Home - Steven Kent Mirassou

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

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 Pleasanton, CA with his fiancée, Nancy Castro, and their three dogs.

Steven’s First Book Fits in Your Back Pocket!

by Steven Kent Mirassou (Author)
Kindle Edition

Lineage: LIFE and Love and Six Generations in California Wine

by Steven Kent Mirassou (Author)
Hardcover – June 2021

THE LATEST

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I am just settling into my office after having gotten my second covid shot earlier today. From a business standpoint, vaccination is all about opening

Simply, They Must

2021-03-16

We learned of a particularly egregious incident of customer aggression and misbehavior at one of our restaurants here in Livermore a couple of days ago.

Hemingway Behaving Badly

2021-03-15

When I was 17 I ran with the bulls in Pamplona. That was the plan at least. The real story is that I got so

Can We Create An Emotional Connection?

2021-03-08

photo credit: Ron Essex Photograhy

I Dream of the Pruning Shear

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I dream of the pruning shear. And the wood unmoored, And the fulgent buds as they fall. I come upon a hand of shading fingers

Introducing L’Autre Côte Cabernet Franc

2021-03-04

Cabernet Franc often thrives despite the interventions of the winemaker; it reaches its apotheosis, then, when the winemaker is only (at a distance) watchful, bridegroom

Barbera – Mysterious Origins, Noble Variety

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Barbera is like a clue, a cipher left in crabby, penciled writing on parchment grown brown and wrinkled. Like the iconic drifter who saves the

Lineage: Loss and Love and Six Generations in California Wine

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Talking cheese and #CabFranc with Brandon of @the_

Talking cheese and #CabFranc with Brandon of @the_cheese_parlor in the #livermorevalleywinecountry. Being able to work with passionate people is the best part of the work with do. @lautrecotecabernetfranc

Negroni afternoon. @carpano bitters, @officialvyav

Negroni afternoon. @carpano bitters, @officialvyavermouth and @barrhillgin from the inimitable Liz Peik at @hopdevine

Steven Kent Mirassou, 6th generation winemaker fro

Steven Kent Mirassou, 6th generation winemaker from the First Family of American Wine, talks about how Cabernet franc is influenced by the size of the barrel it is aged in. #cabernetfranc #lautrecotecabernetfranc #Livermorevalley #firstfamilyofamericanwine

The Lineage Wine Collection winemaking team talks

The Lineage Wine Collection winemaking team talks about Cabernet Franc from Oregon and from the Livermore Valley, highlighting amazing wines from @leahjorgensencellars and #skwinery. #cabernetfranc #lautrecotecabernetfranc #leahjørgensencellars

I’m thrilled to announce that my first book, Lin

I’m thrilled to announce that my first book, Lineage, is available now on KINDLE. (Link in bio). Grab a copy and let me know what you think of my love letter to cellars, vineyards, wines, and those who make them! #stevenkentmirassou #writer #6thgenerationwinemaker

To a new and healthy year filled with great wine a

To a new and healthy year filled with great wine and compelling stories! #stevenkentmirassou #writer #winemaker

There are few challenges in life that cannot be ov

There are few challenges in life that cannot be overcome by espresso and sparkling wine. The sparkling is an imperfectly disgorged bottle of Pinot noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains that will be available in 2023. It is tasting beautifully right now. Espresso from @nespresso. #stevenkentmirassou

The end of the harvest season finishes much as it

The end of the harvest season finishes much as it begins…with cleaning stuff out. Here is your moment of Zen. #stevenkentmirassou #thelineagewinecollection #6thgenerationwinemaker #momentofzen

As the last few pages of this year‘s calendar fl

As the last few pages of this year‘s calendar flip over, I’d like to thank all Lineage Wine Collection supporters for their incredible generosity, friendship, and patronage this year.

The highest and best use of our hospitality energy is in sharing and in working to add just a little bit of joy and richness to people's lives. These last two years have certainly tested our mission and - given the multitude of Covid restrictions - our ability to consistently deliver, but it has also revealed to me that my amazing team will go many extra yards to try to ensure that each and every person who visits us feels well-taken care of.
On behalf of everyone at The Lineage Wine Collection, I’d like to wish you and your loved ones a safe and healthy holiday season, and we look forward to being able to share more with you in 2022. #stevenkentmirassou #thelineagewinecollection #hospitality

This is what a leaky barrel looks like when it sto

This is what a leaky barrel looks like when it stops leaking. Thanks to @beth.refsnider and Antonio Salazar, cellar Manager extraordinare for their expertise!

Steven Kent Mirassou talks about why #cabernetfran

Steven Kent Mirassou talks about why #cabernetfranc is the future of his brands and of the #livermorevalley. #stevenkentmirassou #6thgrnerationwinemaker #thelineagewinecollection

“I can measure the amount of titratable acid the

“I can measure the amount of titratable acid there is in a wine, the pH level, the amount of alcohol by volume, and a bunch of other things. What I can’t measure, though, is how these things make you feel, how all of these individual planks combine in your mouth and your mind and your heart to create your individual sense of the wholeness of the thing. To know the details of a thing can be revelatory, but the details rarely capture the essence of it. The esthetic side of life (the wine side of life) is about creating emotional connections, about intuition. To know something on the wine side is to suppose and to assume and to guess. Facts are for another view of things; a view of life that does not welcome the heart, for me, is a view that is incompatible with everything for which wine is a symbol.”

Excerpt From: Steven Kent Mirassou. “Lineage: Life and Love and Six Generations in California Wine.” Check out links in bio to get more original #writing and to purchase a signed copy of my book. #stevenkentmirassou #writer #winemaker #6thgenerationwinemaker

“For the wine lover, it is that place and time t

“For the wine lover, it is that place and time that defines a lifetime’s personal search for comity and beauty and for a wine that strums a revelatory sequence of notes that cracks open our hedonistic and thirsty heart.”
Excerpt From: Steven Kent Mirassou. “Lineage: Life and Love and Six Generations in California Wine.” #stevenkentmirassou #batesranchvineyard #6thgenerationwinemaker #thelineagewinecollection

“Harvest is like a national holiday in this sens

“Harvest is like a national holiday in this sense. The clocks reset to our own special time zone and the more pedestrian concerns of the day get lost in the tumble of Cabernet tonnage. I love the fact that the grapes own the calendar from August to November. The grapes brook no argument, suffer no excuse; they quietly, and by their mere presence, persistently demand. They are nature’s perfect narcissists. There is something of the heroic in doing something, no matter how exhausting it might be because one must. Harvest is the only part of the business that does not resonate with an emotional timbre. Doing is all.”

Excerpt From: Steven Kent Mirassou. “Lineage: Life and Love and Six Generations in California Wine.” #stevenkentmirassou #lineagewinecollection #sixthgenerationwinemaker

Press Days are the Best Days! #winemaking #lineage

Press Days are the Best Days! #winemaking #lineagewines

#telluride gondola framed by clouds. Unbelievably

#telluride gondola framed by clouds. Unbelievably beautiful place! @travelingnancy and I at the @telluridewinefestival. #thelineagecollection

@batesranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains is one of

@batesranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains is one of those mythic places that just seems fated to produce absolutely singular, world-class, life-changing wines. 2021 marks our second harvest from this place, and we are one bunch of lucky winemakers to be able to add our interpretation of this mind-blowing vineyard to the wine loving world! #santacruzmountains #stevenkentmirassou #thelineagecollection #batesranch

@aidanjmirassou and @beth.refsnider at the top of

@aidanjmirassou and @beth.refsnider at the top of the amazing #zayantevineyard. Merlot from this own-rooted, dry- and organically-farmed site is now in fermenters. Will be a crucial piece of our Right Bank blend. #thelineagecollection #6thgenerationwinemaker #lautrecote

I’m thrilled to be able to join Michael and Cari

I’m thrilled to be able to join Michael and Cari, owners of @cellarsandwine in Walnut Creek where I will be pouring wine and doing a book signing on Saturday from 5pm-7pm! Wine Hardware is a gorgeous store that specializes in bespoke wine cellars as well as having a great selection of wine and wine books. I look forward to seeing you and pouring you some wine! #lineagebook #stevenkentmirassou #booksigning @lineagecollection @lautrecotecabernetfranc

It turns out that you can shove 13 picking bins in

It turns out that you can shove 13 picking bins in a 20-foot U-haul! #harvest #batesranch #zayantevineyard @beth.refsnider @aidanjmirassou #thelineagecollection

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