A 25-Year Quest to Craft Unique, World-Class, Willamette Valley Wines

BEGINNINGS IN FRANCE

Lonesome Rock is the culmination of our life’s work. It is the story of our drive to risk everything to care for an exceptional vineyard, create exquisite, world-class wines, and share them with the world.

We met in French Drama & Poetry at the University of South Florida in 1989. As like-minded francophiles with a sense of adventure, we moved to France in 1991 where Danny studied Oenology at the Université de Bourgogne and worked in the vineyards and cellar at Domaine Yves Chaley et Fille in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. After spending all of our free time combing the vineyards of France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, we made a pact to one day care for our own vineyard.

Accidentally attending the Hospices de Beaune while studying abroad, 1988
With our daughter, Rachael, in a cheap hotel in Bordeaux after knocking on Chateau Margaux's door for a job, 1992
In the lab studying Oenology at Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France, 1992
Racking barrels of Nuits St. George, Gevrey Chambertin and Hautes-Côtes at Yves Chaley & Fille in Curtil-Vergy, Hautes-Côtes-de-Nuits, 1993
Checking out the vineyards in Chassagne-Montrachet, France, 1993
Outside of our home in Riaucourt in the Champagne region, 1994

OUR TIME IN CHICAGO

After 3 years in France, we returned to Chicago.

While Susan became an entrepreneur, Danny worked for Heritage Wine Cellars, a premier wine importer and distributor, rising in the ranks from Sales Rep to Vice-President. His work took him not only throughout Chicagoland but around the world, learning about the viticulture and winemaking practices of wine regions, both famous and far-flung.

Outside of our careers, our time was focused on raising three children… but we never forgot the promise we made in our early twenties. Wine was always front and center in our life as a family. Almost every vacation involved scouting out potential vineyards with three kids in tow. Fall revolved around gathering family and friends in the garage to make wine, trucking in grapes by train from California. Wine encyclopedias, blind tastings, vineyard maps, wine dinners, and late-night conversations about the culture, history and science of wine were routine.

Beaujolais with Scot from Heritage, 1998
Roche de Solutré, 1999
Garage wine with Elliot and Dan Belford, 2002
The kids sorting fruit the garagiste way, 2016
Keeping the wine cool with frozen water bottles, 2016
A 100 year old Italian press in the garage, 2016

FINDING OREGON

Fast forward twenty-five years and countless trips searching for property in California, Washington, Oregon, France, and even Greece, In 2020, we finally found the piece that we had been seeking: a wildly beautiful, Willamette Valley cool-climate, high-elevation vineyard situated off the beaten path in the Pacific Coast Range, seven miles west of Carlton.

The organic vineyard, originally developed in 2007 by Scott and Rae Baldwin of De Ponte Cellars, has been managed by AVS and its dedicated team that has cared for many of the top vineyards in the Willamette Valley for decades. Zak Laster continues as our vineyard manager and personally planted many of the vines that we cultivate today.

Our first harvest at the helm of Lonesome Rock was in September of 2021. Our son and nephew, Elliot and Adam, worked as cellar interns at De Ponte Cellars, where Isabelle Dutartre, with the experience of 35+ vintages in Oregon/Burgundy, continues as Lonesome Rock's pinot noir and sparkling winemaker. Jackson Holstein of Granville Wines, with history working in the vineyards of Lonesome Rock, crafts our tiny lot of chardonnay.

The inaugural vintage of Lonesome Rock was released in May 2023. We can't wait to share this exquisite wine, vineyard, and place with you.

Visiting Lonesome Rock the first time, 2020
The look of happiness and relief after our first harvest, 2021
Winemaker Isabelle Dutartre of De Ponte Cellars on the sorting line with fruit from Lonesome Rock, 2021
Elliot doing punch-downs of Lonesome Rock pinot noir as an intern under Isabelle, 2021
Adam topping up barrels of Lonesome Rock, 2021
Our first Thanksgiving at Lonesome Rock, 2021
Planting first veggie garden at Lonesome, 2022
Danny with our vineyard manager, Zak Laster of Advanced Vineyard Services, 2022
Susan's father, Homer Davies, building owl boxes, 2022
Rachael and Nisar with Danny after helping refurbish the pétanque court, 2022
Julia taking the gator for a spin, 2022