Every child dreams of great things, and as a child, we all had that special place to dream those dreams; pillow forts, tree houses, the grandparents. Mine was in the crook of large branches in an old tree, with bright red leaves, where I would climb up to, nestle in, and let the mind wander. These places are where we, as children, dreamed of being Astronauts, Firemen, Nurses, etc. I would read my
books-especially my comic books- listen to music, or simply watch nature and dream of distant stars, lands, and people. I would mull over all the things I wanted to do and accomplish. Some I have, some I have yet to do, and some are still, but dreams. Granted, it was not a dream to become a winemaker in that big ol' oak tree, but I have always wanted to do something big. So this 40 something 'kid' finally decided to follow one of those dreams-make wine. After a few months of being unemployed in a time of our country's history when we should be thriving, I had worked part time driving passenger buses for Genie Tours and did a lot of wine tours. One particular group had an extensive tour of the vineyards and operations of Seven Hills and Woodward Canyon. Being a wine lover, I never thought about being in the business, until I seen how passionate people in the industry are. It just felt right, like this was something that I needed to do. Thus, I decided that when I 'grow up', I wanted to be a winemaker. I was tired of retail, construction, sales, and what better excuse to go back to school then to get a degree in something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and my retirement. Looking at all the programs, it was quite clear that Walla Walla Community College's Enology and Viticulture Program was clearly the best fit. I traveled from Richland to Walla Walla each and every day for 2 and 1/2 years, throwing myself into the classes, the projects, and even participated in working outside of the school in private vineyards and taking on any bottling job that came my way. Graduated in 2012, worked for several operations, even got back into sales for a stretch selling wine ingredients-and at the end of the day, I kept sight of working towards my wine concept, it's brand, and began operations in 2014. Everything has been paid for as we go, taking our time and utilizing resources to simply make some delicious, affordable, wines of caliber and distinction. After all, if I am not fond of the inventory in the unfortunate situation where I may have to drink it all, the end product had better be good-right? So that, in a brief nutshell, is how we came to be. A strong plan, great education-and still learn something new each and every day-and determination. Of course, there is that inspirational day-dreaming from the crook of a big Scarlet Oak as well.