Helen and Dave Dart started their dream as home winemakers with a passion for great wines. After winning several awards in that category, they decided to make small lot commercial wines to share with like-minded enthusiasts.

What does a Spanish dancer have to do with a winery that has a French name? Absolutely nothing and everything. It was one of the first artworks created by Dave around the same time he and Helen began making wine at home. This piece has served as the winery's logo since their days as garagistes. Their journey began when they took Best of Show at the Sacramento Home Winemakers wine competition with their very first wine, a 2000 Syrah, igniting their passion for winemaking. Although Helen has French heritage, the name Dart is purely English.

Now residing on their Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard, where the winery is located, the tasting room is a feast for the eyes. Dave and Helen have adorned the space with Dave's photo art, reflecting their travels around the world. Most days, Helen is present in the tasting room, eager to share her special wine-pairing recipes and insights into winemaking.

Through the tasting room lies the barrel room, where Dave and his daughter, Jessie, handle the winemaking process. They divide their responsibilities, with Jessie managing fermentation and barrel aging while Dave focuses on master blending and bottling.

The d’Art team is their most valuable asset. Visitors are warmly welcomed in the tasting room, where the couple loves getting to know their customers.

This place is tiny and quaint. The wine room has a sign to knock on the door of the house. No need, Joe has already spotted us and beaming, walks over to let us in.He is warm, amazing host. Asks about your background, shares about his family. After we try many wines, he gets a twinkle in his eye, and reaches into the fridge, retrieves a unmarked bottle, pours a taste. Its sweet, bright, and dissolves yummily on the tongue. He seems surprised I can't place it...its homemade limoncello. However its made from home made grappa, not vodka, for the infusion liquor. Wow.

Discovering a Hidden Gem

A lifelong passion for wine, combined with a keen interest in mountain geology, first brought Bill and Bonnie Kehret to the Fair Play region of the Sierra Foothills in the early 2000s. Amidst building a successful high-tech company in Silicon Valley and traveling globally for business, the couple became regular visitors to El Dorado County, indulging in low-key wine getaways.

In a fortunate twist of fate, the old Mt. Aukum winery came up for sale just as Bill was preparing to retire from the company he had dedicated nearly 30 years to building from the ground up. Intrigued by the potential of the microclimate atop Mt. Aukum, the well-drained granite soil, and the breathtaking views from the winery, Bill and Bonnie purchased the property in 2018. They envisioned transforming the site into a world-class winery that would showcase the unique characteristics of the region.

The following year was dedicated to a complete renovation of the facility and the installation of state-of-the-art winemaking equipment and technology. With a small, dedicated team, they transformed the site into a premier winemaking facility and began the process of renewing and expanding the estate vineyards.

In April 2019, the newly renovated tasting room at Kehret Vineyards reopened its doors. After much anticipation, the first wines from Kehret Vineyards were released in October 2019. The next crucial step in their journey to becoming a world-class winery was to find the right winemaker to lead their vision.

Enter Steve Leveque

In 2020, Steve Leveque joined the Kehret Vineyards team as the Master Winemaker. He is reshaping winemaking in the Fair Play region, bringing with him a rich history of viticulture and world-class winemaking techniques. Steve’s impressive resume has established him as one of California’s most renowned winemakers.

Born and raised in Napa Valley, Steve has built a reputation for crafting wines that embody the purity and identity of their vineyards. His experience includes prestigious positions at notable wineries such as HALL, Chalk Hill, Opus One, and Mondavi.

In addition to being a master winemaker, Steve is also a skilled viticulturist, spending significant time overseeing vineyard operations to produce exceptional grapes of unparalleled quality. He honed his winemaking skills during a decade-long tenure at Robert Mondavi Winery and absorbed innovative ideas from leading viticulture research and visionary collaborators, including the renowned Bordeaux consultant Michel Rolland. Later, as the executive vice president and winemaker at Chalk Hill Estate Winery in Sonoma, he crafted an award-winning portfolio of small-lot Bordeaux varietals and Chardonnay. Steve then became the head winemaker for HALL Wines in Napa, as well as their partners WALT and BACA. Under his guidance, over 200 of his wines received ratings of 90 points and above during his 11-year tenure.

Steve has earned three 100-point scores from Wine Advocate, two from Jeb Dunnuck, and was recognized with the #2 Wine in the World from Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2011. More than 80 of his wines have been rated between 95 and 99 points by elite wine publications. This success is the result of years of experience marked by risk-taking, experimentation, collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

Steve’s winemaking philosophy begins in the vineyard. To truly tell the vineyard's story and create balanced wines, he emphasizes the importance of bold flavors. Every aspect of vineyard farming is crucial; timing is everything. Each vintage presents its own unique challenges, and vineyard operations must align with the growing season's influences. Decisions about shoot removal, hedging, and crop thinning all carry significant consequences.

For Steve, achieving a harmonious balance between vine vigor and crop is essential. He believes that cultivating low-vigor vines with low yields allows each cluster to ripen perfectly. This approach ensures that each grape cluster can develop fully, allowing for optimal ripening of sugar, tannins, texture, and flavor. Canopy management is another critical component of this process.

Numerous factors contribute to vineyard expression and balance. Once harvested, a winemaker's role is to honor that expression, employing gentle and precise techniques. Ultimately, to maintain vineyard expression and balance, winemaking must consistently respect and celebrate what the vineyard offers.