our story

It all started with Peter having a vision of owning property on the beach where he could plant grapes and enjoy the ocean. We soon realized that you could not grow grapes on the beach and decided to purchase land in Santa Barbara County. It did not take us long to find just what we had been looking for. We purchased 82 acres in 1999 not knowing that it would one day become the Sta. Rita Hills appellation. Peter’s vision was to one day plant a vineyard and maybe even make his own wines! Our vineyard consultant advised us that we had a great piece of property and, with a lot of courage and patience, could have a great vineyard.

We were both toiling long hours in corporate America, spending countless hours on planes and in conferences, but still enjoying the thrill of business. With little time to focus on the vineyard, we decided to move forward with the project and son Don moved to the valley to spearhead the effort. The first 15 acres of vines were planted in 2001. A few months later, we landed in Newark on the morning of September 11, 2001 where Peter was to take Path 1 (New York Subway) that morning. That would have put him under the World Trade Center at 8:45am. The good news was his meeting was cancelled at the last minute and he never got on the train.

After many days trying to get back to California we finally found a route home. Instead of heading to Los Angeles, we came straight to the ranch and made the life-changing decision to leave the corporate world and pursue our dreams of viticulture full time. We made the move to the property in January 2002 and have since then fallen in love with country life. Now we both have more time to spend with family and friends and enjoy life to the fullest.

The first four years were spent learning how to farm the land, pruning the vines, coaxing them onto the trellis, nurturing the soil and preparing for the first harvest. To get a jump start on learning the new trade, in 2002 we purchased a ton of Pinot Noir and two tons of Syrah and started to make our own wine, under the stewardship of son Don. We continued with this direction in 2003, increasing the volume a bit and adding a Rosé of Syrah to the mix. The wines were proudly bottled in the Spring of 2005.

2004 brought forth the inaugural ampelos vineyard harvest! 15 tons of Pinot Noir and 6 tons of Syrah were picked, and the program of purchasing grapes from warmer regions continued to add to the “spice cabinet”. This was just the beginning of the journey, but we are firm believers in the journey being the destination.