When Chiara Shannon, co-owner of Groundstar Vineyard with her husband, Joseph Brent, talks about the site and their future plans, one can sense the excitement in her voice.

Based in Los Angeles but now up at Groundstar on weekends, Shannon brings decades of experience in fine wine sales, both in San Francisco and Pasadena. In 2023, she finished an online master of business administration degree in global wine from California State University, Sonoma.

The couple are focusing on regenerative farming, a viticulture movement gaining in popularity throughout the Central Coast and beyond, and are pursuing the Regenerative Organic Certified status.

The following are key elements in regenerative viticulture and farming, Shannon
noted:

• Regenerative grazing is used to improve soil health, carbon sequestration and
  ecosystem balance.
• Water management strategies help support retention, biodiversity and drought resilience.
• Wildlife conservation and habit restoration benefits native plant and ecological renewal.
• Integrated agricultural systems help align livestock, land and long-term stewardship.

The vineyard, formerly named Ampelos and owned and farmed for decades by Peter and Rebecca Work, whose label remains Ampelos Cellars, was the first U.S. vineyard to receive triple certification — sustainable, organic and biodynamic.

The Works purchased the site in 1999.

“There’s no need for us to convert from conventional farming” because the vineyard has been farmed biodynamically for years, Shannon said. Groundstar is “a great starting point for regenerative farming.”

The Works first listed Ampelos Vineyard for sale in 2017, and it was on and off the market for several years, Shannon told me. Having spent time relaxing and wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley, “we thought it would be nice to have a place up here.”

In 2019, Shannon and Brent started looking — but not specifically at vineyards, she said. Then came COVID-19.

In 2022, they started a new search, this time with a vineyard in mind, and first saw the Ampelos listing while casting their net as far away as the Sierra Foothills and as close as Paso Robles, Shannon said. But nothing spoke to them.

“So we sort of gave up, and a year and a half passed by. Then, in January 2024, our Realtor reached out to wish us a Happy New Year, and said, ‘The Works are very motivated’ to sell,” she recalled.

Shannon and Brent then met the Works and tasted wines from the Ampelos estate.

“The site had all the factors we wanted — being in the Sta. Rita Hills, and the right grapes (the vineyard is planted to mostly pinot noir and several Rhone grape varietals).

The sale closed in June 2024. Shannon and Brent allowed the Works to remain in the house until December of that year.

In the fall of 2024, the new owners hired Jordan Lonborg, who “helped them learn about regenerative certification, and lay a foundation for the future.”

Lonborg had been an employee at Paso Robles’ Tablas Creek Vineyard and was instrumental in getting that property its regenerative certification, making it the first on the Central Coast to earn the status, Shannon said.

Lonborg now works as a regenerative viticulture specialist with Coastal Vineyard
Care Associates in Buellton, and works with Shannon and Brent to manage
Groundstar.

During 2024, Shannon completed her Diploma (DipSet) with Wine & Spirits
Education Trust. Coincidentally, “regenerative agriculture was the (assigned) topic that year, so I researched all the articles.”

When we spoke in April, she described “2025 as our ‘learning year,’ and in May, we have an audit for our regenerative certification from the Regenerative Organic Alliance.”

Also in 2025, Shannon joined the board of the Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance, which hosts the annual Wine & Fire in Lompoc in August. This year, the alliance launched “Wine & Fire on The Road” with tastings in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Orange County, as well as other vineyard-focused events.

“We’re making stronger connections between consumers and people behind the wines,” she noted.

While Shannon and Brent don’t plan to produce a namesake label, or open a tasting room, they do plan to connect with “thoughtful, ecologically minded winemakers,” Shannon said.

“We see ourselves as land stewards first, and producing wine is not our primary focus,” she said. “As grape growers, we are fortunate to work with a select group of local producers who source our biodynamic and regeneratively farmed ‘Groundstar-grown’ fruit, and we intend for this to remain a core part of our model.”

While a formal wine label is not in the works, Groundstar does have bottles, Shannon said. Flying Goat Cellars winemaker Norm Yost had some 2019 pinot noir juice “up for grabs,” so Shannon and Brent bottled “about 30 cases” to release a 2025 Blanc de Noir.

“It’s mostly just for friends,” and when Shannon and I spoke in April, nearly half
of it was already gone.

But never fear: The couple are bottling a gin from their Groundstar grapes and teaming with the owners of Rock 12 Distillery a few miles down the highway to craft a botanical-style gin that will be a Groundstar-estate product. It will be released this summer, she said, and is another way to “express the vineyard.”

On April 30, Shannon issued a news release about the couple’s purchase of a 247.02-acre parcel of the historic Williams Ranch at 7630 W. Highway 246.

The sale closed on Feb. 13 and increases Groundstar’s Sta. Rita Hills acreage to more than 320, she wrote.

“This acquisition represents a large step forward for our work at Groundstar,” Shannon wrote. “Our focus is on farming in a way that supports the health of the land and, ultimately, the people and communities connected to it.

“With the Williams Ranch, we now have the opportunity to expand that work by integrating regenerative grazing, enhancing water systems, restoring native habitat, and supporting a more complete and resilient landscape.”

The purchase carries personal significance for Brent and Shannon, as the latter’s family, led by her father, Los Angeles native Mike Shannon, operated a cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle for decades. Chiara Shannon is a native of Long Beach and grew up in Pasadena.

Williams Ranch, long held by the Williams family, reflects the agricultural heritage of the Santa Ynez Valley and the Sta. Rita Hills corridor. Rodney Williams, from whom the acreage was purchased, is a well-known local rancher, Shannon noted.

She met Brent during her 15 years living in the Bay Area, where she moved between San Francisco, Berkeley and Napa, Shannon said. Brent, an attorney and native of Chicago, had moved to San Francisco in 2000, and in 2014, the couple relocated to Los Angeles.