The Canihan family bought their 20-acre vineyard on the southern edge of the Sonoma Valley bordering Carneros in 1975, but planting did not start for 23 years. Bill Canahan, a second generation San Franciscan, had worked in Truckee and Tahoe City and was dismayed by the pollution that was damaging Lake Tahoe. When Bill, together with his father William Canihan, Sr., did initiate their vineyard planting, they were committed to farming sustainably and biodynamically. They were inspired by a member of the family, August Sieguist, who had sustainably farmed Pinot Noir and other cool climate varieties in his native Switzerland before immigrating to the United States in the early 1900s. The Canihans engaged viticulturlist Phil Coturri and winemaker Alexandra Romanini to assist them in producing estate Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir from their vineyard.