Vineyard 7 & 8

When Launny and Weezie Steffens first bought their forty-acre property, they didn’t realize they were starting a mountain viticulture journey. “My father wasn’t really serious at first,” recalls their son, Estate Director and Winemaker Wesley Steffens. “He thought it would be fun just to put in a bid. A week later, he got the call that the offer had been accepted—and the journey was set to begin.”

The vineyard, planted in the early 1980s to eight acres each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, came with a pedigree. It had been developed by David Abreu and Rick Forman and sat atop one of the highest elevations in the appellation, at roughly 2,060 feet.

Launny, a Wall Street veteran and founder of Spring Mountain Capital in New York City, brought an analytical approach to wine that mirrored his background in finance. The name “Vineyard 7 & 8” reflects his fascination with numerology: seven symbolizing luck in Western tradition, eight prosperity in Eastern. It’s a fitting metaphor for a family who blended rational precision with intuitive artistry.

Meanwhile, Weezie—a painter with an eye for color and composition—found her own creative inspiration in the Napa landscape. Together, they shaped an estate that would blend beauty and balance, structure and soul.

Wesley Steffens’s journey to winemaking began not in the cellar, but in the kitchen. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Steffens spent nearly two years under Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, one of the most revered kitchens in the world.

“I often get asked if I miss cooking,” he says. “My answer is no, because the two are very much one and the same. Crafting high-level cuisine and premium wines both start with the highest quality ingredients. Whether you’re farming for food or for wine, it’s about respecting the source and telling its story.”

That reverence for raw material led Steffens to seek a deeper understanding of wine. He recalls, “A friend asked if I’d ever thought about getting involved with our family’s vineyard. I didn’t know if my path would be culinary or winemaking, but I knew I wanted to be part of it.”

Steffens landed a harvest internship at Harlan Estate in 2002, which quickly evolved into a full-time education in fine winemaking. “Bob Levy told me, ‘It’s going to be a demotion from what you’re doing. I just need someone to drag hoses and clean tanks,’” he laughs. “That was fine by me. Two months turned into four years.”

By the time he left Harlan in 2006 as cellar master, Steffens had witnessed four harvests and absorbed the meticulous, detail-oriented philosophy that defines Napa’s elite wineries. “It was my on-site master’s degree in winemaking,” he says.

In 2006, Steffens joined his parents on Spring Mountain full-time to help finish construction of the winery and assemble the first production team. “We hired Luc Morlet as our founding winemaker,” he recalls. “Luc taught me how to think about Chardonnay in a serious way—he makes some of the best I’ve ever tasted.”

Over the next decade, the estate evolved into a benchmark for high-elevation Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The addition of renowned consulting winemaker Martha McClellan in 2014 marked another step forward. “The big change Martha made was increasing barrel aging from 18 months to 26 months,” says Steffens. “It gave the wines more time to develop and really integrate their structure.”

In 2015, Vineyard 7 & 8 also expanded its barrel fermentation program. “This is great for preserving aromatics and integrating barrel and seed tannins,” Steffens explains. “It gives wonderful texture—something that’s become a cornerstone of our style.”

Now, with McClellan’s departure, Steffens is steering the ship solo. “I’ve learned from some of the best—Bob Levy, Corey Empting, Luc Morlet, and Martha. Each taught me the importance of making wines with a sense of place and minimal intervention. I believe in wines that have soul, that tell the story of where they’re grown.”

Vineyard 7 & 8 produces small quantities of estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, each expressing the rugged mountain terroir in its own voice.

The Chardonnay, planted in 1981 on original AXR and St. George rootstock, occupies the highest elevation on the property. “We’re farming from some of the highest-elevation, original-planted Chardonnay in the Napa Valley,” Steffens notes. “That’s pretty exciting.”

Old Wente clone vines yield a wine of uncommon richness and vibrancy, fermented and aged entirely in barrel and kept on lees for about sixteen months. “Texture is so important,” says Steffens. “We normally pick in early September, but in 2023, it was early October—nearly a month later. That extended hang time brought incredible depth.”

The Cabernet Sauvignon from Spring Mountain offers a counterpoint of power and precision. Bold yet elegant, the wines are known for their striking aromatics, firm structure, and lingering minerality. “Our fruit naturally comes with great acidity and tannin structure,” says Steffens. “It lends itself to a balance of power and finesse. I want wines that jump from the glass, seamless across the palate—multi-dimensional, soulful.”

While the core Vineyard 7 & 8 wines remain rooted in estate terroir, Steffens has also expanded the family’s reach through the Correlation Wine Company, a sister label focused on accessible luxury. “The Correlation wines used to be under the Vineyard 7 & 8 label,” he explains. “We decided to give them their own identity so we could include fruit beyond the estate. It’s a premium-quality label at a more approachable price point.”

At the same time, Steffens continues to innovate within the estate blocks. “Block 6 was redeveloped a few years back, and we finally had enough fruit in 2018 to bottle it separately,” he says. “That was the first vintage of our single-block Cabernet—it’s been rewarding to see that section’s character shine on its own.”

Steffens’s training at The French Laundry continues to shape his approach to wine. “Great wines, like great dishes, start with great ingredients,” he says. “You honor the vineyard as a chef would honor the farm.” His cellar work reflects that same meticulous philosophy: minimal manipulation, patient élevage, and constant tasting.

“I take a non-interventionist approach,” he explains. “That sounds lazy, but it actually requires more hands-on attention. You’re monitoring every detail so you don’t have to rely on additives or corrections. The wine’s story is already written in the vineyard—it’s my job not to erase it.”

Spring Mountain’s altitude brings both beauty and challenge. “In 2022, we had intense heat early on,” Steffens recalls. “Then about an inch of rain came just in time to bring the vines back. In 2023, the last pick was November 8th—the latest I’ve ever seen.”

Despite the unpredictability, the mountain’s resilience continues to astonish him. “There’s always a rich vibrancy to our wines,” he says. “The texture and energy from this site never fail to inspire me.”

What makes Vineyard 7 & 8 compelling is not only its wines, but the unlikely path that led the Steffens family here—from Wall Street to the western slopes of Spring Mountain. “Never could I have imagined this life,” says Steffens. “I grew up in New Jersey, surrounded by the world of finance. I thought I’d follow my father and brother onto Wall Street.”

But a pivotal summer changed everything. “During college, I interned at Merrill Lynch,” he recalls. “One day I walked into my father’s office, took off my tie, and said, ‘This isn’t what I was meant to do.’ Instead of being upset, he supported me. I finished that summer in the kitchen working with the corporate chef—and that led me to culinary school, then to Napa Valley, and ultimately, back to our family’s vineyard.”

That support, and a shared love of craft, has anchored the family’s work ever since. “My father is still my biggest inspiration,” Steffens says. “He built his career on precision, but he always valued creativity. That balance defines everything we do here.”

Now nearly a quarter-century since the Steffens family planted their flag on Spring Mountain, Vineyard 7 & 8 has entered a new chapter. With Wesley fully at the helm, the estate continues to refine its identity—one that merges the structure of mountain fruit with the soul of hospitality.

“My goal is simple,” he says. “To make wines with soul—wines that tell a story of where they’re grown, the people who farmed them, and the joy they bring when shared. That’s what connects wine to life.”

And like the numbers in its name, Vineyard 7 & 8 remains a study in harmony—where luck meets prosperity, precision meets passion, and every bottle tells the story of a family who found their true calling on a Napa mountain.

Photography by Wesley Steffens.