The imaginary hat rack

It seemed like an easy transition.  Wine grape grower to winery owner, in fact, seemed logical.  We had been growing grapes for decades. My father had taken over from his father in the late 70’s, and after I quit teaching elementary school and joined the family farming operation in 1982, my father and I had made the transition from growing table grapes to wine grapes. 

And I’d certainly had plenty of experience making wine.  After years of be a large scale amateur wine maker, that part didn’t seem to be an obstacle.  So the notion was let’s build a winery and spend our time chatting with customers and selling them wine made from our fruit.

Yeah, right.  The truth is that it has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my 57 years.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not sorry we did it. And I still think it was the right decision.  The value of grape crops in the Lodi, California region hasn’t developed much past what it was fifteen years ago.  The three or four big wineries that buy the majority of the grapes that come out of this area still control the prices of our fruit and  keep the clamps on any upward movement. So this decision to build a winery was one of economic survival. 

So in 2006 I met with engineers, filed for construction permits, talked to general contractors, submitted fees and filled out applications.  Finally, in May of 2007 we broke ground and constructin began. During this phase of the winery, an odd thing happened.  Over night a hat rack appeared on the construction site.  It was a tall one- free standing- and it shadowed me whenever I was in the building. No hats on it, just lots of pegs sticking out on all sides.  At first, I wondered if someone had just left it there, but after a while I began to get suspicious. After an inquiry or two, I figured out that no one could see it but me.  And then, as soon as the winery was operational, suddenly my fantasy hat rack was full of hats.

The hard part about this new life has been discovering what my job is now.  What do I do next?  What is  the nature of my role around here?  Problem solved. Go to the hat rack. In any one day I go from TTB Compliance Officer to Tasting Room Manager to Wine Club Director.  Other hats hanging on the rack are those labelled Head Wine Maker, Events Coordinator, Vice-President of Promotion and Advertising, Lab Technician and, of course, Cellar Rat.  That last one’s my favorite. 

Summer blooms at Heritage Oak

I have help.  My wife, Carmela, keeps the tasting room clean and full of decorated flowers.  She has done a wonderful job landscaping the patio between the house and the winery.  And during events, she coordinates the food and its display. 

My mother, Joanne, has also shown what a trooper she can be, volunteering to work in the tasting room four or five days a week, freeing me up to run errands or play the piano for our visitors.  She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, having, after 82 years of life, read everything and been almost everywhere.

I think our children, Matt, Rob and daughter-in-law Natalie will come on board with time.  They’ll need to move closer but for now each is following his own path, which I totally understand.

For now we are finding our way here.  Each day is a new one, and the challenges are fresh and always changing.  In the meantime, I see there are still lots of unlabeled hats on the rack.  Hey, I just discovered one that has ”Winery Blogger” written on the front.  How come all these dang things are just my size?!