Lineage: Life and Love and Six Generations in California Wine
by Steven Kent Mirassou
Hardcover – June 2021

Steven Kent Mirassou Headshot

Steven Kent Mirassou received his BA in American Literature from the George Washington University and his MA in Literature from NYU. He was born in the Salinas Valley and grew up in San Jose and Los Gatos before going east to college. Lineage: Life and Love and Six Generations in California Wine is his first book.

Mirassou started his wine career in sales but found his true passion after moving into the production side of the business in 1996. Steven has made the highest rated wines from the Livermore Valley, is a founder of the Mount Diablo Highlands Wine Quality Alliance, and the President of the Livermore Valley Wine Growers Association.

Steven has four adult children, April Coffey, Aidan Mirassou, Katherine Mirassou, and Sara Mirassou. He lives in Livermore, CA with his wife, Beth Murray Mirassou, and their two dogs

Author: Steven Mirassou

Getting Your Hands Dirty…A Pressing Need

We are in the process of pressing off Semillon, our (real!) last white wine of the year. And as I taste free-run juice pouring into the press pan, I think back to a time a few vintages back when I saw Sergio Traverso, one of the legendary Livermore Valley winemakers,

READ MORE…

What a Little Circle Man’s Experience Is

Our harvest of red grapes began today with a few picking bins of Sangiovese. And three days ago I became a grandfather for the second time. These two events are bound up in my head and batting around them are words I remember from a Willa Cather book about the

READ MORE…

What Makes a Wine Great

What makes a great wine, in my opinion, is a sense of inevitability. Great wines are or become what they are meant to be. They have a sense of cohesion and a sense of propriety and a sense of promise. They do not show all that they will be in

READ MORE…

Bottomlessness – Canto #5

We’ve all seen those florid tasting notes that throw out 100 different adjectives to describe the aroma of a Russian River Valley Chardonnay or the texture of a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. And, usually, we scoff at the overindulgence, wondering if that guy got paid by the word. We taste

READ MORE…

Storytelling

I believe strongly in listening to and telling stories. Storytelling is how we share (family history), how we teach (family craft), and how we connect emotionally. There are a lot of ways to tell stories, and I will be trying many of them out. Just as I am never quite sure how

READ MORE…

The Truth About Wine

Wine IS simple. But only if that’s what you want from it. Wine IS complicated. But only if you want it to be. The Fountain of Youth was filled with wine. Great wine ought to reflect the philosophy of the winemaker. Scores are meaningless for 99.9999% of us. How do

READ MORE…

The Only Important Wine Question!

Wine is one of the greatest things in the world. Not just one of the greatest beverages…but THINGS! We’ll dive deeper in later posts about why this is, but in this space I just wanted to entreat, cajole, push, and bother wine drinkers to RELAX a little and just enjoy

READ MORE…