Ascona Vineyard is located on a ridgetop high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains at 2,500 feet, overlooking the Big Basin watershed. The sloping southwest-facing hillside is 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean, with abundant sunshine during the day, and consistent overnight fog and cool ocean breezes. The soils are weathered marine sedimentary sandstone, shale and siltstone. The small 4.5 acre vineyard was planted in 2000 on the site of an old Christmas tree farm, and has been meticulously farmed by Ken and Abbey Swegles since 2016.