The Ramona Valley is known as “The Valley of the Sun” and is called the Rhone Valley of California. It has the same soil type as Sonoma. Ramona was called Nuevo back in the 1850’s and was home to the native American Indians. The settlers were lured here by the abundance of water and great weather in the 1950’s. Ramona was the turkey capital of the world, producing more turkeys a year than anywhere and celebrated every year with an annual turkey parade. Every year women would make beautiful dresses out of turkey feathers to wear in the parade. Since then the turkey industry has been replaced by egg ranchers and horse farmers along with various other types of farming. However, We are sure that if you look around the town long enough you will certainly be able to spot a few big turkeys.
John Schwaesdall, A San Diego native, started making wine from some of the old vineyards in Ramona that were planted in 1950’s. He since has planted 4 1/2 acres of various red and white wine grapes. The vineyard lies among gigantic granite boulders that are found predominately in the Ramona/Mt. Woodson area of San Diego. These boulders are true natural wonders. One great granite boulder on the property weighs 80 tons and looks just like a cat. Another looks like Moby Dick. John won’t hesitate to show visitors the fantastic natural sculptures on his 6 acres of property. We also have a wonderful view of Iron Mountain from our grounds.
Enjoy your wine tasting in the first permitted commercial straw bale building in San Diego County. The tasting room walls are constructed of straw bales. Sir Chester, our copper pig, will greet you as you enter the tasting room. You are welcome to bring food (except when an event is taking place) and enjoy the view and beauty of the vineyards on our grounds.
Summertime offers bands throughout. The bands range from classic rock to blues to country western.
We offer many wines for tasting and you will have the opportunity to meet the owners/winemakers on most visits. We love to meet people and hope to make your visit to our winery memorable.
Johnny and Shirley Schwaesdall