Nights spent under the stars in sleeping bags, picking grapes among celebrities and winning a major award that help put California wines on the map were not what Portola Valley resident Sue Crane imagined when her husband, against her wishes, bought a plot of land in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1959.

Now, nearly 65 years later, Crane is recounting the little-known story of the women behind the making of Ridge Vineyards in Cupertino in her new, self-published book, a 22-month labor of love authored by her longtime friend Helen Park Bigelow "Behind the Barrels: The Women of Ridge." Over 100 people attended the book launch party at Crane's home at The Sequoias senior living community in March.

Her husband Hew bought the land with his colleagues from Stanford Research Institute: Charlie Rosen of Atherton, Howard Zeidler of Palo Alto and Dave Bennion of Menlo Park.

Their wives Fran Bennion and Blanche Rosen, along with Sue, acted as the social conduit — putting together meals, harvest parties, picnics and managing the children, who did some of the physical labor. People — including local football players and future leaders of Silicon Valley industries — coveted a chance to come and help pick the grapes. The women were a huge part of spreading the word about Ridge.

"We made it more than just a plain winery," said Crane, a former Portola Valley mayor.

"The women — Fran Bennion, Blanche Rosen, and Sue Crane — were the glue, and the hub, of their families," Crane wrote in the book. "Each woman was vigorously involved in raising children, managing the household, and balancing her own artistic pursuits while supporting the men. Some gave their support more reluctantly than others, some with more enthusiasm."

An unexpected journey

When the men bought the land in 1959, they had no intent to start a winery. It was simply a property investment. "None of them cared a hoot about wine," Park Bigelow explained. "I thought it was a stupid idea," said Crane.

Crane was pregnant with her first child when Hew drove her up the dirt one-way road (now a two-way drive). The land is 4.5 miles up Monte Bello Road.

She refers to herself as a "winery widow" in the book because her husband would spend all week at SRI, then all weekend at the vineyard.

"I would take care of the children and suffered because I had to stay home," she said. She had three sons, all within three and half years, the first born in 1958, shortly before the winery's purchase.

Eventually, they learned to make fine wine and it became a thriving, family-run business. And they learned to love the experience running the winery.

"Sue remembers the beauty of those days — not just the sight of rows of grapevines and rolling hills, but the sense of people being so glad to participate, the camaraderie, the voices and laughter drifting in the air," she recounts in the book.

Their children said their years were measured from harvest to harvest.

"The kids working so hard at the winery doing really important, useful real work was a gift to them," she said. "Kids don't get that advantage very often."

Global attention

The vineyard helped bring global attention to California wines when it won fifth place in the 1976 Judgement of Paris, for its 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet. Stag's Leap of Napa Valley won first place for its 1973 Cabernet.

The awards upset all expectations and is widely considered the event that put California wines on the map.

How the book was conceived

The idea to write a book came to Crane 20 years ago, but it wasn't until she moved into The Sequoias in 2014 that she got serious about actually putting her thoughts on paper. She was going to dinner every night, where she had a captive audience for stories of Ridge while sharing its wine with other residents.

When Crane asked Park Bigelow, a longtime friend and Palo Alto resident who moved to The Sequoias in 2015 and is a writer, if she could write the book, Park Bigelow said she couldn't because she neither a journalist nor a ghost writer.

Eventually, Crane convinced her to sign on and they met weekly, talking and looking at about 1,000 photos she had collected over the years from the winery. Crane pulled from Hew's journal on his time at the vineyard.

As they started, it seemed clear it was important to focus on the women involved in the vineyard.

Ridge was one of first wineries to offer monthly wine subscription service — with specially selected wines before their release.

The two weren't sure what the cover should look like until they brought on a French book designer, Karen Sheckler-Wilson, who created the clever idea of superimposing a photo of Crane with the title of the book in the style of the vineyard's wine label.

"I'm super satisfied," Crane said. "I didn't expect it to come out so beautifully done."

There is some loneliness being the last standing member of the vineyard. Crane said she feels like the women would be very proud and pleased with the book and would tell her: "Sue, you got it, we were important."

The men, on the other hand, would give the women credit after years of maturation.

"We (the women) were very, very taken for granted," she said. "Knowingly, we allowed it. ... I was very satisfied to be the wife of a vineyard owner, but I realized I was very involved."

Ridge today

The men eventually sold the vineyard in 1986, and the new owners opened another tasting room in Sonoma County.

A few times a year, Crane visits the vineyard, bringing friends and sharing the experience with them. Her boys are bonded to Ridge, she said.

Where to find the book

The book is on sale in The Sequoias gift shop at 501 Portola Road in Portola Valley. It will also be available in Ridge Vineyards' tasting rooms in Cupertino and Healdsburg this month, according to the winery. It may also be available on the vineyard's website, ridgewine.com.

All sales of the book will go to a scholarship fund for The Sequoias employees and an employee holiday gift fund.