Stephen Singer and daughter, Fanny Singer Collaborate on Estate Project
May 24th – Sebastopol, CA – Stephen Singer, the Bay Area-based artist and winemaker, has announced the debut of Singer Wine at Baker Lane Estate. Singer’s eponymous wine project will focus on Syrah and Viognier from the Baker Lane Estate in Sebastopol, which Singer planted in 2003. These new wines presented under the Singer at Baker Lane Estate label are the culmination of Singer’s career in wine, which spans four decades. Singer Wine will launch next week.
Formerly the wine director at Chez Panisse, Singer was and remains engaged in the green revolution that it helped spawn. This motivated Singer to celebrate the indelible connection between the earth and a gracious table through a variety of pursuits, including César in Berkeley, and Stephen Singer, Olio, an importer and distributor of Italian oils and vinegars. This entrepreneurial spirit, tethered to a desire to gain an empirical understanding of viticulture and winemaking, led to the cultivation of the Baker Lane Estate; a 15-acre property with organically farmed Syrah, Viognier, and Tuscan olives. “I’ve always appreciated how Stephen has wed his deep knowledge of wine to a passionate commitment to organic and regenerative agriculture. The delicious and impressive wines under the Singer Wine at Baker Lane Estate label really show what can be achieved when you listen to the land, make the most appropriate choices for what to cultivate, and commit to the highest standards every step of the way,” says Alice Waters, restaurateur, and food activist.
“While the prevailing choice for the vast majority of neighboring sites is Burgundian varieties, Baker Lane Estate is devoted exclusively to the northern Rhône Valley varieties of Syrah and Viognier. Our estate vineyard defines the notion of site,” Singer says. “We are proud of how the decades of knowledge we’ve harvested has led us to these wines that we are now excited to present to the marketplace. We hope that people will enjoy them (and appreciate the path traveled) as much as we do,” he continues.
Singer will be joined on the project by daughter (with former wife, Alice Waters) Fanny Singer, co-founder of the design brand, Permanent Collection. The younger Singer shares an appreciation and love of art and the natural world with her father, having received her PhD in Art History from the University of Cambridge. More recently, she authored Always Home: A Daughter’s Recipes and Stories, published by Knopf in 2020. In 2015, she and her mother published My Pantry, which Singer also illustrated. “I grew up in awe of my father’s palate, the way he could discern one vintage from the next, tease out the subtle nuances that distinguish a wine, that make it either good or great. When he began crafting his own wines, I knew they would be deeply personal, the result of a life spent researching, learning and tasting. Singer Wines are a reflection of our family’s values but also of our approach to living—how art, community, travel, stewardship, even ethics, entwine to shape the wines that end up in the bottle that bears our name.”
The Singer Wine at Baker Lane Estate labels feature paintings by Singer, who says of his process, “My painting practice is focused on a formal exploration of space, color, line, structure and light.” Accordingly, Singer’s fascination with negative space is apparent in the debut labels, resulting in a drinking experience that is also visually stimulating and thought-provoking. The labels were then finalized by Berlin-based artist/designer, Marta Salas-Porras.
To learn more about Singer Wine at Baker Lane Estate, please visit www.singer.wine.
