A brief history
We are proud to be part of a long line of independent growers who have farmed in Oakville over the past century. In 1978, our parents, Alex and Robert (Bob) Phillips, moved to the Napa Valley to raise our family on the ranch that our grandfather, Bruce Kelham, had purchased some twenty years earlier and christened Vine Hill Ranch.
Over time, Bob and Alex cultivated a vineyard of renown, producing exceptional grapes for a collection of notable Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon vintners. Our parents also dedicated themselves to land preservation and community organizations, including the Farm Bureau and Napa Valley Grapegrowers (NVG), an association pivotal in defining the valley’s appellation structure and protecting its rich agriculture resources.
In 2011, we were honored with the Napa Valley Grower of the Year award, the first awarded to a family, rather than an individual. Bob and Alex’s love for Vine Hill Ranch is now shared by the third generation.
We feel profoundly blessed for our parents’ teaching the value of listening, learning and caring for land and community—and for cultivating in us the heart of a grapegrower.
Napa Valley growers—Hopper, Whitton, Hahn, Taddei—have farmed Vine Hill Ranch since 1884, documenting their annual plantings of grapevines, plums, pears and other crops in hand-scribed reports.
Following the footsteps of those pioneering families, our maternal grandfather, Bruce Kelham, purchased the land in the late 1950’s and began to cultivate winegrapes.
