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(Lander, WY) – In the next year and a half or so, folks in Fremont County will get to experience the literal (and metaphorical) fruits of labor that Sinks Canyon Winery has put into producing its first for-sale batch of Wyoming-made wine.
After five years of smaller-batch experimentation, and a bird-caused setback in 2024, owners Dan and Jennifer Thompson had a successful harvest back in late September, which means they can now move ahead with their grand plans for Sinks Canyon Winery.
h/t Vince Tropea, County 10
Dan, who grew up in Lander, explained that he and Jennifer became interested in wine/grape-growing while in California, where they have lived for the last 10 years. Despite living in California, the Winery is located on Jennifer’s family’s land on Mortimore Lane at the base of Sinks Canyon.
“My wife and I love Wyoming—hunting, fishing, mountains. We come up four or five times a year to work in the vineyard. It’s hard work, but therapeutic.”
Both Dan and Jennifer are retired U.S. Army Veterans. He served as a helicopter pilot, and she was a dental hygienist. When they’re not tending to the winery, Dan works in railroad construction management, and Jennifer is a therapist.
Dan said when that initial interest took off, he used some of his VA benefits to pay for schooling at UC Davis, “one of the foremost schools for viticulture and enology (grape cultivation and winemaking).”
“I got my winemaking certificate through UC Davis, which is five courses—super heavy chemistry and more science than I ever thought was involved in growing grapes and making wine. That fall of 2019, I ordered about 500 grapevines from a vineyard nursery in upstate New York.”
Dan and the crew planted the first batch of grapes — about half of what they did this year — in 2020, then completed the last ten rows in 2021. Now the operation sits at about 1.9 acres, which Thompson explained is in the “mid-to-small” range.
After a few years of cultivating smaller batches, 2024 appeared as though it was going to be the year to have the first harvest significant enough to start bottling and moving forward with the winery, but migrating birds arrived about two weeks earlier than expected, Dan explained, and destroyed almost the entire batch.
“I had put all the (bird) netting up, and then my plan was to get the next side the next day. …by the time I got over the next morning, they were all gone. So, I marked it on my calendar.”
This year, they added nets to cover the crops a month earlier than the year before.
“So last year it was really disappointing, but it was… I took it as more of a learning experience.”
The whole process has been a learning curve for the Thompsons, Dan went on to explain.
“When we first started, we used flood irrigation because this was a former horse pasture. Over the years, we transitioned to drip irrigation, which provides even water. Grapes need the right amount of water; they don’t like too much. Once established, they can survive without a lot, especially here, because the water table is really good. We use drip just to keep a steady flow. We put in weed matting, and we do organic fertilization with kelp and fish-based nutrients a few times a year. We’ve been doing this for five years.”
In terms of what types of grapes to grow, Dan said that if he “wanted something that would survive” Wyoming’s harsher climate and winters, hybrid grapes were his best bet.
“These are hybrids developed by the University of Minnesota, known for surviving cold climates. We planted Maréchal Foch, Marquette, St. Croix, and Frontenac. Those are red varieties.”
Last year, after the bird incident, they harvested about 60 pounds of grapes, which equated to about two bottles when all was said and done, and it wasn’t even enough to put in oak barrels for aging.
“I did it in stainless steel, bottled it, and it’s been aged for eight months,” Dan shared.
(Dan later added that he and the family cracked open one of those bottles in celebration on September 24 when they harvested this year’s grape haul.)
For comparison, this year they harvested “closer to 800 to 1,000 pounds, almost half a ton,” which will produce “around 40 cases—decent for a small vineyard,” Dan commented.
Dan then explained the rest of the process.
“After harvesting, grapes go through the crusher-destemmer, then they move on to primary fermentation for about 14 days. Then pressing, stainless steel tanks for two months, and then into Hungarian oak barrels for at least 12 months. So about 18 months from now, we’ll be ready for bottle sales and tastings. In the meantime, we sell wine glasses and merchandise.”
The bottling will be done “in-house” on their property, Dan added.
“I have a four-spout bottler, a pump, and all the equipment we need. It’s family-driven. We want to sell wine commercially—our goal is not just sales but sharing life with people through wine. Our motto is ‘Much like the journey from grapes to the glass, we’ve been crushed, transformed, and made new to celebrate life.’ Winemaking is a metaphor for transformation, both spiritual and emotional.”
Dan later shared that the whole endeavor has been a family affair.
Dan’s friend from California, Seth, came out to help with the harvest. Seth said people told him and Dan that “You can’t grow grapes here.” He then showed off said grapes. Jessica Hedges, Dan’s younger brother David’s fiance, helps with the grape picking. Gage, Jessica’s son, helps as well, while also earning school credit through a work program.
h/t Vince Tropea, County 10
“Right now, friends and family are helping, including my stepbrother’s family and others. Even my mom helps at 76. It’s a very hands-on process. My stepbrother, Roger, helps manage the vineyard. We lease land from him. We’re working on turning his barn into our winery and tasting room. We’ve put in concrete and plumbing, started electrical, and plan to insulate it and build it out ourselves with woodwork.”
Dan explained that since this is their first real harvest, they will now start the process for “licensing and bonding with the federal and state governments.”
Eventually, they’ll do tastings (“likely by appointment at first”), bottle sales, and shipping, and then they plan to expand the operation into a venue for events and weddings.
“The property has a stream, horses nearby, and it’s very peaceful. We think it’ll be an amazing place for wine tasting.”
Sun shown through on bunches of ripe white grapes at Sinks Canyon Winery. The property has over 820 vines planted between both red and white vineyards. The east vineyard, shown here, has hybrid white grapes of Frontenac Gris, Frontenac Blanc, La Crescent, Traminer, and Itaska varieties growing. The grape vines at Sinks Canyon Winery are matured after 5 seasons of growing. Grape vines usually take 4-5 years to mature and produce a substantial crop. They develop brown shredding bark that protects the softer cork-like inside of the vine. 
Ginger and Fluffy, the Hitshew family cats looked out from the back porch at the house. The winery had been experiencing pest problems early on in the year until the feline duo came along. “We tried traps and everything we could think of,” said Marilyn Hitshew. “So we decided we’d try getting a couple of cats and we haven’t had any pest problems since.” The sun rose on Sinks Canyon Winery’s 820 grape vines Friday morning off Mortimer Lane. Dan Thompson held up a grape cluster on harvest day. The winery’s west vineyard has a variety of Foch, Marquette, St. Croix, and Frontenac planted. Jessica Hedges walked back toward the house with a bucket of white grapes on her way to get her children to school the morning after harvest day. The whole family puts in time when they can all year round to make sure the tasks around the winery get done. Sinks Canyon Winery viticulturist Dan Thompson stood for a portrait in the west vineyard at Sinks Canyon Winery on harvest day. The destemmer sat ontop of a large crate containing just grapes at the bottom. The Italian machinery should have enough capacity to serve the winery as it grows in crop size over the coming years.
h/t Carl Cote, County 10
You can find out more information about Sinks Canyon Winery on its website, and they can be contacted at info@sinkscanyonvino.com, or by calling (619) 517-8714.