Why subscribe?

If your relationship with wine extends anywhere beyond buying a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck to take to a dinner party, then you’ve probably wondered—if only fleetingly—what it would be like to own a vineyard and make your own vintages. I’m convinced that this wine curiosity is hardwired into our DNA, like the primeval urges to hunt and gather. After all, wine making has been around upwards of 8,000 years. If you are ever fortunate enough to taste a truly fine wine, or wander a vineyard right before harvest, or tour the barrel room of a classic winery...well, then, maybe that urge rises to a conscious level and you are left to speculate.

But finding a front-row seat to the world of winemaking is not that easy. Winemaking is not a spectator activity. It requires participation and years of experience, and even then the process is maddeningly slow. I’m in what I like to think of as my “wine awakening” period—and that’s after three years of learning to make the stuff. I’ve done most everything the average home winemaker can do and little of what the professional requires. But I’m willing to share where I am, where I’ve been, and where I’m going on this incredible journey.

If you want to know what it really takes to make and sell your own wine, I invite you to live vicariously through the Tiny Vineyards newsletter as I recount my amateur efforts and then explore all the options for going commercial. I’ll suss out the confusing license requirements and financial barriers, wrestle with the sourcing and handling of literally tons of grapes, and have a go at the demanding two-year UC Davis Winemaking Certificate Program, reporting on my triumphs and tragedies along the way.