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The Meaning of the Labels

"Winged Woman Walking" by Stephen de Staebler

We've all been through tough times in life, and may be left with more than a few scars. But the spirit remains.

This one-winged angel's spirit will never quit.

The statue on the Staglin Family Vineyard wine label, Stephen de Staebler's "Winged Woman Walking," stands in a special courtyard at the Staglins' home in Rutherford. Shari and Garen had admired this Giacometti-influenced sculptor's work for a few years when, in 1987, they found this piece at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. They were drawn immediately to this "winged woman's" unshakeable energy. As Shari states, "It was love at first sight." The next morning they purchased her, and, when her show finished its three-year U.S. tour, they got to put her up in their backyard in Lafayette. When they built their new home in Rutherford in 1993, the sculpture came with them, and took her place in the center of their backyard garden created especially for her. They draw inspiration from her every day.

De Staebler's inspiration for the "woman" was the "Winged Victory," or "Nike of Samothrace," displayed in the Louvre in Paris. "She's striding determinedly but with a light step," says Shari, "as we try to do in our own lives and with our wine."

"Salus"

When you give someone the toast, "Salud!" you are saying "To your health!" The word is derived from "Salus," the name of the Roman goddess of health and well-being.

When Shari and Garen traveled to Italy for their 30th anniversary, they found a cameo pendant in the image of a robed woman bearing a lyre. Garen gave Shari the pendant, and when they got home she and Brandon did some research: They found that the image was actually of the goddess Salus. Serendipitously, Shari and Garen were searching for an image to represent the Music Festival for Mental Health, as well as the new wine label whose sales would underwrite the festival, right at that time. They named the new wines after the goddess, and the festival's mascot became Salus.