Founder Visit!

We were so honored to get a visit from Barbara Naden (formerly Barbara Schild), who along with her husband at the time, Russ, built Noble Hill Vineyard. We had a lot of questions for her and we were pleasantly surprised that she had all the answers. I had assumed that the project had been driven by her husband Russ and she straightened that out. Their project was something they did very much together. Barbara could even recite the clones that had been planted and she brought a photo album that showed them clearing the land, building roads, pouring the building foundations and all. The family of four worked to make much of it happen with their own hands. Their father was also a big part of the team and really loved creating the vineyard and winery. We learned that the vineyard consulting was done by the legendary Merry Edwards, which probably explains why the Chardonnay at our site is special. Barbara credits their double gold at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition for their ability to get rolling quickly. That's Barbara and me posing, Russ on his Caterpillar making a road and a shot of what is now our cottage and the trailer they had on the land before the house was built.