After leaving the US Marine Corps in 1964, Dick Grace became a stockbroker in San Francisco while he and his wife, Ann, raised Kirk, Mark and Kim in the suburban comfort of Orinda. By the mid-seventies, when the children were teenagers, the idea of moving to the country was holding some allure, and a rundown Victorian that was just out of their price range became both their challenge and their haven. In today’s world full of boutique wineries it is hard to believe that the Napa Valley of 1976 really ever existed. At the time, it was just another agricultural region where prunes and walnuts were as viable a crop as grapes, and pig farms dotted the landscape.
Since those early days, Dick and Ann Grace have pioneered numerous concepts now practiced throughout the Napa Valley. These include close or European spacing of vines, eliminating the use of pesticides and herbicides in the vineyards, etching and hand-painting large format bottles to be used at charity events as well as currently exploring biodynamic techniques that might positively affect the biology of their terroir.
Kirk Grace, Dick and Ann’s eldest son, now manages the vineyard, which he farms organically using biodynamic techniques
Most recently, the Graces have begun to make a small amount of wine from a 1.8-acre vineyard owned by Chotsie and Alan Blank, which—in a circle-of-life fashion—happens to be located next to Caymus. The Blank’s vineyard was planted with cuttings from Grace Family Vineyards. But the soil and microclimate at Blank is its own. Not surprisingly, Grace Family wines labeled “Blank” have their own unique character, too.
