Lerner Project
Overview
Estate
Lerner Project is a small Napa Valley wine project created by Stu and Karen Lerner in partnership with winemaker Russell Bevan. Stu Lerner spent more than four decades working in the wine industry supply chain as a major wood-pallet vendor to Napa and Sonoma wineries, while developing a serious collection of Napa Valley wines. After retiring from the pallet business in 2014, he turned his attention toward producing his own wines. The project is based around a portfolio of selected Napa Valley vineyards, with the Armstrong Ranch on Diamond Mountain becoming its cornerstone estate property.
Climate
Lerner Project works across several Napa and Sonoma sites. Armstrong Ranch, on Diamond Mountain above Calistoga, is a high-elevation mountain site with steep, sun-exposed terraces. Sugarloaf Ranch receives cooling effects from San Pablo Bay and reaches an elevation of approximately 1,600 feet. Moaveni Vineyard in Bennett Valley is among Sonoma County's cooler AVAs and benefits from coastal winds and fog entering through the Petaluma Gap.
Soil
The project works with distinctly different soils across its vineyard sources. Armstrong Ranch has volcanic soils with shards of obsidian and clumps of diatomaceous earth. Tench Vineyard has rocky, iron-rich golden-red soils, Sugarloaf Ranch is described as basaltic igneous rock, Houyi has red volcanic soils, Moaveni has gravelly clay loam, and Sage Ridge includes Bresse-Dibble complex, Maymen-Millshom-Lodo association, shale and sandstone outcrops, and Sobrante loam.
Vineyards
The current Lerner Project vineyard portfolio includes Armstrong Ranch, Tench Vineyard, Sugarloaf Ranch, Houyi Vineyard, Moaveni Vineyard, and Sage Ridge Vineyard. Armstrong Ranch is the estate vineyard: approximately 12 acres of the 32-acre ranch are planted, with Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 6 planted in 1983. Tench is in Oakville and is a principal source of Cabernet Sauvignon. Sugarloaf Ranch provides Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Houyi is on Pritchard Hill and is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. Moaveni in Bennett Valley supplies Sauvignon Blanc, while Sage Ridge is a high-elevation Napa site with 32 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon within a 60-acre planted area.
Cultivation
The project emphasizes detailed vineyard selection and close attention to individual sites and blocks. At Armstrong Ranch, the original 1983 Cabernet Sauvignon planting remains in place, and the winery highlights the vineyard's historic character.
Family
Stu and Karen Lerner are the proprietors. Stu's career in the Napa and Sonoma wine supply chain gave him long-standing relationships with wineries and winemakers and deepened his interest in Napa Valley wine. Karen shares the project and its emphasis on wine, travel, friends, and family. The winery describes the project as a shared journey centered on Napa Valley and on wines that the Lerners themselves would want to buy and collect.
Winemaker
Russell Bevan is the winemaker and business partner. His winemaking career began with a single ton of Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon in 2004, which became the first vintage of Bevan Cellars. He later developed a reputation for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and joined Stu and Karen Lerner in developing Lerner Project.
Focus Point
• Boutique Napa Valley wine project founded by Stu and Karen Lerner with Russell Bevan.
• Stu Lerner brings more than four decades of experience in the Napa and Sonoma wine-industry supply chain.
• Armstrong Ranch on Diamond Mountain is the cornerstone estate vineyard.
• Very small production with allocation through the winery's mailing list.
Marketing materials
-
Lerner Project logo
Download