We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephen Hemmert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephen, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Aside from making what we believe to be “great” wine, it’s the personal touch we give to our customers! We strive to embrace every person that walks into our Tasting Room with joy and excitement. They could have gone anywhere else but chose to come here! We take it seriously that they are willing to spend time and money at our Tasting Room and we let them know we appreciate it. We have many customers that we know by name, their kids’ names etc. It’s like walking into the TV show Cheers! Our small staff know our expectations and are in many ways like us, caring and customer centric! We also put on many special events that our wine club members love, and we take part in community fund raisers and events in the Antelope Valley and elsewhere. We don’t have a budget for advertising, so word of mouth is how people are finding us and doing local events helps introduce people to what we do.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started making wine professionally at a local winery in Agua Dulce with only one wine. It was a Zinfandel grown on our home property called “Oasis”. People really loved it and we decided to expand into more exotic varietals like Tempranillo, Viognier and Roussanne. Great varietals not everyone knows of. To this day we still make the less known varietals like Tannat, Grenache Blanc, Verdelho, and soon Malvasia Bianca.

As our wine sales started to bloom, we had to find our own winery as working under another facility has its restrictions. So, we set out to find a place of our own. A friend told us about an old Firestone tire store in Lancaster that was available, and we met with the owner and sealed the deal. After months and months of hard work, mostly done by us and our kids, we opened to the public in November of 2018!

Some thought we were crazy as the wine business is not for the faint of heart. People think it’s glamorous and romantic and makes a lot of money. They don’t understand that it is a ton of manual, physical and mental work and is not a hugely profitable business either. We formed Stephen Hemmert Wines with my 401 k and our own small amount of cash and credit cards. We are considered a micro winery (less than 1,000 cases a year). We love and are passionate about what we do and it’s part of our mantra and logo, “Wines of Passion”! Again, we don’t have a castle for a tasting room and lavish advertising budgets and vineyards and expensive homes. We are a working-class family committed to growing our business.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Locally I would also take them on a trip of the other wineries in the Antelope Valley. As President of the Antelope Valley Wine Growers Association, I would want people to see our growing community of wineries out here. I would let them know that LA County was the first “real” grape growing region in California, and we are living proof you can make good wine in the desert.

I would also take them by Bravery Brewing Company in Lancaster which is a family run business and very successful.

Vasquez Rocks near my home in Agua Dulce is always a best bet. Like something out of Star Trek and in fact was featured in the TV show.

For dinner, I would take them to Le Chene French Cuisine. My friend Juan Alonso owns the place and is an avid wine lover. I made some of the wines being served there.

If we had time and went out of the area, I would take my friends to Paso Robles. We buy many of our grapes from Paso and not only is it beautiful, but there are many great wineries there.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Partner in business and in life, Nicole St Julian! None of this would have happened without her and to this day would not be flourishing without her. She was the impetus to take a hobby for me into the realm of reality. I was making tiny batches of wine at a co-op winery near my house and was frustrated. I was working a full time 60 hour a week at a food company and my winemaking was going nowhere. Meeting Nicole and having her taste my wine, and luckily for me, falling in love with me, was a blessing I can’t truly express. She asked me why I didn’t have my own place and pursue winemaking full time? After all, it was my passion making wine and to own my own place. She kickstarted the search for “our” winery where I could make the great wines I dreamed of.
Lastly, I would like to have people go to our website to read more about us and see our calendar of events.

Website: stephenhemmertwines@gmail.com

Instagram: stephenhemmertwines@instagram

Facebook: stephenhemmertwines@facebook.com

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.