First Recorded Ownership of Summit Ranch
Prior to 1872, the property where Pride Mountain Vineyards is presently located was unsettled land in its original primitive state. James McGuire was the recipient of the first official deed.
The Summit Winery Established
In 1885, Edward Hirschler purchased the property and began planting wine grapes. In 1890, he built the stone winery shown in the photos and called it “Summit Wines”. The ruins are still present today.
Prohibition Suspends Production
After several ownership successions, prohibition brought the end to wine production. The park in front of the old winery building was used for weekend gatherings by the local community as shown in the photo. The winery eventually burned down toward the end of prohibition leaving the present-day ruins, one of several "ghost wineries" in the area.
John and Babs Gamble Purchase Summit Ranch
Fruit orchards were planted during and immediately after prohibition, but in the 1950s, the Gamble family purchased the land and began removing the orchards and planting to wine grapes again.
Jim and Carolyn Pride Purchase Summit Ranch
The Gambles sold to Jim and Carolyn in December 1989. Originally, the goal was to simply grow grapes but it did not take Jim long to decide to make wine as well. Vineyard restoration and replanting began immediately.
First Vintage from Pride Mountain Vineyards
Although most of the fruit from the original 45 acres of vines was sold to other wineries, Jim and Carolyn bottled their first vintage of Pride Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon at Rombauer Vineyards in 1991.
Bob Foley Becomes Winemaker
First Vintage of
Pride Mountain Vineyards
Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Jim's idea to make the best possible Cabernet Sauvignon from all the lots in the cellar resulted in 308 cases of our most intensely-structured and fruit-driven cabernet sauvignon, labeled as a separate “Reserve” bottling. It received nice critical acclaim, and today we produce around 1,500 cases of Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine which has obtained repeated 99 and 100 point scores over the years.
First Wines Produced at Pride Mountain Vineyards
The wines were made offsite at Rombauer Vineyards and then Kornell Cellars until the first fermentation tanks and crush pad were installed on the property in time for the 1997 crush. The finished wines were racked to barrels and the barrels taken to Kornell for aging. Associate Winemaker Romel Rivera, shown in the photo and still with us today, also joined our small but mighty team in 1997.
Winery Built and Staff Hired
In 1998, a winery that included a fermentation room, tasting room, and offices was added adjacent to the crush pad. Additional staff was hired, including tasting room and marketing managers Tim Bouchet and Wendy Brooks, who are still with us.
Caves Dug and Additional Staff Hired
A 23,000 square foot cave was dug for wine barrel storage and long-time CFO Kathy Bertolino, recently retired after nearly 20 years, joined the team.
Jim Pride Passes
The Next Generation Assumes Ownership
Prior to Jim passing away from bladder cancer in August 2004, the winery was sold to his children Steve and Suzanne. Steve assumed the role of “general manager” and Suzanne, recovering from cancer herself in 2004, worked in administration.
New Tasting Room Added
Upon Jim’s passing, plans were made to build a new tasting room and warehouse to allow for the expanding business. The tasting room was completed in 2006 and the warehouse the following year. Vineyard acres planted by this time had grown from 45 to roughly 80 acres.
Sally Johnson Becomes Winemaker
Sally was an eager young winemaker with a master's degree in winemaking from UC Davis when she stepped away from leading the ultra-premium-wine division at St. Francis to become our winemaker in 2007.
20th Anniversary and Commemorative Tasting
To celebrate our 20th Anniversary as a winery, we invited a number of industry and media associates up to the winery to join us for a commemorative tasting of each vintage of our Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
Vineyard Manager David Orozco
Celebrates 25 Years
David has been with us since 1991, living on the property with his wife, Cruz, and raising two daughters, Samantha and Rebecca, here. He continues to manage the vineyard team today. His hard work and dedication have been key to any success we have enjoyed as a business and his friendship is dearly felt by everybody associated with the winery.
Sunset Vineyard
Final Planting of New Vineyards
In 2018, the last land was cleared on the west side of the property, and a final three acres of syrah were planted. This brings the vineyard acres planted to 85. Shown in the photo is Steve Pride talking with the vineyard crew as the very last vine in the Sunset block is planted. Going forward, we will only be replanting existing blocks as necessary.
