Ever since Paducah's Mike and Debbie Stone, John and Kristin Williams and Bill and Norma Kellum visited Napa Valley's StoneFly Vineyard in October 2006, the Paducah/Napa connection has never been stronger. Or tastier.The couples, of course, are big wine fans, making annual treks to Napa to haul back cases and cases of their favorite refreshments. They're also big Carson Center fans.
On May 15 and 16, wine meets Carson Center fundraising in the form of the Wine Tasting and Auction, an annual bash that raises money for the Center's performing arts and education initiatives.StoneFly Vineyard's famous Cabernet Franc will be one of the featured wines at the event, along with a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from nearby Elkhorn Peak Cellars and a Syrah from Rocca Family Vineyards. All the wines are available now at Roof Brothers.
StoneFly owners Dr. Rob Hampton and Claudia Sansone-Hampton and Elkhorn Peak's owner Ken Nerlove are coming to Paducah for the event to talk about their wines and answer questions."I've been telling everyone in Napa about our trip to Paducah," Sansone-Hampton says. "I talk about Paducah so much that they've been calling me 'The Paducah Girl!' So I'm thrilled to actually get to see where Paducah is!"
A Vineyard in Your Back Yard
It's not often you come across a vineyard in a regular neighborhood – though an absolutely gorgeous one, no doubt about it. But right their 3780 Hagen Rd. backyard, Hampton and Sansone-Hampton grow rows and rows of Cabernet Franc grapevines, along with gardens of lettuces and vegetables and trees filled with figs and lemons.
"I love to plant and grow things," says Sansone-Hampton, a culinary artist and expert. "If I can find a spot, something's growing in it. I just get such a thrill out of it."Aside from being called "The Paducah Girl" around town, Sansone-Hampton – who is model-gorgeous – is a famous cooking show set designer for celebrity chefs like Michael Chiarello, Jacques Pepin and Joanne Weir. These folks hire her to transform empty studio set spaces into stunning kitchens for their shows.
She's also an amazing chef, herself. Sansone-Hampton is a cookbook author and collaborator, and even ran her own cooking school for a number of years.
Mutual friends introduced Sansone to Hampton, Napa's top cosmetic dentist, as well as an artist, seven years ago. They've been married for the last three.
How'd They Get There From There?It was Hampton who discovered the joys of Cabernet Franc on a trip to the Loire Valley with a fly fishing buddy in the mid-1980s. The friends were both avid home wine makers, so they decided to try duplicating the wine back in California. They found an ideal vineyard site in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley and debuted their Cabernet Franc in 1996.
Today, Hampton and Sansone-Hampton continue the tradition of producing their elegant Chinon-style Cabernet Franc, using their back yard grapes as well as grapes from Monticello Vineyards. They source grapes for their Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard at the top of Atlas Peak.
The grapes are custom crushed at Monticello before the famous Dan Berrin, winemaker for Silver Oak, transforms them into fabulous StoneFly wine."Rob is Dan's dentist," Sansone says. "Rob told him he wouldn't use Novocain unless Dan made our wine for us!"
StoneFly on Your Line, And in Your Glass!
Along with sharing a great sense of humor, a 1,100-bottle wine cellar and a love of wine, Sansone and Hampton enjoy fly fishing together – which explains the vineyard name, StoneFly. Hampton designed the bottle label and came up with the idea to imprint the phrase "Tie one on" on the corks. A good day, they say, starts with a stonefly on your line and ends with StoneFly in your glass.
"I love the fact that our wines are not very tannic," Sansone says. "Ours are much lighter. We're in the food business, so I want our wine to go with everything. If a Cabernet is too big, it takes attention away from the food. I want ours to compliment the food."
And why is she so excited about her adventure to Paducah? Frankly, she just loves her new Paducah friends and is eager to meet more. "It's just so nice to expand our relationships with people we care about in our lives," Sansone says. "Food and wine is a nice way to do that."
