W. H. Smith Wines (Piedra Hill Vineyard)

At first the venture was hard and pioneering; stomping grapes and hand bottling with the help of family and friends. Good memories were made but Bill and Joan yearned for more. A two acre vineyard was planted by hand with their crew of reluctant kids. Luckily, together they had 6 children and you could often find a few of them out in the vineyard trying to earn a few dollars ~ the going rate $2.50 an hour!

In 1982, our first official vintage was produced as our own Bill Smith spearheaded mapping the boundaries and filing to establish the Howell Mountain Appellation. A vision and dream of both Bill and Joan had come to fruition and it was only the beginning for this Howell Mountain pioneer.