It was April 2008, just two years ago, that we opened the doors of our Wine Tasting Room in Old Town, San Diego.  This was not without risk…the country and California were in the middle of a raging recession, we had three kids in college, and we weren’t really as ready as we would have liked…the opportunity presented itself when we weren’t even looking!  But open we did…still remember the first five minutes…we opened the door, and a gentleman walked in and said that he wanted to buy a bottle of wine for dinner that evening.  I took his cash, turned to the register, and it wouldn’t open…it wouldn’t budge…it just kept beeping at me.  William nervously packaged the wine, whispering “he needs his change” and I replied through clinched teeth “I know…I can’t get the register to work”.   I then reached down for my purse and thankfully had the right change to provide.   That’s the memory of our first sale in the tasting room.

Since that time, we have had a lot of parties, mixers, networking groups, birthdays, bridal showers…you name it, we’ve hosted it!   Many went smooth as silk…others were a little bumpy or provided interesting challenges.  There was the evening that two networking groups showed up at the same time…we thought they were on two different nights, but they apparently were the same night.  So we juggled almost 75 people in a space for 55.  Since the plaza was under construction and the patio next store was vacant, we created sitting areas, and moved tables over for people to be able to network…it ended up being one of the better events for both groups.   We had a women’s book club hold one of their meetings and also experience of Old Town, and they sent a photo of their group in front of our tasting room to the Oprah book club…and our place was on her website for a month.   We started a grape stomp out of nothing the first year, and last year, we sold out at 2 pm, when we just opened at noon.   Participating in Halloween events, special dessert and port tastings, hosting a wine cruise on San Diego bay, we are always up for anything.   This third year brings more adventures, as we are adding a wine tour called “Two wineries and a brewery” and bringing in other San Diego wines from smaller boutique wineries, as well as local breweries.  We expect this summer to be our best, and are always thankful that so many people return again and again to our place.   Our thanks to the many who helped us be so successful…who knew that a newly opened business during a recession could grow and expand…we are very thankful!

 In January, William had the opportunity for a nine day trip to Rome and areas of Tuscany in Italy.  It was truly the trip of a lifetime…touring family vineyards and wineries, staying in small towns, pruning 50 year old vines, and drinking hand crafted wines.  He learned a lot about the Old World ways of growing grapes and making wine.  Every other day, he would call home to share his adventures…eating pasta and smoking a cigar with a restaurant owner about 30 yards from the Colessium, pruning grapevines with a 70 year old Italian while they shared what little English/Italian they each knew; touring one of the oldest synagogues in Europe, and drinking some of the best cianti wines in the world. 

At the same time, in Ramona where the winery and ranch were located, some of the most torrential rains and small tornados were landing across the Hacienda de las Rosas Winery property, with fallen oak limbs, uprooted trees, flooding in the living room, and a skylight blown out of the ceiling.  Literally, 12 inches of rain came down in 3 days.  In addition, Tammy was stuck on a business trip to Phoenix, where the airports were closed, so she had to drive across the desert through windstorms, dust storms, rain, snow and hail to be able to get home to the animals. 

As William and Tammy share their adventures during that week…William starts off talking about the wonderful hospitality, foods and sights of Italy, while Tammy will then interject “Meanwhile…back at the ranch….” story.  Nice contrast on each person’s adventures for that week!

One never knows who will be entering the Wine tasting room…can be a tourist from Europe, a couple from the midwest, a local person who hasn’t been to Old Town, SD in awhile…we are always interested in who comes to taste our wines.  One Saturday afternoon, we had a visitor who had been to our Tasting Room almost a year before, and he was back for an annual convention that he attends.  At his downtown hotel, he met a reporter from USA today, who was covering a couple of local stories in San Diego.  He mentioned that he would be going to our Wine Tasting Room later in the day, and she should really try to meet him there to check out the place and taste some San Diego wines. 

He arrived around noon, and was telling us this story, when just then, Laura the USA Today journalist walked in the door.  She was funny and delightful, tasting wines and sharing tales of some of the stories that she had been covering.  There were people coming in and out of the Tasting room, drinking and sharing…almost felt like a party!  When she was leaving, she asked if she could include us in a business articles that she was creating, mostly around small businesses and entrepreneurs.  Of course, we said yes…as long as the article was a good one..smiles!

A month later, a photographer came to the Wine Tasting Room and took about 100 photos, and two days later, we were on the front page of the Money section for USA Today.  It was amazing to see our picture on a publication that reaches 7 million viewers.  So, the old adage of never knowing who you will meet is a good one…always be prepared and open to the opportunity!

Each year, on Labor Day, our family winery hosts an old-fashioned grape stomp in Old Town, San Diego.  It includes music by a local band, grape stomping in a 120 year old California redwood tank, grape stomping contests throughout the day, and good wine and food.  And each year, I keep the tradition of dressing as “Lucille Ball” from her famous grape stomping episode.  This is one of my favorite of all her shows, with her wide open mouth agap as she stomped the grapes next to a eurupean grape stomping woman who just didn’t see the humor in the situation.  It was a classic.  Being a tall redhead, it isn’t much of a stretch for me to pull off the physical appearance, with my dress that looks like a bavarian pretzel girl outfit.  But the most fun is playing the part of Lucy…on that day, I can BE Lucy…full of energy, making mistakes and laughing at myself, having fun with others…it is completely liberating!  I run around doing the chicken dance, jump in the tanks, conjole people in the audience to join the competitions, and give the stompers some of the best moves that I can create…there is the “sweep the floor…sweep the floor” motions, the military stomp, the spanish flemenco moves, and my personal favorite - the disco duck.   People have a great time watching, and of course, everyone has to have a picture with Lucy.  If one put all the photos together that were taken of me that day, it could definitely serve as evidence that I was just a wee bit crazy!    Everyone should be able to play Lucy (or any other wild television character) for one day a year…it was great therapy and fun!

The phone rang one afternoon, and the man on the other end was stating “we heard about your family winery and horse ranch, and how your husband/wife team works together and would love to film you for an upcoming series on entrepreneurs who follow their dreams.”   As my husband and I do when any new opportunity presents itself…I found myself saying “sure, come on over”, and three weeks later, a film crew arrived to the Wine Tasting Room.  

The Actor Chris Field and his partners have developed a new show called “American Underdog” to highlight entrepreneurs who take their dreams and make it into a business.  His goal was to film us in the Wine Tasting Room, and in a vineyard that William planted, as well as our home and horse ranch, and hear the “secrets” of our success.  It was a lot of fun, with customers coming in, agreeing to be on the film and William and I answering questions on camera, while the host was just off the screen.  At the same time, we were serving wine in the Tasting room, running our newly opened Farmer’s Market in the plaza, and handling the details of taking care of the film crew’s needs and requests.  Most of the questions were easy, until they asked me, “so, how do you like working with your husband?”, and I answered…”do you mean today, or in general?” which had the director yell “Cut!”.

When they arrived at the ranch, it was fun taking these “city folk” around the ranch and to see the horses.  The host was hugging Princessa’s head…like a puppy, which is not generally how you handle a horse, but she was very good and patient.  Then William and I saddled the horses and rode toward the cameras at a fast clip to capture our love of Peruvian Paso horses!  The final scene was to be us in a Mercedes convertable with the top down and driving down the driveway…like it was the end of the show and we are driving away into the sunset.   Except the top wouldn’t go down…and then it wouldn’t go up…it was literally stuck halfway!!!  So much for our Hollywood debut!  

The show is to air in the fall and we are excited to see the film footage when it is complete.  Whenever we say yes to a new opportunity, we never know which way it will lead us, but that’s part of the adventure!

One of the big dreams when opening our family-owned tasting room was to host and support the local artists of San Diego.  Each month, we feature the artwork from an artist, specializing in various mediums - pottery, photography, painting, tapestries, sculptures, quilts, and leather work.  As a result, the wine tasting area and garden room are transformed into a new artist gallery each month.  William works to display in the artwork in unique ways, often changing the look of the room to support the featured work.  If the artist is interested, we also host a “meet the artist” reception for them to invite their family, friends and clients.  These are very casual activites and a lot of fun…and a first time event for many of the artists.

We recently have taken it up a notch - collaborating with the San Diego Fine Arts Society for a Sunset Sundays series throughout the summer. Featuring women artists every Sunday evening from 5:00-7:00 pm, the artist can take over the tasting room with their art display.  They provide an artist talk, and guests enjoy a wine tasting experience which includes a souvenir wine glass and bottle of wine with a specially designed label by the featured artist, all for $25.  A portion of proceeds go towards the SD Fine Arts Society to support their mission for local artists.

Having a Wine Tasting Room can be fun, and a lot of hard work.  But it is also greats an opportunity to provide an avenue for local artists, and support their efforts as well.  We hope our visitors enjoy the “views” when they visit our Tasting Room…we certainly do!