Highlighting Sustainability, Creativity and Premium Wines eSt Cru 2020 No Middle Ground

Synergy is a word used often in the wine world. Typically, it’s used in reference to tannin and acid being in balance with the aroma profile, or finding a brand that resonates perfectly with a certain consumer base.

Sometimes, it’s simply the perfect combination of two people who just want to make really good wine.

Such is the case with eSt Cru, founded in 2020 and run by Paul Muñoz, a marketing and operations expert, and Erica Stancliff, a winemaker known across the North Bay for her dedication to premium wines.

Muñoz, a former marketing manager at Michael David Winery and director of marketing for Oak Ridge Winery in Lodi, is the general manager and uses his experience making brands like Seven Deadly Zins and Freakshow popular to create new labels. Stancliff is the winemaker for her family’s winery, Trombetta Family Wines and consults in her spare time with wineries like Stressed Vines and Pfendler Vineyards.

Muñoz and Stancliff set out to build a brand that would highlight their creativity, shared values and eagerness to produce a wine that would make drinkers say, “Holy shit!”

Sustainability and showcasing wines from areas that don’t receive the recognition they deserve are at the core of this new wine company.

“We’re working with farmers who really care about what they’re doing, who are good stewards of their land and who are actively trying to make a good product without sacrificing the integrity of the vines and the fruit.”

Of course, they also want something that is both fun and high-quality, with as much attention to detail made as if it were an ultra-premium priced bottle—but far more reasonably priced so that anyone can be part of their wine community.

“This project has given me the creative freedom as a winemaker to make wines that I think will have mass appeal for the right reason,” Stancliff explained. “I don’t have a mold that I have to put it into because we’re creating this from scratch. I get to play with it and make something that I enjoy and that I hope other people are going to enjoy.”

To do all this, eSt has committed to working with anything by Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Instead, they want to use fruit from varieties and regions that have not traditionally been considered “prestigious” in the past but produce very high-quality wines.

Most of the fruit is coming from Lodi and Clarksburg, where they source Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Teroldego, some Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Albariño and a Cabernet Franc for a Rosé. From the Dry Creek Valley, they’re bringing in Grenache and Mourvedre, and some Syrah from Santa Ynez. By using these grapes from these regions, they’re able to keep price points in the $20 to $45 range while bottling premium wines.

“These growing regions deserve so many more accolades for what they have to offer,” Stancliff said. “They are for serious wine drinkers. They are fun and they are approachable, but they are for people who love wine.”

No Middle Ground is one of the anchor brands, and it’s the marriage of Muñoz and Stancliff’s wine ethos and philosophy—and love for the movie “The Big Lebowski”. They refuse to compromise the integrity of their wines and will always work at the highest standard. It’s the line in the sand they refuse to cross, a reference to the movie and the inspiration for the label.

With No Middle Ground and other core brands, like Clothesline and Staring at the Sun, eSt Cru hopes to show a wider audience that wine can be so many things: exciting, affordable, non-pretentious but expertly crafted, good for the land and for growers and, above all, something to be enjoyed.

“We wanted to stand up and show people that Clarksburg is so much more than Chenin Blanc, that it has serious wines to offer, while also showing this fun, creative side we have,” Stancliff explained. “Paul makes these super-creative labels that make you want to check it out. Then you’ll go home and drink it and be like, ‘Holy shit! That was really good for $35.”