Los Arabis Vineyards

Leslie Ward

3890 Los Arabis Drive ~ (510) 406-5680

Prior to 1993, when the Wards bought their property in Happy Valley, the sloping field adjacent to their home had a small barn and a horse ranch for Arabian horses. In 1999 they planted 1500 vines in the almost perfect conditions of our West Lafayette climate: hot days, cool nights and near the fog belt. “The delicate skins of the Pinot Noir grape don’t break in this microclimate,” says Leslie as she shows me row after row of perfectly tended, mature vines. Of course, Arabian horses now adorn their bottles. 

Leslie and her late husband Jim, a former Navy commander, own a construction company with their son Josh (his twins in photo), Sausal Corporation.  They build schools, fire stations, and other public works facilities.  She still drives their ATV and the F250 transport truck, repairs irrigation lines, and chases coyotes, deer and turkeys out of their vineyard. They have a beautiful “tasting room” that looks out over rolling hills, hidden from the road, but a verdant part of our Happy Valley landscape.

The grapes are handpicked and transported to the new Local Vines (wine production and tasting) in Lafayette where they are crushed and bottled under the careful guidance of Bill English and Pietro Buttitta, the Wine Makers. Jim and Leslie along with several other early Lamorinda winegrowers founded the Lamorinda Winegrowers Association in 2005.

Please come visit us at Local Vines, 3393 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette. https://local-vines.com/