About
Our Story
Our vineyard journey started out as a grove of olive trees. Affie, who would love nothing better than to grow his own olives and press his own oil, was sadly disappointed to find out our property was not in the least supportive for olives. However, it was “world class” for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
All I could say at this point in our journey was, “Praise the Lord!” I love wine.
For more than a decade, I have wanted to grow grapes on our property and now we had confirmation. What to do next? Google of course. I have no idea what I searched for, but I eventually found a company to help us start our vineyard; Coastal Range Vineyards (CRV)! What a godsend!
It was the fall of 2014 and California was in a drought. Who in their right mind would plant a vineyard in a drought? Planting would not actually start until the spring of 2015 so we were buying ourselves some time and hoping for the best. We definitely had a peace about moving forward. Now we had to wait until the spring to actually plant the vines… which meant more decisions had to be made.
Being a red wine kind of gal, we decided on planting Pinot Noir, but what variety? Of course we wanted quality wine which required quality grapes yet we were novices, what to do? We had so many questions. Root stock, clones, organic/non-organic, north/south verses east/west - yikes! CRV recommended we visit Heart O’ The Mountain, a vineyard in the same micro-climate and elevation as ours and not too far away as the crow flies. We contacted this vineyard and were overwhelmed with the owner’s willingness to see us and his graciousness at educating us. Heart O’ The Mountain grows five varietals of Pinot. Bob Brassfield, the owner, opened his heart and his barrels to us! We sampled each variety and then mixed some together. We were blown away - were all the people in this industry so nice? We decided on two varietals, 777 and Pommard, which tasted wonderful on their own and exceptional when mixed.
Fast forward to 2018 when our first bottles were delivered. As fate would have it, we were hosting a dinner party that weekend. All 14 guests, including children, had a glass of Twelve Stones Pinot Noir 2017 in hand. We drank together. The kids made faces, the adults all gleamed with joy, one girlfriend had tears in her eyes. We LOVED the wine! So much so that we decided to plant more!
2019 found us planting two more varietals of Pinot Noir; 115 and 943 along with a Rhone style Syrah - I mean, why not? We were told the Syrah is considered the ‘masculine’ whereas the Pinot is considered the ‘feminine’ in the wine world. Mmmm, let’s see.
In 2022, we decided to start a business, so we launched our website in parallel to starting down the path of what it would take to build a winery and tasting room on our property.
Finally, in the spring of 2025, all the necessary permits were acquired and construction began. We are making incredible progress and hope to open for tasting in the spring of 2026.
Stay tuned!
Our Name
Deciding on the name of our winery was a journey in and of itself. We feel so blessed and realize, 'but for the Grace of God' things could be so different, so we wanted a name that would reflect our gratitude. This took much time and prayer, but while reading through the book of Joshua, in the Bible, we read the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan into the promised land. They were instructed to pick up twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes. They were to build a monument. In the future, when their children asked, ‘What do these stones mean?’ they were to tell them, that "the Lord dried up the Jordan until they had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God." You will find a reference to this on each of our bottles: Joshua 4:24.
Our Team
Karen & Affie Munshi - Proprietors
Karen & Affie met at work, both software engineers. They married in 1994, and moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1996. They were blessed with 2 daughters. Over the years, many fruit trees were planted, garden boxes built, veggies grown and yet, there was more acreage to plant. So in 2014, they thought, "Why not plant a few grape vines?" After tasting their wine four years later, they decided to plant more. Then in 2022 Twelve Stones Winery was launched, construction began on the winery and tasting room in 2025 and is expected to be open in the Spring of 2026. They say good things take a long time, well, it has proven true for Twelve Stones. Can't wait to share our wine and this property with you!
GREG AND CHRIS VITA
Greg started his winemaking company in 1992 in the Monterey winemaking region with just a handful of clients and himself as the sole employee. Since then, Greg’s company has expanded providing him opportunities with a number of high-end boutique clients from whom he directs winemaking and wine growing in the Napa Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Monterey County.
In 2014, Greg brought on his son, Chris, to help handle day-to-day operations and continue the innovation and craftsmanship of Vita Winery Consulting. Greg and Chris became our winemakers in 2022.
Chris had worked for his father before and was no stranger to the winemaking business. Today, Chris has a different point of view. After completing a degree in Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis and experiencing various wine regions abroad, he was prepared to join the winemaking team in a more creative, full-time role.
Greg and Chris now function as a father-and-son winemaking team, combining knowledge, experience, and technique to coax the best possible expressions out of unique vineyard sites. They enjoy the privilege of working with passionate people to make delicious wines.
Nick Painter - Vineyard Manager
Nick became our vineyard manager in 2022. He has worked for several wineries: Joseph Phelps, Halter Ranch, and Thomas Fogarty. He spent a few years perfecting his craft at vineyards throughout Australia, France, Chile, Oregon, and New Zealand. When Nick is not in the vineyards, we can find him in the cellar chasing his passion for wines or out on the slopes or in the surf. He loves to stay active and outdoors!