Crafting Exceptional Wines in the Heart of San Diego’s Backcountry
“Ramona Ranch just fit our western lifestyle, and seemed just right, easy to say and remember, and was chosen before we decided to become a commercial winery,” Teri Kerns said.
Teri Kerns and Micole Moore moved to Ramona in 2004. “Returning to living in the Country was important to me, as I grew up in the Country on the Oregon Coast. We purchased 10 raw acres, with a stick-framed house, which started our Ramona adventure. I’ve always loved wine, its history, and romance. I attended and joined the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association in February of 2005, to plant a few vines and make wine,” Kerns said.
Their winemaking journey begins
“We started making wine together for fun. Our first vintage was a Ramona Valley Syrah in 2005. We planted our first test vineyard in 2006, trying nine different varieties to see what grew best – making wine from each, and trying blends. We narrowed it down to Sangiovese Grosso, which loved the climate of Ramona, and then added Tannat after tasting it. I selected Symphony after one of my UC Davis classes,” Kerns said.
“I enrolled in the winemaking courses at Mira Costa College, studying under Jim Hart and Alysha Stehly. We tried different grapes, experimented with yeasts, and had a lot of fun, but we had no plans to open a winery. In 2010, the local Wine Ordinance passed, and we won a major amateur wine competition, with a Best of Show and Double-Gold,” Kerns said.
In 2012, they decided to take a leap and open their winery with four barrels of wine on their house patio, with both Teri and Micole working the tasting room. They continued taking winemaking classes wherever they could, including weekend immersion classes at UC Davis. Eventually, they added Sangiovese and Sauvignon Blanc to their repertoire.
As we grew, we found we needed to spend more and more time on the winery, while juggling full-time jobs, so my focus switched to everything after the wine is in the bottle, and Micole handles it up to then – i.e. vineyard and winemaking, while I do sales, marketing, managing the tasting room, etc,” Kerns said.
Keep Pushing Forward
We like to see everyone succeed and are quick to offer our help and support. As a couple, our success, ongoing growth, and commitment to self-improvement, combined with our efforts to uplift our communities and others, are essential for enhancing the well-being of everyone involved, including our local environment.
My business background (Master’s degree in Business) and experience in both the US Navy and as a Health Care Executive gave me the foundation to continually learn and improve, with staying the course, i.e., persistence is the key. So many obstacles arose, and still do, as a first-generation business in an unincorporated area of San Diego County, but Micole and I made the decision to keep pushing forward with integrity and community involvement.
Leadership
Micole is a past president of the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association, and active Board member of the Ramona Community Foundation, while I am on my third term on the RVVA, and the secretary of the San Diego Women’s Wine Alliance. Micole was recently recognized by Supervisor Anderson as a Hometown Hero, and I was a speaker at the 2024 SommCon.
What does the future look like for you?
“We’re going to stay the course….we have managed to combine our love of wine, food & travel, and are lucky enough to be Wine Hosts on several European River Cruises, so we plan to keep doing what we love, while looking for ways to continually improve ourselves, our winery, and our community,” Kerns said.
