Fallon farmers may expand business into distillery
By Johnathan L. Wright, Reno Gazette-Journal
The Frey family, Nevada farmers for five generations, don’t simply want to remain on their land in Fallon.
They want to work it, see it breathe and thrive — even as water rights have dramatically diminished and surrounding farms have been abandoned to the wind.
In 2001, the Freys began planting fine wine grapes, a low-water, high-value alternative to traditional hay and grain crops. Today, Churchill Vineyards occupies part of their 738-acre Frey Ranch and releases about 1,500 cases annually, all of them made and bottled on the ranch.
But having successfully taken up the grape, the Freys now are taking a new look at their grain. Or, more accurately, a new look at both grape and grain.