A quality vintage

When Kaj Ahlmann left General Electric in 1999, he was seeking autonomy and a new adventure. In 2005, Ahlmann and his family started the Six Sigma Ranch and Winery on a 4,300-acre estate in Lower Lake, CA. Naming a ranch and winery after a statistically based business strategy is surprising, but when you understand how the strategy works, you understand how Ahlmann thought it was appropriate. The goal of Six Sigma is to minimize product defects and process variability in an ongoing effort of quality improvement and, consequently, to satisfy the customer. The fact that the Ahlmanns employ the tenets of Six Sigma in managing the winery processes is not the only unusual thing about their business. They have made it a priority to keep the majority of their land in its natural state. Their concept is to maintain a sustainable ranch with vineyards nestled into nature. Only about 1% of their 4,300 acres is used as a vineyard.