I decided that we had to purchase this 40-acre property within minutes of having driven onto it. My father, who lent us the money for the purchase, was very skeptical until we took him to the site. His first sentence was, "When do you need the money?”.

Greywacke Vineyard (pronounced “grey-wack-ee”) sits on the western slope of Black Mountain in the Russian River appellation where the Russian River turns west, after heading south for many miles, and heads to the sea. From the vineyard you can see north towards Fitch Mountain in Healdsburg and beyond to Geyser Peak, and south over the Russian River Valley and Green Valley.

Between 600' and 800' in elevation, it is one of the highest vineyards in the Russian River Valley which gives us the climatic advantage of being above the fog. The fractured Franciscan Complex soils that make up much of the property are hard and rocky, and not very fertile. In and around the property there are outcroppings of "Green Stone" and "Greywacke", a sedimentary rock linked with very high quality vineyards on the Sonoma Coast.

In 2000, before we discovered this beautiful property, ten acres had been completely prepared for planting. A well was dug, the ground was amended and ripped, the vineyard was fenced, and irrigation was installed. And there it sat, unplanted, until we bought it in 2005 and planted it in 2006 to 6.5 acres to six clones of Syrah as well as some own-rooted vines, and 3 acres to two clones of Grenache

Just getting to Greywacke is a challenge, it is a ½ mile up a very, very steep gravel road requiring 4 wheel drive. And once you are there things don't get easier. The slopes are very steep requiring the use of crawler tractors and there is no power or utilities of any kind. We had to install a generator to run the well.

In 2009 or 2010 we will have our first harvest from this vineyard, and in 2011 or 2012 we will release the first Greywacke Vineyard wine.