Catalina Island - the First Harvest
 'In
the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, Sept. 1, under the light of
a nearby full moon, Catalina’s first grape harvest commenced
at El Rancho Escondido. Due to an unanticipated and extensive
heat wave that had hit the Island, sugars in the grapes had
started to skyrocket, necessitating immediate picking. According
to Rusack Vineyards’s winemaker John Falcone, conditions
were getting “close to critical”. An early morning
harvest was chosen to keep the grapes as cool as possible
as they made their way from Catalina to the Santa Ynez Valley.
Generators were placed in the vineyard to power work lights
and some of the crew were equipped with individual headlamps.
Row by row, the clusters were hand-harvested and carried in
small buckets to the larger picking bins at the ends of the
rows. In the next two days, vineyard contractor Stewart Rasmussen,
his SAR team and members of the Rusack family harvested nearly
all of the pinot noir, leaving one block (with a different
sun exposure) to ripen more fully.
The grapes were then transported in half-ton
bins to the Airport in the Sky where they were loaded –
with razor thin margins – through the cargo door and
snugly fit into the fuselage of Catalina Flying Boats Cessna
Caravan. Via three separate flights, the grapes were airlifted
to the Santa Ynez Airport for a quick pickup and processing
at Rusack Vineyards Winery.'
From Catalina Islander,
read
the entire review of this historic harvest here.
 Rusack
Vineyards on Catalina Island
‘Ground Breaking
Vine Planting at Catalina Island Vineyard’
On March 16th, Geoff and Alison Rusack’s
25-year dream came a touch closer to reality with the ceremonial
“first planting” of a Catalina Island Vineyard.
Under a beautiful afternoon sun, some 60 vines were planted
on three vineyard blocks that had previously been horse pastures
at El Rancho Escondido. Most of the attendees of the ground
breaking ceremony had played integral roles in the long process
of the vineyard’s development, and each planted a vine
and placed a metal tag on it that bore their name.
 Prior
to the planting, Geoff Rusack made a brief welcome and gave
special thanks to Stewart Rasmussen of SAR Construction, who
had overseen and constructed the vineyard blocks and had prepared
the grounds for this first planting event. Alison Wrigley
Rusack followed by saying how exciting it was to be part of
a new chapter in the long and colorful history of El Rancho
Escondido. The opening reception concluded with a moving blessing
by Father Paul of Avalon’s St. Catherin of Alexandria
church.
 A
brief ribbon cutting, by Alison, Geoff and their three sons,
Hunter, Austin, and Parker took place. Geoff then introduced
each of the guests and discussed his or her role in the vineyard’s
development, as they were handed a vine to plant. Three varietals
– Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a special Zinfandel, propagated
from some of the very few remaining vines on Santa Cruz Island
– were planted on three of the four blocks that are
now being completed by Stewart’s team. After each block
was planted, Father Paul sprinkled the vines with holy water
(noticeably adding a touch more water than usual to his own
newly–planted vine).
Both the Wrigley and Rusack families have
had, and continue to have, a deep love and respect for the
environment. One of Alison’s and Geoff’s hopes
is to demonstrate in a small way, how successful, organically
correct, sustainable agricultural operation on private land
can be pursued, when surrounded by a land preserve.
Geoff reminded everyone in attendance that
this planting event – while very special and symbolic
– is but another step in a long process that is still
very much uncertain. If all goes well, the first small crop
should be harvested in the fall of 2009.
From Catalina Islander, Volume
95, Issue 13 Friday March 30, 2007
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