The Stolo Family Winery and Tasting Room plans to open in September on Santa Rosa Creek Road. Family members say theirs will be the first new winery, tasting room and vineyard to open along the coast of California in more than 20 years. Tasting room hours are to be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays through Mondays.

Currently, Harmony Cellars in Harmony is the only existing North Coast winery with onsite sales and a tasting facility.

The Stolo winery is 2 miles up Santa Rosa Creek Road, about a mile from Coast Union High School. Historic buildings — including a restored farmhouse at the base of a 9- acre estate vineyard, an old dairy barn and ranch-hand quarters—date back to the late 1800s.

The grounds have even gained the attention of Sunset Magazine.

Getting approval for the winery was difficult, because of its unusual location. It took five years to get the winery’s application through the California Coastal Commission process. Owner Don Stolo made several design changes, and commissioners approved the final plan in April 2010.

The Prian family planted the vines in 1998 on their 53.3-acre property, then called the Dos Cruces Ranch. It was an unusual move, since the ranch was close to the ocean. The Prians sold the ranch to the Stolos in 2002.

The vineyard now produces rare, coastal style pinot noir, chardonnay and syrah grapes. The winery produces handcrafted boutique wines, which have won awards in San Francisco, Monterey, Los Angeles, and Orange County.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine editor Jon Bonne recently discovered the vineyard and said, “I first saw the vineyards in mid-2007, tasted the wine later that year, and didn’t put the two together until this spring, when I was dazzled again by its potential. It gives new meaning to the second word in Central Coast.”

For details, go to www.stolofamilywinery. co m or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stolofamilywinery.

—Kathe Tanner