At its core, the story of Reuling Vineyard is a love story 60 years in the making. Tim and Jackie Reuling, Midwesterners by birth, first met at pre-school in Morton, Illinois and dated in junior high school. They parted ways for college, with Jackie attending the University of Iowa to study special education and psychology, and Tim attending Colorado College and then Virginia for his MBA.
A serendipitous reconnection in 1978 while both Jackie and Tim were back in Illinois visiting their families re-kindled an old romance, resulting in their marriage the following year.
As they made their first home together in Tucson, Arizona, Jackie delved into her life-long passion for cooking. She received a culinary diploma, worked in catering, and owned a restaurant with partners. While in Tucson, Tim was active with real estate syndications and in time moved to pension fund management. The two shared a love of travel and would regularly take trips to Latin America and Europe.
It was, in fact, one of their trips, to a culinary course in Provence, France that would inspire the Reulings to move to California. Encouraged by the slow food culture of France, Jackie realized that her dream of having a large garden, surrounded by a beautiful countryside, farmers markets and an artist community, could all be a reality in Sonoma County. Her parents had retired nearby, and it was the perfect place to raise the couple’s young children, Josh and Whitney.
The two moved to Sonoma County in 1990, and in 1998, purchased the property in Forestville that is now home to Reuling Vineyard.
Jackie and Tim’s partnership is at the root of Reuling Vineyard. Committed to creating a thriving vineyard on the 16-acre property, where they also live, Jackie and Tim worked to restore and revitalize the soil. The two started with a neglected apple orchard and, through the use of historic clones and organic farming methods, transformed it into one of Sonoma’s great vineyard sites.
Today, Jackie attends to the farm animals, her garden, and manages the farming plan. Her large organic garden provides inspiration for her culinary endeavors and provides produce for Food for Thought, the Sonoma County AIDS food bank. Whether painting in her studio or cooking in her professionally designed kitchen, she expresses herself through a broad palate. The art and relics in her home chronicle a lifetime of travel and exploration, and her love for life leaves an impression with anyone who enters her home.
Tim shares Jackie’s sense of adventure, and is an avid fly-fisher and outdoorsman. His years of business experience prepared him well for shouldering the risk and responsibilities of developing and managing a world-class vineyard. Tim carefully monitors the vineyard on a daily basis, which is an important aspect of organic farming.
The Reulings sought out select clones, and from the outset, believed the vineyard held great promise—the soil, the gentle north/south exposure, and its climate. Over the past ten years, the fruit from Reuling Vineyard has produced some of the most critically-acclaimed Chardonnays and Pinots in the country by Aubert and Peter Michael.
The Reuling’s commitment to the vineyard is steadfast. Jackie and Tim have raised their own children on the property, along with a few pigs, sheep, and more produce than they could ever imagine consuming. When searching for their winemaker, Matt Taylor was the perfect fit. Matt understands that the entire vineyard is a living organism and works with organic farming methods to ensure the vineyards’ health.
Jackie and Tim feel their greatest accomplishment in life is to have parented two young people who are happy, healthy, and contributing to life, and who want to share in Reuling Vineyard and the winery. Josh is a juvenile public defender in Boston and will be married in the vineyard in 2013. Whitney has followed her mother’s passion for food and community and is Program Manager for The Sylvia Center, a NYC food education non-profit
LARRY LIPSON - COSTA RICA
LIVE FROM THE LIPSON INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED WINE STUDIES, LARRY OFFERS HIS WEEKLY REPORT ON FOOD & WINE. THE FORMER FOOD WRITER FOR TH DAILY NEWS (50 YEARS) HE PROVIDES WEEKLY UPDATE OF HIS LIKES & DISLIKES.
JULIE WEBSTER - EVENTS MANAGER FOR ACKERMAN FAMILY VINEYARDS
Our Napa story started with our wedding in April 1989 when we were married at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford. As we looked out over the beautiful, romantic vineyard countryside, we fell in love – not just with each other but also with the beauty of the area. At that very moment, we vowed that, someday, we would find a way to live in the Napa Valley. That day came just five years later, in 1994, when Bob was looking to purchase a horse as a gift for Lauren, an avid rider. It just so happened that the horse he found was located on a beautiful 16-acre vineyard property in the eastern hills of southern Napa (now known as Coombsville) that happened to also be for sale. Karma being what it is, Bob bought the house and vineyard and the horse became part of the deal – at that moment, our dream of living in the Napa Valley became a reality.We have learned a lot about grape growing since we bought the property that fortuitous year of 1994. We spent the first two or three years just getting to know the vineyard and what it needed to thrive. We learned that living on a vineyard meant workers coming and going at all hours of the day (and sometimes at night). We learned to mend fences to keep marauding deer at bay or, at times, how to herd them off the property via a posse of ATVs. We walked the vineyard to check irrigation lines, straighten posts or sample the fruit as harvest got closer. Our vineyard lifestyle took some adjustments, but each step was a new discovery and a deepening passion for the winemaking process that grew with each season.
Over time, as we learned what the vineyard needed, we began to fine-tune it through new trellising, pruning, and replanting. We replanted the entire vineyard with a drought-resistant rootstock and changed the trellis system to open the canopy, exposing the fruit to more sunlight in our more temperate region of Napa. We began to farm sustainably, using cover crops and compost, while also installing hawk boxes to keep rodents out. Eventually, we started farming organically and became a California Certified Organic Farm (CCOF) – a label we are very proud of.
Initially, we sold most of our grapes to local wineries and kept enough to make a couple barrels of wine (named “Stonehaven”) for ourselves, family, friends and a few of our favorite restaurants. Finally, after nine years of learning our vineyard’s attributes, we decided to produce our first commercial vintage – a decision made easier by the feedback we received from various vintner friends who simultaneously said “it was time.” Our first release was our 2003 vintage of 100% cabernet sauvignon in October of 2007. Since then, we have continued the tradition of releasing each new vintage every October.
As we learned about our vineyard over time, we also learned about the style of wine it likes to produce -- balanced, smooth, deep berry flavors with a hint of spice and lower alcohol levels (13.2% to 14.5%) that blends well with food -- not competing with it. After more than 18 years of producing wines from our corner of Napa Valley, we know our wines can be enjoyed now or fifteen years from now – they only get better with age.