First Growth
Our enjoyment of good wine and food helped bring us together
and has remained a continual source of pleasure in our lives.
We made our first foray into winemaking while we were living
in Saratoga, California. Solving a landscaping problem and
indulging his curiosity, Mike planted a steep hill in our back
yard with our first vineyard of 150 Cabernet Sauvignon vines
in 1994.
Anticipating his first harvest three years in advance, Mike purchased half-a-ton of grapes from Cooper-Girard, a local vineyard in the Santa Cruz mountains appellation. He used the garage and driveway as a home winery where he crushed the grapes, fermented them in large plastic drums, punched down the caps twice a day, pressed and then transferred the new wine into a barrel. At this early stage in our winemaking journey, a pattern emerged that continues to this day: friends always seem show up to help when we need them the most. Together with friends we've spent happy hours in the garage, working to transform grapes into wine.