History

Dig beneath the soil at Harris Ranch Napa Valley and you’ll not only find a working farm, but also DISCOVER the history of a family dedicated to preserving the land’s natural cycles and capabilities.

Harris Ranch Napa Valley’s handcrafted olive oil, wildflower honey, and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes all stem from the rich terroir that has nourished wild blackberries, wild mushrooms, walnut trees, and fig trees for over a century. Gingy and Jody worked diligently to rekindle a dormant grove of old Mission olive trees thought to date back to the 1920s. They cleared the overgrowth, pruned and coaxed the grove back into production, complemented their original trees with Italian Frantoio, Leccino and Coratina olive varietals, and brought over 18,000 grape vines into the fold. Though the Harris family no longer raise cattle, horses, and chickens like their grandparents, their love of the land shares their ancestor’s strength and dedication. They grow an herb garden like the one they helped their grandmother tend decades ago. And atop their grandfather’s same Ford tractor they honor his ardent work ethic: dawn to dusk production of superior small-batch products with respect for the soil; cultivated, quite literally, by the work of their own hand.