Dear friends,
Things in the world of Desire Lines have been wonderfully chaotic since our spring release back in February. We joked about squeezing the release in before Baby Rasmussen made his arrival, and we ended up cutting things a little close: Caleb Mark Rasmussen was born on February 24, two weeks before his due date. We’ll never forget uploading our shipping spreadsheet hours before driving to the hospital or sending a flurry of emails from the hospital room as we realized our son was going to show up so early (a nice nod to his parents who are punctual to a fault). Thank you all so much for your patience and support as we welcomed our sweet boy into the world.
Cal foot-trod his first grapes a few weeks ago as we brought in the 2019 Desire Lines Evangelho fruit. Meanwhile, Cody has been diving deep into the sands of Contra Costa County in preparation for our fall Desire Lines Release, which will go live in the morning on Tuesday, September 17th.
At that time, you'll receive an email with a link to the wines available for purchase. While the wines will be allocated, we are not able to guarantee allocations given the small quantities available. All wines will be available on a first come, first served basis until the release closes at the end of the day on Monday, September 23rd.
The wines in this release include:
2017 Shake Ridge Ranch Syrah, Amador County
2018 Evangelho Vineyard Red Wine, Contra Costa County
2018 Experimental Series #2: Fred’s Home Block Mourvèdre, Contra Costa County
Though today some may think of Contra Costa County as a sleepy backwater, it has a storied history. Antioch – the home of Evangelho Vineyard – is one of California’s oldest towns, and at its founding it was expected to be one of California’s most important cities due to its strategic location at the junction of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The town of Pittsburg in Contra Costa County, neighboring Antioch to the west, was originally called New York of the Pacific and was considered as a possible location for the state capital in 1850, before the capital moved from San Jose to Vallejo.
The modern history of Contra Costa County begins with Dr. John Marsh, who in 1838 settled on the Los Meganos Rancho in eastern Contra Costa County, in present-day Brentwood. He had purchased the ranch in 1837 from José Noriega, who had himself been granted the land in 1836 by the Mexican governor of California. Noriega named his land for its sandy soil; meganos means “sand dunes” in Spanish. John Marsh occupies an important place in the history of California, as he was influential in the establishment of California statehood.
Marsh graduated from Phillips Andover and Harvard and was the first doctor to practice modern medicine in California. His medical fees, often paid in cattle, created one of the largest cattle herds in California – tens of thousands of head large – and made him a wealthy ranchero. He was described by contemporaries as a savvy businessman, a capable farmer, and an enigmatic sort of poet-frontiersman. It is said that he cared for surviving members of the Donner Party after their rescue.
Marsh was eager to see California settled by Americans, and not the British, French, or Russians, who were all eyeing California hungrily. Thus, he began a letter-writing campaign to the East Coast extolling the virtues of California.
"Contra Costa County will some day be called the “Hub” of California; and rightly so, for its strategic location at the crossing of the trade routes from the fertile valleys of the interior of the State, and from the great Northwest, where the captains of commerce meet and barter with the rest of the world, will in the near future, much more than in the past, compel the recognition of its peculiar and paramount advantages."
– JP Munro Fraser, History of Contra Costa County, California With Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present, 1926
These letters launched the first wagon trains to California, a few years before the Gold Rush would send hordes flocking to California’s shores. In 1841, when the first American emigrant party, the Bartleson-Bidwell Party, came to California from Missouri, Marsh invited them to be his guests, and thus the California Trail terminated in Brentwood. An 1846 letter written to an old acquaintance, Michigan Senator Lewis Cass, reached an especially wide audience. On receipt of Marsh’s letter, Cass turned it over to the press, and it was copied and recopied in newspapers all over the country. Reaching the attention of President Polk, it is said to have influenced him in his prosecution of the war with Mexico and to have strengthened his decision to secure California for the United States.
Thanks again for all the love and support! Can’t wait to share the next batch of wines with you.
Cody, Emily & Baby Cal