“As the sunlight clasps the earth, and the moonbeams kiss the sea, what is all this sweet work worth, if thou kiss not me ”
- Percy Bysshe Shelly
Our Story
It was 1994, we just finished wishing our last wedding guests goodnight and took our wine upstairs to soak in the view at The Chimney Rock Winery.
You see, we picked that poem as it symbolized everything we both believe in – the connection between nature, her beauty, and the laws she follows combined with the love, connection, and purpose we both felt for each other. We believed that if we worked hard enough, took advantage of every opportunity, and continued to stay focused on our dreams, we would get what we wanted.
30 years later, we finally accomplished one of our dreams. Welcome to Stellar Ridge Vineyard, we are so excited to show you around and glad you clicked the button to learn more about us.
In 2009 we purchased this land to someday retire on. 2 years later, we moved back to California from Texas and started looking to buy a home or other land to build on. After several failed offers for houses and land to buy/build an in-between house (one that was NOT a dream house), we made the decision to build on the land earlier than we had planned. There is always a plan…if you believe in such things.
Then we thought, wouldn’t it be cool to build our dream house with as many American-made products and materials as possible to help out our contractors and US manufacturing? We could take some pictures and show our family and friends our process of building it. Well, that was just the beginning of a completely different chapter. To find out how that went, you head over to our Facebook page: Our American Made Home to see the results of that adventure.
You may or may not know the feeling of being house-poor after building your dream house. Well, we were. Ugh. The vineyard dream would have to wait for a bit.
A million stars to wish upon
Five years later and after many nights of wishing on the twinkling stars keeping watch over our little ridge, we took a leap of faith, without much of a budget, and started to prepare the land for a vineyard.
We bought a tractor and attachments to help prepare the soil. We (yup, just us two!) dug all the trenches for the drip irrigation and laid all the pipes. We (with some help from our friend Daniel Belshe on this one!) staked out the layout getting all the right angles correct with string.
We purchased most of the materials (end posts, gable posts, wire, etc.) from a second-hand facility where old vineyard material gets recycled. The kids to help strip trellis wire from an old vineyard in Sonoma. We (with help on this one from Andrew Graves!) drove all the posts in, strung the wire, laid out the drip lines, and planted over 800 vines of Grenache and Mourvèdre by hand. We learned (and continue to learn) to farm the best way possible, from our Pest Control Advisor (PCA), and Nursery Field Rep, and of course the mother of all learnings – the hard way!
Yes, yes, we did attend many viticulture classes, sought out advisors (both for viniculture and enology best practices) who continue to be so helpful. But understanding your varietals, your land, what works and doesn’t work, proper pruning … we could go on and on - was (still is!) such the education. All the while combining that vineyard knowledge with understanding how to make great wine (enology). It’s been a labor of love!
After two years of making red and white wine, learning how the process works, what we liked and didn’t like in our wine, we were eventually able this hobby into a business where we felt proud to sell you our wine. We have arrived at that stage with our first sellable vintage…the 2023 GSM Rosé!
We are very aware of the responsibility we have to make sure we care for this beautiful land and the wildlife that coexists with us. We use sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices to make sure our soil and vines are happy and healthy. We understand the significance of these practices and our commitment to you is that they will be reflected in the quality of the wine you enjoy from us.
Patrick and Renée DuBois
