A working ranch since 1858, Plaisance Ranch is run by third-generation wine grape growers and ranchers, Joe and Suzi Ginet. We believe in regenerative farming and low impact agriculture. Our ranch features 157 USDA certified organic acres dedicated to raising beef cattle that graze on native grass hay from pastures that have never been plowed. We treat our grape vines with that same organic integrity. Our vineyards—of plants sourced from our own certified root stock nursery—are hand managed, with cover cropping, non-chemical Clemens weed control, and minimal irrigation. Our acreage supports honey bee hives, heirloom vegetable gardens and orchards along side our grass fed and finished beef and over 24 outstanding estate wines.

Plaisance Ranch is located in the heart of the Williams Valley, in the shadow of Greyback Mountain. The Ginet family has a rich history in the ranching and vineyard business that spans over hundreds of years and across two continents. For many generations, our family has been growing grapes and cattle and producing grapevines among the mountains of Savoie in eastern France. Today, we continue this tradition in America.

It has taken three generations of “Joseph Ginets” to make one adventurous Frenchman’s American dream come true.

The first Joseph Ginet was born in the French Alps, in the small village of St. Jean de la Porte, Savoie. He was born on April 21,1870, the eldest of four children, to Jean and Francoise Ginet. The Ginet family owned vineyards, which the region is famous for. 

After his discharge from the French military in 1890, Joseph decided to see more of the world. In Paris, he found work in a restaurant where he earned money for passage to America. Once in America, he worked his way across the country looking for a suitable region to start his own vineyard.

In 1898, Joseph found a neglected orchard outside the town of Jacksonville, Oregon on Sterling Creek. He salvaged the trees and established himself in his new home.

In 1904, Joseph returned to Savoie with hopes of bringing his fiancée and grape cuttings back to America with him. Unfortunately, her family would not allow her to leave France so he returned to America alone, with only his cuttings. 

Joseph found other French families in Jacksonville, but was unable to find a wife. He eventually found a ‘mail order’ bride of French Canadian descent. Corinne Valiquette came to Sterling Creek accompanied by her mother. Joseph and Corinne were married on November 4, 1912.

Joseph made wine and sold fruit and grape plants. He named his business "Plaisance Orchard." Joseph and Corinne had four young daughters and Corinne was eight months pregnant when Joseph died of a heart attack on September 8, 1928. Corinne and Joseph’s only son, Joseph Jr., was born November 3, 1928, two months after his father’s death. 

Joseph, the Frenchman, had been proud of his American citizenship. He was careful to observe every law, except Prohibition, which he considered unjust. Two of Joseph and Corinne’s daughters became nuns at Marylhurst Convent in Portland, Oregon. Their son, Joseph, married and had three children, but sadly, died of cancer as a young man.

Today, the third generation of Ginets is making wine once again. Joseph Ginet’s grandson, Joe, and his wife Suzi, have imported plants from the family vineyards in St. Jean de la Porte, and UC Davis, and are fulfilling Joseph’s dream in America. 

Joseph Ginet is again making wine and offering plants for sale from Plaisance Ranch, "with great pleasure."

*To read a more detailed account of the Ginet family, read Sister Virginia Ginets' book, Walking With Basotho, about her life, including her thirty years working as a nun in South Africa.