The Owl Story

When we first started the winery in the old dairy, it had been decades since it had ceased operations and the grounds had been cared for.  We had a gopher problem, and not your average garden infestation but a plague of historic proportions.  In search of wisdom, we found that barn owls are gopher’s #1 predator for several reasons including being nocturnal, wing construction and processing them efficiently to aid digestion.  Astonishingly,  a nesting pair can process up to 40 gophers a night when feeding their young.

Barn owls are not nest builders, so we installed 2 wood boxes in the old barn and within a couple of weeks we had a nesting pair.  They had 4 owlets that first spring and wiped out the also breeding gophers.  As the pellet pile grew under their boxes, nature was being put back into balance.  At the time we were working on our name, label and brand identity and kept coming back to our barn owls.  They represent wisdom and are a good omen and we were eternally grateful that they had saved the ranch.  The female in her preening pose was chosen to represent our brand, a pedestal duly earned.  To honor family heritage we chose the Finnish word “Kynsi” meaning talon to go with our beloved barn owl.