Full-Circle at Limerick Lane: How Karen Francis DeGolia Reclaimed a Historic Russian River Valley Estate

• Posted November 28, 2025

Karen Francis DeGolia’s story at Limerick Lane isn’t just a winery origin tale; it’s the kind of full‑circle, heart‑on‑its-sleeve wine destiny that feels like it was plotted after a few good glasses of old‑vine Zin. This is a place where the fog line, a 1910 field blend, a murder, a move, and a comeback all collide on 53 acres at the far northeast edge of the Russian River Valley.​

Where the lane began:

Long before tasting rooms and wine clubs, this stretch of road was christened Limerick Lane by a homesick cattleman who named it after his Irish hometown and Italian farmers chasing a new life later planted vines in the area. In 1910, the Del Fava family put Zinfandel and mixed varietals in the ground, creating the “1910 Block” that still pumps out fruit today and gives the estate its beating heart. By 1985, the Collins family had turned the property into Limerick Lane Cellars, a winery built to showcase the fruit.​

The love story and the loss:

Karen first arrived on this property in the early 1990s, not as a visitor but as a co‑conspirator in building a life here, engaged to founder and winemaker Tom Collins. They spent long days coaxing those 1910 vines