Saucelito Canyon

AVA

Arroyo Grande Valley

Decade

1880s

County

San Luis Obispo

Historical Producers

Saucelito Canyon Vineyard

Description

Planted in 1880, Saucelito Canyon survived Prohibition only to lay fallow for 30 years following World War Two. After purchasing the property from the original homesteaders’ granddaughters in 1974, Bill Greenough spent four years nursing the vines back to production.

As the vines are own-rooted, a crown could burn or suffer a wild animal’s ‘pruning’ and the plant would survive by continuing to send out suckers. Bill worked the vineyard for years, re-staking and retraining vines into a new head-pruned plant. In all, three acres of the original vineyard survive with another 9 acres of clones planted from the 1970s to today. DNA sequencing revealed the Saucelito Canyon vines to be a clone unique to the site and were thus included in UC Davis’ Oakville Heritage Vineyard.

All fruit from the vineyard goes to the Estate Wine program at Saucelito Canyon Vineyard.

Submitted by

Nancy Greenough

Certified

Saucelito Canyon Vineyard circa 1890

The original homestead on Saucelito Canyon Vineyard

Grandchildren of homesteaders, Henry and Rosa Ditmas. Bill Greenough purchased the vineyard from the two granddaughters in the photo. The grandson passed in the influenza epidemic of 1918.

Saucelito Canyon Vineyard, 1954

Saucelito Canyon Vineyard in 1974, when purchased by William Greenough

Saucelito Canyon Vineyard, mid-1970's establishing new trunk

Saucelito Canyon Vineyard, late 1970's showing retrained head-pruned vines