Wine lovers know about Napa. They know Sonoma, Santa Ynez, Paso Robles, even Temecula. David Stone Jr., 49, hopes one day they’ll add Big Bear Lake to the list. No kidding. Stone has planted what he says is the highest-altitude commercial vineyard in the northern hemisphere, surpassing the Terror Creek Winery in Colorado, east of Grand Junction, which sits at 6,417 feet. The Stone Summit Winery in Big Bear Lake is at 6,750 feet. Behind the cottages of Wolf Creek Resort on Big Bear Boulevard, not far from the Snow Summit ski resort, Stone last year planted two acres of vineyards with about a half-dozen varietals ranging from Riesling to cabernet sauvignon. Last fall, “we actually had some grapes,” Stone said. “Not enough to harvest, but enough to show the viability of the vines. We won’t use this year’s growth, either. We’ll probably start with year four.” He hopes to have a mountain-grown Riesling and chardonnay ready by 2016, or before. But he’s not waiting until then to activate his winery. “In the interim, we have a vintner’s license,” he said. With grapes from other regions, the winery has produced a moscato and a chardonnay. He plans to uncork the first bottle of moscato July 4 in the resort’s wine room. The chardonnay should be ready by Labor Day, he said. Even if Stone plants the entire 15 acres of land he has available, he doesn’t expect to ever be a big producer. “We’re never going to be Sutter Home,” he said. “It’s a project of passion, absolutely.” The passion comes from Stone’s own love of wine, his lifelong connection with Big Bear Lake — four generations of his family have owned property there, he … Continue reading The Press Enterprise