Hello! We are Brien Pye and Pamela Schultz, the owners of--and caretakers for--Rabbit Ridge Vineyard.

In July 2024, we acquired what was then Barron Pratt Barn Vineyard. The original owners had planted the vineyard in the early 1990s on the side of a gentle slope with Canandaigua Lake in the distance. Over the years, they cultivated and tended the vineyard, becoming part of the grape-growing industry that today is endemic to the Finger Lakes. Eventually it became time to pass on the vineyard to new owners who would cherish it as they did.

We first visited the house, barns, and vineyard in Spring 2024. We had lived in Rochester since 1998 but always spent a lot of time along the west side of Canandaigua Lake, traveling up and down Route 21 to soak in the views. With both of our children now adults, we thought it was time to explore the possibility of moving down to the Canandaigua/Naples area. We spent nearly two years looking at property until one day we stumbled onto a storybook setting that felt like home. We weren’t looking to take on a business, let alone a thriving small vineyard. But the house and vineyard left an impression we couldn’t shake. It wasn’t just the house of our dreams but an opportunity for us to reinvent ourselves.

Brien has always been a farmer at heart. He grew up in Alfred NY, a small college town in the Southern Tier. As a boy he spent many precious hours outdoors in the Adirondacks with his grandfather. Although he earned an MBA from Syracuse University and worked successfully in the business sector for many years, he longed for a life that would allow him to farm. Numerous times he tried planting fruit trees in our urban backyard, which were quickly decimated by deer. When our two children were young, he’d drag the family on fruit-picking expeditions. He would be in his element while his kids and wife wilted in the heat. He has always been more at home driving a tractor than a minivan.

Curious about our grapes?