Susan and Mick Gallagher are the proprietors of Casa Tiene Vista Vineyard. Although they both started their careers in the technology industry, it has become their lifelong passion to create a vineyard. The quest started 10 year ago when they were hosting VIP trips to Napa Valley for key clients. During these trips they met and befriended many winery owners and soon understood the wine business is not only a unique business but a culture unto itself. They were pleasantly surprised to find many owners not only friendly, but willing to share tips on growing and making great wines. 

With a passion to understand the wine business, Mick’s role as the Chairman of the Life Science Industry Council allowed him to make contacts within the UC educational system to assist in the understanding of enology from an academic standpoint. It also opened a world of resources to the endless quest of becoming a viticulturist. After years of attending harvest in Napa the Gallagher's decided to engage in the process of establishing a vineyard of their own.  Being in Southern California it was their hope to find a location here instead of relocating to Northern California. After visiting many of the local wine regions in Southern California they knew that in order to have a boutique vineyard of exceptional quality the environment was a key element in their success. After an endearing search of the local areas they found the De Luz Valley. This unique valley offered all the environmental conditions conducive to growing red wine grapes. De Luz translation in English means “of light” or “clarity”. They felt this to be a good omen as two of the key ingredients in winemaking are clarity and brightness.

De Luz has a very unique ecology for Southern California; whereas the normal annual rainfall is 7 inches,  DeLuz historically get 14 inches. Couple that with being only 16 miles from the ocean it still receives the coastal breeze which brings a very warm daytime temperature and at night can often drop by 20-30 degrees, thus having a positive effect on grape growing. After soil testing to ensure the conditions where correct for the chosen varietals, they chose the name “Casa Tiene Vista Vineyard" which means "house that has a view" to attest to an unobstructed 10 mile view of the Santa Rosa Ridgeline from the vineyard. Casa Tiene Vista Vineyard lies at the southern tip of the Santa Ana Mountains, an ecological environment conducive to viticulture, nestled amongst a community of gentleman ranchers and country wine estates, lush terrain of meandering streams and majestic 100 year old oaks.