About 14 years ago, Schwaesdall Winery here in the Ramona Valley opened their small tasting room. It cost Johnny about $7,000 in fees to the County of San Diego. About 18 months ago, Hawk Watch Winery in the back country, opened their small wine tasting room at their...
Even though we are having a wonderful life creating a beautiful place for friends and family to visit while striving to grow premium wine grapes, it is not always a walk in the park. Something or someone is always lurking to throw up a road block or detour when or...
Working in the vineyard is a very calming and meditative activity. I usually keep a small note pad and pen in my tool pouch to write down the creative ideas I come up with during the process.Norm came in one day with twist on a common rhyme:There I sat broken...
I mentioned in a prior posting our destination resorts around the property, and talked about The Love-Love Tree. This is it on the left. The little plastic box under the love seat has a pair of binoculars in it, since there’s a wonderful view of the canyon rocks...
Ramona is in the “fire interphase zone”, a term used to describe the area that is prone to wild fires. When we moved here in July 2006, there had been only 2″ of rain that year, and in order to get fire insurance, we had to try 3 different companies...
Every summer for the past three years, the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association has held a summer social for its members. We gather at Hellanback Ranch (yes, it’s way out in the back country at the very end of a long road), where owners John York & Paula Payne...
