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The Proprietors
The proprietors of Shaker Ridge Vineyard are not California natives but
willing converts to its starkly beautiful and varied natural landscape,
ideal Mediterranean climate, and rich history. Elizabeth and Andy Standeven
are scientists by training and committed to continual improvement in
viticultural practices by careful observation, literature review, and
experimentation.
Elizabeth was born in Arizona and spent most of her formative years in North
Carolina before moving West. A zoology major in college, she returned to
Arizona to obtain a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of
Arizona.
Andy was born and raised in southeastern Pennsylvania. An undergraduate
biology major, he obtained a PhD in pharmacology/toxicology from Dartmouth
College in New Hampshire before starting his professional career in
California.
Our Name
The Shakers are a Christian sect that flourished in the 19th century in the
eastern United States. Shakers picked choice, idyllic locations in which to
set up the villages in which they lived communally. Many of their villages
are maintained today for visitors and continue to convey a profound sense of
serenity and order. The Shakers were known, among other things, for the
production of high quality goods, for valuing work as a source of
fulfillment, for innovation, and for the pursuit
of perfection. It is out of respect for all of these qualities, and in light
of our ridgetop location with views of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada
mountains, that we chose the name Shaker Ridge.
Our Logo
Our logo was originally designed and drawn by our nephew Matthew. We
provided him a seed from a native weed (filaree) in our vineyard and asked
him to make a drawing of it. He returned a beautiful rendering of the seed
that captured its natural elegance and included the design feature of the
seed casting a shadow. We gave this drawing to family friend Lane who
designed the calligraphy of our name and used Matt’s design as the
centerpiece of the logo.
The filaree (Erodium cicutarium) seed has an ingenious corkscrew design that
the initially arrow-shaped seed adopts within minutes of being released from
seed pods in the late spring. The seed can be carried by the wind or by
digging into passing animals, and the elegant corkscrew design no doubt also
helps the seed to dig into the soil. We came to admire the functional beauty
of this seed in the formative years of our vineyard, even as we struggled to
eradicate it from our vineyard rows!
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