It started in 1993 when I moved into a house in Palo Alto. There was a beautiful old apricot tree in the backyard, a remnant of the fruit groves that used to blanket the Santa Clara Valley in the first half of the 20th century. The first year we lived there, the tree produced a bumper crop of apricots, so I thought it would be fun to make wine out of it. I found a few recipes in various library books (this was before the Internet) and, after a few attempts, was finally able to make a decent dry white apricot wine.
In 1995 I started making grape wines. I started out with various wine-making kits based on concentrates, and this led me into contact with several winemakers in the area whose advice was invaluable in making better wine. I began to get real grapes. In 1998 I began using Brehms Vineyards' frozen varietals. By 2002 I was beginning to source fresh grapes as well and was making around 25 gallons a year. In 2008 I moved to Encinitas and bought my first 32-gallon American oak barrel, and filled it with Merlot from grapes I got from a grower in Ramona. That wine got a silver medal from the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association in 2010.
