by the Pride Family
It was Christmas 1989 when we first saw the ranch. Known historically as Summit Ranch, what had started out as a deeded half section of three hundred and twenty acres in 1878 had been whittled down over time via property transfers and line adjustments to the one hundred and seventy-two acres that now straddled the Napa/Sonoma county line.
The ranch house, comprised of two individual buildings brought together by sled from various corners of the ranch and shingled over as one, was a wet and drafty thing with a spring running under the kitchen floor. What once had been a beautiful stone winery building now lay in ruin. Destroyed by fire during Prohibition, it had been left as a pile of charred timber and stone.
Old prunings, tree limbs, barrel hoops, tin cans and the evidence of ancient burn piles disfigured the former picnic grove where the mountain community had gathered on Sundays to share news, play pinochle and picnic. The fifty acres of vineyards we had come up the mountain to see were scraggly, undernourished and tired. It was staggering even to think that we were going to sell some of the richest agricultural land in the country (our rice land in Sutter County) for what we were looking at that day. Yet Jim Pride believed we could fix it.
Today, fourteen years later, we are so proud of our award-winning wines and vineyards. Through good fortune, we were able to acquire several adjacent parcels to bring the ranch up to its current two hundred and twenty acres. After clearing new vineyard areas and replanting most of the initial vineyards, we currently have eighty-two acres under vine.
These vineyards produce award-winning Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese, Syrah, Chardonnay and Viognier. Through careful agricultural practices, the hard work of our wonderful team, and the natural conditions that exist here at 2,100 feet, that which Jim Pride saw in his mind’s eye has become reality at Pride Mountain Vineyards.
