The Beginning 

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, aperiri iracundia splendide no nec, clita mandamus pri in, ius dicam vulputate ne. Rebum suavitate mediocritatem cu his, vitae salutatus per te, vel et tritani periculis. At nominavi mediocrem mei, ex congue ancillae mediocrem mei. Cu est velit aperiri gloriatur, ea fastidii sadipscing nam.
Vel ocurreret evertitur ea. Ex sed illum consul incorrupte, graecis assentior forensibus ex eam, animal facilis duo in. An intellegat percipitur nam, no delenit detracto pertinax mel. Vitae fabellas liberavisse nec ne, graeco feugiat prodesset eu quo, cu nec liber ridens nostrud. Ut ius quaeque facilisis mnesarchum, ea dictas definitiones cum. Mea no equidem probatus.
Quo sonet inimicus comprehensam an. His nemore evertitur eu, no graeco regione menandri mea. Putant mediocrem ad vim, elit persius eos et. Nisl forensibus vituperata mei ad, tale eius cum ex, at brute nobis duo. Magna nostro quaeque vel an.
Ex dissentias scriptorem ius, est brute persequeris cu. Corrumpit forensibus ut his, albucius eloquentiam ut qui. Vero legere ne ius, stet salutatus quaerendum eos et, ius dicta lucilius id. At qui novum graece, in facilis gubergren necessitatibus duo.
Augue erroribus adolescens mei ne, eu brute voluptua imperdiet cum, esse iriure vel at. Ei inani semper mnesarchum cum, consul deseruisse per cu, aperiam delicatissimi ei mel. Facilisi definitiones an cum. In mucius docendi eos, eu eum justo voluptua suavitate, est velit summo salutandi ea. At ius omnes tempor expetenda, et detraxit quaerendum vis, ei eam omnis numquam. Vix te inermis sententiae, an ius soleat putant. Eum vidisse tritani inermis eu, te eam erroribus explicari imperdiet, mea id ubique adipisci electram.

The inception of Fore Family Vineyards started with a surprise, an opportunity, and a moment of brief insanity. 

Around 1994, Jim Fore had been working as an engineer draftsman at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, CA designing piping schematics for submarines. When they announced the closure of the shipyard, he was given the chance to re-evaluate his career path, or move to Washington to work at their shipyard. Jim knew he wanted to be more connected to the land with his next path in life. There were a few considerations – become chicken farmers in Ohio, catfish and cucumbers in Lodi, or stay around Napa where he grew up, and farm wine grapes.

Luckily for us, he already had a home winemaking hobby with two close friends. They would purchase second crops from Napa vineyards and make the wine at one of his neighbors and winemaking partners garage-winery.

I came home one day and said “Honey, we are going to be farmers!”

Diane’s response  – “Farm WHAT?”

Jim contacted a friend and grapegrower that he had purchased grapes from for a few years, Doug Hill. He worked for Doug learning how to grow high quality wine grapes in Napa, planting and developing vineyards. In 1995, the Fore Hill partnership was created.

In the year 2000, Jim had decided he would like to take the leap and develop his own property to farm grapes. He knew Napa land prices were out of the budget and had to look outside the county. He had considered farming in a handful of regions, but knew Lake County had great soils and climates for grape growing. He found a property on Cobb Mountain through an old friend. When visiting the site for the first time he thought “You have to be crazy to farm here, its too high up, too risky”

Our first vintage from this Cobb Mountain vineyard was 2005 – Cabernet, Syrah, and Grenache Noir

We currently farm 17 acres on this property, varietals including Grenache Blanc, Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel.

The farming business has more than just Jim for a working component. Diane retired from her teaching career to help full time with the business. Their son, Eric also left his photography job in San Luis Obispo to help grow the business at a later date.

 Since 2005, Fore Family Vineyards has expanded to producing an average of 1000 cases of wine per year, entirely of the grapes they grow. Primarily still a grape growing business, their goal is to produce all thirteen varietals that they farm in Napa and Lake County into wines under their brand.

I want to continue to farm the highest quality grape, to the best of my ability and accept what the mountain gives us.

– Jim Fore

Fast forward to February 2016 and the opening of the Fore Family Vineyards Wine Room in Kelseyville, not far from the Cobb Mountain Vineyard.

Find out what Wine Month Club has to say about our Pinot Noir!

Copyright © 2024 - All Rights Reserved - Fore Family Vineyards