Palomino Vines was founded by Robert and Kathleen Russell and is is located near Reno, NV in picturesque Palomino Valley. Robert and Kathleen first planted the vineyard in April 2018 and continue to run and manage it to this day.

Every aspect of their company and vineyard lovingly embodies their practice of and dedication to stewardship, sustainability, and tradition.

Their history includes Kathleen’s experience as a teacher for 31 years, working with pre-school through high school age students. And Robert’s extensive history of 47 years working for ATT.

With retirement, came the opportunity to fulfill a life-time dream to develop a vineyard using sustainable and environmental practices.

The dream grew from their love of visiting the Napa Valley back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, before Napa gained international notice as a quality wine producing area.

They grew vegetables and grapes in their backyard - but the high cost of land in the region required them to put their vineyard dreams on hold. But things started to change in 2009, when AT&T transferred Bob to Reno.

Bob and Kathie started exploring Reno’s wine, wineries and wine groups. They joined Nevada Vines and Wines (a club that is no longer active), which included wine aficionados, many of whom had vineyards.

That’s where they met Joe Bernardo. He was one of the co-founders of Basin and Range Cellars in 2018. He is a master gardener and one of the true pioneers in the grape-growing and wine-making community here in Northern Nevada. For several years, Bernardo taught a class on growing grapes and making wine.

The Russells shared a Christmas Eve dinner at a friend’s home who lived in Palomino Valley. They fell in love with the area that night - and inside of a month, they purchased land there.

One year later, they planted their first vineyard, with 352 tempranillo and zinfandel vines. It took a year to discover they had planted varieties that were not right for Palomino Valley’s weather, which is slightly colder than Reno’s in the winter.

In 2019, after this learning experience, the Russells decided to expand their vineyard to 6,500 vines, planting some new varieties, including cabernet sauvignon, syrah and merlot.

“They grew fabulously - we lost not one single one. They were gorgeous, absolutely beautiful,” said Kathie.

But in April, all 6,500 succumbed to freezing.

“That was a crushing blow, to say the least,” said Kathie. “There wasn’t much we could do but wait to see if any came back - and about 50 percent of them re-sprouted.”

The Russells persevered, replanting 500 vines a year, with plans to get back to the original 6,500 vines by this year.

In 2022, they had their first harvest. They picked 1,800 pounds of grapes, which they sold to Tim Burke, the winemaker at Artesian Cellars in Pahrump. Last year, the Russells’ vineyard produced more than 4,800 pounds of grapes. 

When asked how she was feeling about the future production of their vineyard. “Very hopeful, very positive,” Kathie said.

“We looked at this as a 10-year project. It’s very, very expensive to build a vineyard. We went into it with the idea that we would recoup our costs.” Kathie has spent a lot of time learning and researching everything she and Bob needed to know to start a commercial vineyard in Northern Nevada.

They had to learn about things like how to get water rights and where to purchase vineyard equipment.

By now, the Russells have had success both growing wine grapes and selling them commercially. They consider wine grapes a viable agricultural crop for our region - and, after having scaled a steep learning curve, they want to make sure the process of establishing a vineyard is not as daunting for others.

This September, Kathie will teach her third class at Truckee Meadows Community College on wine-grape growing. It’s a four-week course that covers everything from vineyard layout to municipal regulations.