About Wild Loon
Two people, 15 acres, one circular economy, and a lot of pruning.
Our Story
Wild Loon Winery began with a property and a belief: that a farm should give back more than it takes.
The property is Meade Hill, a 15-acre estate in Smartsville, California that was home to Meade Hill Winery under the stewardship of Mike Lacefield and his family for years. We are honored to carry this land forward. The vines they planted, the infrastructure they built, and the wine culture they brought to this corner of the Sierra Foothills are the foundation we're building on.
Our vision for Wild Loon is rooted in biodynamic viticulture — managing the vineyard in rhythm with the lunar calendar, building soil health through integrated livestock and cover cropping, and treating the farm as a whole system rather than a series of separate operations. Our sister enterprise, MushLoon, is both a medicinal mushroom business and a living part of that system: grape pomace becomes mushroom substrate, spent substrate becomes compost, and that compost returns to feed the vines.
We're not fully open yet, but we're open enough. Come by appointment and you'll find us working.
First harvest at Wild Loon — Smartsville, CA
Alia Nikooforsat
Alia leads our winemaking, tasting experiences, event coordination, and the day-to-day life of the farm. She is the heartbeat, which is why she manages visitor relationships. As a nurse (studying to become a nurse practitioner), she has a gift for taking care of people. She makes Wild Loon a place you want to stay a while.
Frank Buncom IV
Frank came to Smartsville from years of hands-on work at the intersection of regenerative agriculture and community education, most recently at S&S Friendly Ranch in San Diego. He manages vineyard operations, biodynamic implementation, and the MushLoon integration, spending mornings in the rows, pruning, observing, and trying to understand what this living land wants to do.
Our Values
Closing the loop
We don't believe in waste streams. Every output from one part of the farm becomes an input somewhere else.
Farming in time
We tend the vineyard by the biodynamic calendar — timing pruning, planting, and harvesting to align with cosmic rhythms. Whether or not you believe in the cosmology, the results in the soil speak for themselves.
Building in public
Wild Loon is a work in progress, and we're not pretending otherwise. Follow us on Instagram to see the real thing unfold.
Shop Our Wines
Browse our current selection of Meade Hill Winery wines, available for purchase and shipping.
Visit Our ShopVisit Us
8659 Smartsville Road
Smartsville, California
Easy highway access at the intersection of Highway 20 & Hammonton-Smartsville Road
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