.  Accessed off State Route 1, visitors are enchanted by the spectacular vistas stretching 60 miles in every direction.

The majority of our grapes are transported from old-vine Mendocino vineyards farmed by friends like the Venturi, Ricetti, Testa, Pallini, Piffero, Stevenson, Brown, and Graziano families in the communities of Calpella, Redwood Valley, Talmage and Ukiah Valley.

Production includes vineyard designated Syrah, Petite Sirah, Charbono, Merlot, Zinfandel, Barbera, Pinot Noir, Dad's Daily Red (our old vine special blend), Chardonnay and Viognier. Hand-made and carefully tended, our wines are unfined and sparingly filtered, rich and concentrated by long, cool fermentation to extract full varietal fruit characteristics in balance with ample acidity.

On Grapes:  "Use the best of everything.  Highest quality raw materials matter most, just like in cooking."

On Oak:  " I move my wines from new to neutral barrels for extended aging...I don't want oak to dominate the wine.  I want it to be one component of flavor complexity."

On Production:  "Making wine is an expression of passion, not a job...it's instinct combined with alchemy.  Just as my growers' know every vine, I know each barrel in my cellar personally and intimately."