Some of our favorite wineries are getting personal about their struggles, their triumphs and their passion for the wine they make. All wineries have a soul..or a couple of souls, that get their hands dirty, puts their sweat and tears into their job and truly envisions a wine they can be proud of. This per
son is usually seen at the wine maker dinners coaching you through tastings, maybe behind the counter having you taste the wines, possibly in the vines cultivating their grapes or deep in the caverns of the caves or winery testing and con-coxing each varietal.
Here is one of their stories…
Laird Foshay – Wine Grower & Proprietor | Shannon Gustafson – Wine Maker & Grower | Nathan Stuart – Vineyard & Ranch Manager
RANGELAND WINES
The struggles…
“We have a long way to go to return to “normal”, but we are thankful for 10 inches of early December rain that helped germinate grass and bring much needed drought relief to the ranch. Our lake, after being nearly empty last fall, is now about half full. It’s great to see our country turn green on the normal seasonal schedule and we’re hoping for more rain this winter. Having said that we are still recovering from 2014 and effect of the drought, which may not be over. Last winter started dry and we were looking at the possibility of selling most of our cattle and sheep herds. We did sell a couple of dozen cows last year, but were lucky when spring rains allowed us to hang on to most of our animals. We were also fortunate to lease neighboring Halter Ranch for fall grazing, after our home ranch pastures were depleted.”
The triumphs…
“Over the last 15 years we have put a number of pots on the stove; farming grapes, making wine, raising grass-fed cattle and sheep, as well as processing and selling packaged meats. All these projects seemed to come to a boil in a scorching and extraordinary 2014; we doubles our wine case count and expanded our wine distribution in Southern California through Wine Warehouse. We increased club members and sales for both wine and beef. We recently received some excellent scores from Robert Parker’s prestigious Wine Advocate and reviewer Jeb Dunnuck highlighted our winemaker Shannon Gustafson, noting that ‘Her entire lineup is loaded with outstanding wines’.”
• 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, 90 pts
• 2011 Limestone, 90 pts
• 2011 Petite Sirah, 91 pts
• 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon (barrel sample), 89-92 pts
• 2012 GSM, 90 pts
• 2012 Limestone Reserve Cab (barrel sample), 91-93 pts
• 2012 Mistletoe, 90 pts
To purchase wine, grass-fed beef or lamb, join their clubs or visit for tasting and tours visit:
For more great stories from RANGELAND visit their BLOG!
