Grape farmers since the 1870s, the Snowdens have a long history in the Napa Valley. According to family history, the ranch always grew grapes but by the time Wayne and Virginia Snowden acquired the property in 1955, there were fewer than 7 acres planted to vines. Although the family expanded the vineyards in 1962, overall grape production remained small until Scott and Randy Snowden – Wayne and Virginia's sons – assumed responsibility for the vineyards in 1981. They replanted all vineyards and orchards with budwood from the Jordan vineyard near Healdsburg and named the 11-acre parcel, "The Brothers Vineyard.” In the following decade, all fruit was sold to Warren Winiarski, the owner of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. During this period, Warren along with his viticultural consultant Danny Schuester, advised the family on trellising, training, cropping and the relationship between cultural variables and wine quality. In 1993, the family produced their first vintage. The vineyards in the Snowdens's 24 acre property are divided into blocks based on terroir and ripening profiles. Each block is fermented and kept separate in the cellar until assemblage. Native yeasts are employed to encourage natural, full expression of terroir and varietal, and only free run juice (the highest quality) is used and all wines are bottled unfiltered. In January 2005, Diana Snowden Seysses and consulting winemaker Dave Ramey assumed winemaking duties. In addition to her work at Snowden, Diana is also the enologist for Domaine Dujac in Burgundy.