Captain Vineyards

Open: Year Round

Mission:

At Captain Vineyards, we strive to grow exceptional hand managed grapes and produce extraordinary wines to enjoy with family and friends.  As a green business, we are committed to the belief that sustainable practices benefit both the environment and the quality of our grapes.   Susan Captain is a Certified Bay-Friendly Landscape Professional,  WPS fieldworker Trainer and pesticide handler, Susan is part of the National Plant diagnostic network (NPDN).

History:

The Captain family has resided in Moraga, California sine January 1989. Parents Susan and Salah filled their home with four energetic children - Alexander, David, Joseph, and Sara - and then came upon a novel idea for occupying their time. After numerous visits to Napa Valley, the Captains decided that their property was an ideal site for a vineyard . . . if only they could clear the land of its thick brush and design the steep hillside. The family embarked upon the project with zeal. For over a year, weekends were spent hauling undergrowth from the hillside, battling poison oak and grease weed, and carving staircases into the steep hillside. And while that year certainly produced  more than its fair share of bug bites, sunburns, slivers, and skinned knees, it also gave rise to a beautifully terraced five acre vineyard and four children with a remarkable work ethic.

Meanwhile, Susan became a student of viticulture, attending classes at UC Davis , Santa Rosa college and Napa Valley College . She modeled the vineyard on the European hillside style, affording healthy stress and competition between vines. In 2005, the soil was ready for vines and approximately 1,500 Petite Sirah, 500 Pinot Noir, 500 Cabernet Franc, and 500 Petite Verdot vines went into the hillside. The Moraga microclimate proved ideal for grape-growing and in 2007, 500 additional Cabernet Sauvignon vines were added.
In 2008 Salah retired from his "day job" and dedicated himself full-time to wine making. The Captain's winery came into bonding in May 2009 and that year's harvest netted 12,800 pounds of grapes, which Salah made into 10 barrels of wine to be released in 2011.

Today Captain Vineyards is fully sustainable, environmentally friendly, and the first Green Winery in Contra Costa County.