SVP's History

It all began by accident.

In 1992, while trying to create the perfect after-dinner table wine, a dash of chocolate essence inadvertently dropped into the glass of port our winemaker was enjoying at the end of the day. One sip and he knew he had stumbled onto something extraordinary.

One year later, DUET, a California cream sherry with essences of natural hazelnut, was introduced to appreciative dessert wine drinkers.

DECO and DUET revolutionized the fortified wine world by introducing new wines in sleek, contemporary bottles and labels. Today, almost all fortified wine producers in the U.S. and abroad have followed our lead.

In 1996, during a scouting trip Down Under, we discovered barrels of wonderful aged tawny and liqueur port. Unable to pass on such a great find, South Australia was added to our list of component appellations. DECO was the first of our wines to include South Australian port .

Shortly thereafter we introduced MADURO, blending the best from three different South Australian port styles, including a 20-year-old tawny... Yum!

In 2001, we changed the DUET blend and designated it an after-dinner wine. In 2002, we opened our first tasting room in Kenwood, in the heart of Sonoma Valley. We also moved our offices, opened a new small-lot production facility, and added a second tasting room in Petaluma.

And in 2005, we released ARIS, our first port made in Petaluma. Made from our favorite California port grape, petite sirah, ARIS has a wonderful dark fruit character. We also released SPIRIT OF THE HARVEST, a petite sirah grappa distilled from mostly free-run juice set aside during the production of our ARIS port.

Who knows what exciting things lay ahead.