The Vineyard at Escondido, Escondido

Chris & Alysha both grew up in the small town of Valley Center in north San Diego County. Both coming from families long rooted in agriculture they learned from an early age that the best produce comes from our own backyard. Coming from families that mostly grew citrus they did however have some exposure to vineyards, which stuck with them.

Chris went to Santa Barbara after high school to pursue an education in Environmental Horticulture. While in Santa Barbara Chris took a job a Jaffurs Wine Cellars and fell in love with the winemaking lifestyle. Chris worked at Jaffurs for 3 years and spent 6 months in vineyards in South Australia learning hands on all that he could about every aspect of the process.

Alysha studied Viticulture & Enology at University of California, Davis. There she learned the scientific aspects of grape growing and winemaking. With fellow UC Davis students she traveled to wineries around California and even spent two weeks in Chile and Argentina.

The combination of Chris’s practical hands on experience and Alysha’s theoretical scientific background make them a great combination.

Vesper Vineyards is the creation of Chris and Alysha’s love for San Diego County. They realized that they could work in Napa, Sonoma or Santa Barbara but it was only in San Diego that they could create their own world of wine. There was no set style of winemaking, no set variety made in the area, the options were endless. They realized that in San Diego there was a great potential to make some excellent wine, especially since San Diego County has such diverse microclimates.

Vesper Vineyards is a winery that focuses exclusively on San Diego County fruit, sourcing grapes from all areas of the county. Focusing on what the vineyard has to offer, each wine is meant to showcase the vineyard and the microclimate it was grown in.