The Accidental Winemaker
I never dreamed that I'd be a winemaker! Several years ago, we came to California with our small herd of horses to escape the Florida summers. While my wife was fully involved with the horses, I became interested in the vineyards around our ranch. Met some good people, got interested. And now, in 2020, we've bottled the first of grapes that I helped source and blend, wines that have my input with the assistance of master winemaker, Steve Clifton.
Hopefully, you will enjoy drinking these wines as much as I've enjoyed making them.
Kent Mitchell
How Time Flies
Wow, I can't believe it has been six months in Florida. Heading back to CA in June, horses and ducks in tow. We've had a wild winter; a 12w house project has taken the contractors 36w and we are just moving in with 10d to ship out!
Between that chaos and my "screw loose" discovery earlier this year, we've had quite a lot going on. Add some new grandbabies, a new daughter-in-law, and wow, time does fly.
May 13, 2022 at 5:33 PM
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Sometimes People Tell Me I Have A Screw Loose...
And apparently, they are correct! I had a cervical fusion surgery back in 2013 and in the past few weeks (after an epic ski trip with high school friends), noticed some increased neck pain. Fast forward to this week when xrays show that one of the screws has backed out about 1/2". So, off to surgery in the next few weeks.
So, no more ski trips for 2022 and time to buckle down and get the new wines bottled and ready for summer in California.
We're still settling in to our winter digs in Ocala, FL and looking to return to CA by summer. Rona and the horses are enjoying lots of hills to ride on the property, I'm enjoying walking the same.
Folks are really loving the new Rosè which makes us super happy as we loved it when it was nothing more than grape juice! Hope to be offering tastings in Solvang by this summer.
Feb 18, 2022 at 10:09 AM
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A New Year
Well, December was quite a busy month. Relocating the horses and ducks from CA to FL for the winter, moving ourselves, traveling to NC, PA, NY for the holidays and now January is almost over as well. We found that, surprisingly for a winter release, the Grenache Rose has been incredibly well received and we're looking forward to having our wines served at outlets here in Ocala. Rona's hosting our first little schooling horse show this coming week; we still have a lot of projects in the works but it should be fun.
We're hoping to be back in a physical presence in CA by our return this summer and may even do a retail outlet in FL as well.
Here's hoping that 2022 is an amazing year for everyone.
Jan 21, 2022 at 9:43 AM
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Happy Thanksgiving
It's been quite a busy fall around the farms and the winery. We've come out with our latest red, a Cab Blend, our Claret as well as our Grenache Rosè. Our Wellington FL and our Wilmington NC farms have sold, we've moved business offices from North Carolina to Florida and we're packing up the herd and relocating to Ocala, FL for the winter months. Not that our little corner of California isn't beautiful in the winter too.
We've spent the week in Texas for a family reunion, Thanksgiving holiday, welcome our three week old grandson and yes, enjoyed a fair amount of wine with family. We were happy to be sponsors of the Duke Jump For The Children Horse Show and customers have also shared photos of their holidays with our wines "on tap" so to speak.
We are grateful for our family and friends and this amazing life we lead. Hope that everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving.