Archive for February, 2009

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Just imagine that a young newlywed takes a cook book to follow the recipe for a dish that her grandmother has always prepared.  She tastes the dish, having followed the recipe exactly, and cannot understand why it doesn’t taste like grandma’s dish.  When she visits her grandma, she watches her make the exact same dish, except that she doesn’t use measuring cups, she throws in a couple of extra ingredients not listed in the recipe, and cooks it slightly different than described in the cookbook.  As a result, Grandma’s dish often tastes better and has more flavor and character…unique to her cooking style.

This is very much like wine making…part science and part “magic.”   Each wine maker takes the same grapes, but can take different steps during the wine making process.   For instance, one wine maker might take Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, put them in french oak barrels for two years, then have the wine sit in bottles for another year before serving.  Another wine maker takes the same grapes, oaks them for one year in American oak, and serves 6 months after bottling.  Same grapes result in different bottles of  wine, depending on the winemaker, the techniques, and the “secrets” that the winemaker uses.  Not all wines are alike, even if made from identical grapes.   And the price of a bottle of wine does not always guarantee its taste….sometimes a $15 bottle can taste much better than a $50 bottle of wine.

If a group of winemakers get together, no matter where they are from across the world or nation, they are passionate about their wines and their wine making techniques.  Younger wine makers are often more inventive and use the latest technology, while older wine makers are more intuitive, following their instincts or traditions since they have been doing it so long.  This passion travels into their conversations, which are mixed with banter, teasing, and comparing one wine to another.  It’s like good chefs comparing notes on their cooking techniques…wine makers do the same.  That’s what makes the wine world so diverse and exciting.

Wine Tasting Rooms are a great way to try different wines or the wines from an individual or local group of winemakers.  Even though you have had a Merlot in the past, you have not tasted this particular Merlot.  And even if you did not like a Sauvignon Blanc in the past, you should still explore tasting the same grape at a different winery for a different taste.  And if for some reason you do not like a particular wine, you are not stuck with a whole bottle to finish, as if you purchased a bottle at the store to try.

There is no right or wrong wine for you….and as William often tells our visitors…”just drink what you like, like what you drink and be willing to pay a reasonable price!”

Many people enter our Wine Tasting Room and after hearing our stories and tasting our wines, loudly proclaim “you guys are living the life….wine and horses!”  William and I just smile at each other, agreeing with their comment, but knowing that it didn’t just happen in one day.  We didn’t grow up on a vineyard, nor inherit or purchase a winery, and have had to create it literally from scratch.

Our journey began with a dream…to have a horse ranch and farm in the country.  We even had the name picked out - Hacienda de las Rosas, which means “big house with the roses”.  People would ask about our ranch and where it was….and I would point to my head, and state “It’s up here right and eventually, it will be real.”  When we purchased the property in Ramona…it was a beautiful adobe home, with a Spanish courtyard and huge rose garden…the perfect “Hacienda de las Rosas.”

However, the property contained about six hundred dead apple trees, and a dilapitaded avocado grove with a few citrus trees that were old and barely producing.  So, the real work began…clearing the property, building horse facilities, and trimming back almost 250 avacado trees.  With a very limited budget, we used to tease that every time we tackled aproject, it was “one board at a time”, because that was all we could afford.  It also meant that we did a lot of the labor ourselves, so we learned to trim trees and plant and build the structures around the property. Years went by, as we raised kids, worked our full-time jobs, started breeding Peruvian Paso horses, and lived our daily life as we built the dream.

The winery started as just an idea, for at that time, William decided to plant some vines just for fun.  Then he decided to get serious and attended viticulture classes and interned with other wine makers to make wine.  There were good batches and bad batches (vinegar comes to mind!), however it was a process started that became an adventure in itself.

When we decided that it would become a business, there were so many decisions - design of the label (we were both adament about a Peruvian Paso horse on the label!), choosing the bottles, corks and capsules; purchasing the equipment (most of it used because that was all we could afford!) and jumping all the legal hoops.  While still working a full time job, William became our saleman and distributor, conducting all the sales and delivery activities with local restaurants and liquor stores.

Finally, in 2008, with three kids in college, an economy proceeding toward recession, and possible layoff for Tammy, our family opened our retail Wine Tasting Room in Old Town, San Diego.  Operating 7 days a week, and using every monetary resource that we had, as well as good wishes from friends and family, we felt that we were making a huge step…that was both scary and exciting!  Acting as the retailers, wine makers, horse breeders, shipping department, customer relations, and marketing department has been exhausting and stretched us many times.  However, it has allowed our business to grow exponentially, and given us the opportunity to meet some of the most interesting and nicest people in the world!

On any given day, we will have visitors from Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia and from across the United States.  And we meet lots of folks right in our own backyard…it’s like throwing a small party every day and not sure who the guests will be until they arrive!

It has taken us years and a lot of work to reach this life that we now have.  However, when any visitor tells us that we “are living the life”, we often smile at one another and completely agree!