Our History

Written By Stephen Singer

My active engagement in the food and wine business now spans 40+ years. Early on in my career, I began developing a deep appreciation for the virtues of the Syrah grape, an affinity that feels touched by kismet. The visionary wine importer Kermit Lynch’s farsighted initiative to champion an array of the then little-known wines of the Rhône Valley had much to do with that.

Over time, my deep immersion in the wine and food business (as a wine retailer and consultant, a restaurateur involved with Chez Panisse, Table 29, César, as an importer of Tuscan olive oil, etc.) led to a move to Sonoma to become a farmer and producer of wine and olive oil, a natural (if not ineluctable) next step .

In a sense, taking on this agrarian quest closed the loop on my connection to the full gamut of possibilities of food, wine and the table. At the same time, though, it has led me to a whole new canon of understandings about the process and commitments entailed in regenerative and organic farming, not to mention illustrating palpably how the journey from the ground into the bottle can be exciting, unpredictable, harrowing and singularly rewarding. In other words, it was the next act in my culinary passion play.

This salad was born from that moment. It’s not fussy, but it is thoughtful—built from ingredients we’ve pulled from the Sebastopol farmers market and our garden in the same afternoon. As always, our olive oil finishes it. You’ll want a good pour, and maybe a piece of warm olive bread close by.