Rusack Vineyards is a boutique estate in the oak-studded hills of Ballard Canyon, but its story reaches all the way out to sea. Founded in 1995 by Geoff Rusack and Alison Wrigley Rusack, the winery makes elegant, handcrafted Syrah and Bordeaux-style reds in Santa Ynez and, in one of the most romantic projects in California wine, the first grapes ever grown on Santa Catalina Island. Few small wineries carry this much history or this much heart.

A Ballard Canyon estate, refined

Geoff and Alison Rusack established their forty-eight acre Ballard Canyon estate in 1995, planting seventeen acres to vines. Syrah, one of the grapes that first put Ballard Canyon on the world map, makes up about half of those vines, interplanted with smaller blocks of Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel, plus rows of Merlot and Petit Verdot for their Bordeaux-style red called Anacapa.

Their commitment showed after the 2001 harvest, when they replanted most of the vineyard in rows realigned to follow the hillside contours precisely. The new layout improved drainage, sun exposure, and even ripening while reducing erosion, and a modern irrigation system gave them fine control over water. The reward was a clearer expression of what this canyon can do, and wines of striking elegance and silky, balanced fruit.

The first wine grown on Catalina Island

Here is where the story turns magical. On Santa Catalina Island, twenty-some miles off the coast, sits El Rancho Escondido, founded by Alison wine family in 1930 and run for decades as a working Arabian horse ranch. Geoff and Alison had their first date there, and over the years they began to dream of planting a small vineyard in the pastures where horses once grazed, overlooking the ocean.

That dream became real. The island cool-climate conditions and clay loam soils turned out to be a world-class site for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, along with a Zinfandel descended from a few hardy old vines still alive on neighboring Santa Cruz Island. The result was the first wine ever grown on Santa Catalina, a genuine island in a bottle and one of the most singular bottlings in all of California.

Two places, one sensibility

Beyond the estate, Rusack sources Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from some of the premier vineyards of the Central Coast, from the wind-swept hilltops of the Sta. Rita Hills to the fertile soils of the Santa Maria Valley. These wines are the Burgundian counterpart to the estate reds, bright and silky with a long, lingering finish.

Whether the fruit comes from Ballard Canyon, the wider Central Coast, or a horse pasture on Catalina, the through-line is the same: handcrafted wines of finesse and balance, made by a family that treats every site with patience and care.

What to pour it with

Rusack range covers the table beautifully. The Ballard Canyon Syrah and the Anacapa blend are built for the grill: lamb, peppered steak, short ribs, and sausages off the fire, where the wine dark fruit and structure meet the char and its tannin softens against the fat. Tannin loves protein, so a structured red against a fatty cut makes both taste better.

The Catalina and Central Coast Chardonnays love richer seafood, lobster, scallops, and roast chicken in butter, while the Pinot Noir is a natural with duck, salmon, and mushrooms. Save the Zinfandel for barbecue and anything with a little smoke and spice. A pinch of salt on any plate rounds the wine and lifts its fruit, the easiest upgrade at any table.

Rusack Vineyards: common questions