El Dorado winery uses winemaker’s long-exposure photos
October 22, 2025 (Placerville, CA) — With the 2023 vintage of its wines, Starfield Vineyards is releasing new labels. Winemaker Rob Sinton directed the effort to design the new package. “We wanted to have our label speak to Starfield’s sense of place and personality,” Sinton explains. Sinton’s passion for astronomy and photography came together in his idea to use Solargraphs, long-exposure photos taken with pinhole cameras he built, recorded over five days at 2,400’ elevation on the Starfield Estate in early November. The cameras capture the sun’s arc as it passes over the forest and vineyards at Starfield. “I was so inspired by the dazzling light I’ve seen at the vineyard, especially at sunrise, sunset, during periods of alpenglow and the Northern Lights that I integrated those colors into the Solargraphs,” Sinon explains. “Our goal is for each bottle to express the soul of the vineyard in a context of art and science,” he adds.
There are 24 different designs, one for each of the winery’s wines, including eight of the most popular wines—2024 Viognier (SRP $36), 2024 Marsanne ($36), 2024 Hope Rising ($36), 2023 The Miner’s Inch ($38), 2023 Mourvedre ($42), 2023 Counoise ($38), 2023 Grenache (42) and 2023 Cinsaut ($38). Each label has a different color field, to distinguish its character. Also of interest is that the winery honors the Gold Rush history of the region: for example, in the names Miner’s Inch and Rising Hope, which was a nearby mine.
Perched in the El Dorado AVA in the Sierra Foothills, the winery was founded in 2012 by Tom and Rob Sinton. They planted 31 acres of grapes on the property’s hillsides east of Placerville, consisting of 17 varieties in twenty-four blocks of roughly 1.5 acres each. The Sintons chose varieties which thrive in southern Europe near the Mediterranean Sea. Rhone varietals make up 66% of the vineyard, Italian varietals 30% and Spanish varietals 4%. Red Rhone types are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsaut, Counoise and Tannat. Rhone whites are Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier. Italian reds are Aglianico and Barbera; Italian whites are Fiano and Muscat of Alexandria. From the French Pyrenees, the Sintons planted Tannat, from Spain, Tempranillo. There is also Petite Sirah in the estate vineyard.
The Sintons have practiced sustainable, Fish-Friendly farming since 2012. This involves leaving swaths of native forest throughout the vineyard, which improves water percolation and provides habitat for natural predators. In addition, they planted buffer strips of native plants — including deer grass and wild roses — to reduce erosion, while routing runoff to three ponds in order to reduce sediment. To increase the native bluebird population, they have installed 75 bluebird boxes: the large population of bluebirds helps control many insects. They began implementing regenerative agriculture in 2016, avoiding all tillage and allowing the vineyard to develop a natural cover crop, and they recently began transitioning the vineyard to fully organic farming. As part of that transition, they plan to reduce their carbon footprint by strategically using drones on the steep hillsides to apply organic treatments like sulfur, while also spreading beneficial insects to help control common vineyard pests.
The winery’s name refers to the Sintons’ belief that “great wine comes from ‘Star Fields’ — unique sites where fruit develops the optimal balance of aroma, flavor and texture,” as they explain. The unique character of their vineyards develops from the high-elevation mountain terroir and what they call Sierra Spice, which is a set of unique aroma and taste characteristics that come primarily from the western slope forests that surround their vineyards. “It’s a defining element of El Dorado terroir,” Tom and Rob Sinton explain. “Our forest conifers are full of aromatic terpenes, essential oils that the trees release to attract pollinators or defend against insects, and these form our unique forest character which we call Sierra Spice,” they say. After considerable research and collaboration with other El Dorado vintners, they recognize Ponderosa Pines, Incense Cedars and Douglas firs as the specific trees which define Sierra Spice. “The signature qualities are bright, earthy, and woodsy forest smells, as well as distinctive basil, floral and citrus aromatics,” Rob Sinton explains. “Grapes planted adjacent to the forest absorb the oils and they are integrated into the fruit character, giving the wines a citrusy, minty freshness and brightness,” he adds.
The Sintons converted a 1950s era farmhouse on the property, which features a large lawn shaded by deodar cedars and dawn redwoods, into an expansive tasting room. Set on a high hill, it overlooks all the vineyards, gardens, forests and steep slopes of the Sierra Foothills, offering 360° mountain views, while providing a convenient point to begin exploring the property. A visit to the winery is not complete without a walk through The Gardens, which extend over ten acres of forest, woodland and ponds. They are inspired by the ferme ornée — decorated farm — style of eighteenth century English landscape architecture. George Washington incorporated many of these style elements in his Mt. Vernon estate, as did Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. The main element of the design is a path that takes the guest on a circuit of the landscape. There are over three miles of paved paths and roads, bordered by a wide variety of flowers, climbers, and shrubs, and shaded by pine, cedar and fir forest, oak woodland and a wide range of maples, scarlet oaks, aspen, alders, ginkgos, tupelos and many other trees. Outside the tasting room is The Rose Arbor, covered by hundreds of Iceberg and Sally Holmes climbing roses, which produce dazzling sprays of white flowers year-round.
In addition to the eight most popular wines, the winery also produces other varietally labeled wines, sparkling wines, low-alcohol wines and sweet vermouths.
The winery is located at 2750 Jacquier Road in Placerville (95667) and is open seven days a week from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. More at 530/748-3085 and https://www.starfieldvineyards.com/
