About: History
In 1960, Fred Schweiger's parents, Tony and Theresa Schweiger, purchased 53 acres on Spring Mountain. Fred purchased an additional eight acres in 1961.
The property is located at an elevation of 2,000 feet (above the fog line), featuring rich volcanic soils and unique microclimates particularly favorable for Cabernet Sauvignon.
Vineyard clearing began in the late 1970's
During the clearing process, old redwood hand split grape stakes spaced at 1x1 meter intervals were discovered, reconfirming the notion that the property had once been a prime viticulture area dating back to the late 1870's.
The Schweigers planted their first grapevines in 1981 and picked their first grapes in 1984.
For the first 10 years, the Schweiger family sold their fruit to Cafaro Cellars, ZD, Newton and Stags Leap Winery.
In 1994, Schweiger Vineyards became a bonded winery and the family began bottling wine under their own label, though they continued to sell most of their grapes to contracted wineries. Andrew Schweiger, who was working full time down the street at Cain, began working a second job, with his family, as the winemaker at Schweiger.
Andrew came to work full time in 1999 and production gradually increased to approximately 6000 cases. With this increase, construction began in 2000 to add an additional 7000 square feet to the winery.
In 2001, construction was completed on the barrel cavern and fermentation room and in 2002, the garden terrace was completed. With the increase in production, Diana Schweiger came to work with the family in 2003 to help increase sales.
Today Schweiger Vineyards includes 25 acres of Cabernet, four acres of Chardonnay, two acres of Merlot and micro blocks of Cabernet Franc, Malbec & Petite Sirah, Schweiger also produces a Sauvignon Blanc with fruit sourced from Sonoma County.
Annual harvest yields vary from 1.5 to 3.5 tons per acre.
