Life on Mendocino Ridge: Steve Alden’s journey from photographer to winegrower

Bears. Fast, agile, hungry, smart bears. Mud. Snow. Hornets. Mountain lions and wild boars. Mildew. Driving a tractor between steep sloping muddy rows in the dark. Mendocino Ridge is not an easy place to farm. Steve Alden, co-owner of Perli Vineyard in the Mendocino Ridge AVA and the creator of Murder Ridge wines takes it all in stride.

“When you’re tying a forklift to a pickup truck with a box of rocks in the bed just to get up a hill, you know you’re farming on a different level,” says Steve. “It’s not for the faint of heart, but it makes for great wine—and even better stories!”