Tesla Vintners & The Singing Winemaker

Livermore Valley Winery and Tasting Room

Tesla Vintners is in a century-old farmstead complete with water tower, but the tasting room is very cool—a granite bar, murals, faux purple walls, local art and gifts.

When Steve Powell, a Livermore native, and his wife bought the property in 1985, they raised horses, cows, goats and pigs. Their divorce left Steve with property and no animals. Local vintners suggested he create a community tasting room, so Steve put up a tent and started one with four wineries.

Local tasting rooms then were pretty minimalist, so his group moved their tasting room into the house where Steve began singing and playing music. The place became popular.

Steve took up winemaking himself, labeling his wines The Singing Winemaker. Knowing he couldn’t compete commercially with the Cabs and Merlots of other winemakers, he specialized in blends and sweet wines. Three years in a row, his white wines, all sweet, were in Diablo Magazine’s Tri-Valley’s Top Ten list. BevMO sells his popular Framboise.

Fascinating Fact:

Patty, Steve’s tasting room manager, combined an array of wines to create award winning Patty’s Passion. But Patty didn’t keep track of the mix, and its never been replicated.

Amenities: Wine club, concerts, picnics, wine pairings
Founded: 2004 (Tesla Vintners)
Signature Wines: Selections from The Singing Winemaker, Marr Vineyards and Miramont Estate Vineyard
Wine Tasting: $5 tasting fee waived with purchase
Hours: Friday – Sunday 12 – 5

5143 Tesla Road
925-606-9463
Livermore, CA, 94550
Paragraph

patty@teslavintners.com
www.teslavintners.com

Previous Winery | Next Winery | Map

Sandy Sims, an award winning journalist, newspaper editor, and travel writer, also writes fiction.
Thomas C. Wilmer is an award-winning author and travel writer. His latest book; Wine Seeker's Guide to Livermore Valley is available from White Cloud Press or Amazon.com.

Find iNeTours.com on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for updates, Photo-of-the-Day, more.

return to top

Website and all photos copyright © 2001–2012 Lee W. Nelson