It’s interesting to note that the vineyard is planted with one of Napa Valley’s most famous clonal selections of Cabernet Sauvignon, first planted in the Bosché vineyard, just a few miles south of Grace Family. Freemark Abbey’s Bosché Cabernets were long sought-after by wine aficionados prior to the founding of Grace Family.

Since their first harvest back in 1978, Dick and Ann have always picked their crop with the help of friends. In fact, Grace Family Vineyards may be the only commercial winery in the region that still carries on a “friends and family” grape harvest tradition. Twenty-one different nations have been represented among the pickers, who come from many walks of life. The harvesters also include sommeliers from fine restaurants throughout the U.S. Normally nocturnal, even these hard-core night owls roused themselves for the vineyard work that began at dawn.

“This is the only thing that could get me up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning!” said Nadine Brown, sommelier at Charlie Palmer Steak, in Washington, D.C. “We find a great community through wine. I love the way you meet people from all walks of life here,” she noted, lugging grape bins up the steep vineyard slope to the winery sorting table.

In addition to producing fine wine, Grace Family Vineyards fuels the fires that run the Grace Family Foundation, which provides much needed services to the underserved of our world. These services range from helping the homeless in San Francisco to constructing health clinics in Tibet and Nepal. The winery motto is: Wine as a catalyst towards healing our planet.

“I’ve been captivated by Dick’s mission,” said New York investor and wine collector Jeff Thorp, who flew in for the pick with his wife, Lisa. “Dick’s mission is inspirational. And of course the harvest here also makes for a fun day.”