The Traveling Hillbilly Makes Wine?

The Traveling Hillbilly was offered the chance to work (volunteer) at a ranch in Santa Ynez for a couple of days and see first- hand what goes in the wine making process.   First, I could have not had a more beautiful day for the drive up.   The 2 ½ drive from Los Angeles was absolutely beautiful.  Blue skies above, clear blue waters on the left and beautiful mountains on the right, all made for a truly scenic drive.  Plus it was about 70 degrees and with minimal traffic, the drive went quickly.

I arrived at the ranch and it is quite charming.   As I park and get out of my car, I see an older gentleman and ask if Mike is around.  He says, follow me.  It turns out, he’s Mike’s dad and the one who bought the ranch over 30 years ago.   It started at as a horse and cattle ranch and they started planting grapes about 10 years ago.    He’s 89 years old and is quite the charmer!

After settling in, Mike starts giving me some background on the process and teaching me some of the terminology.  It’s a lot to take in but all very interesting.  We do a quick tour of the vineyard and he explains the different theories about planting the vines.   There is a reason or theory for everything from how far apart to plant the vines, to what the right length of each vine should be.   He tells me there’s a common saying, “there are a 1,000 decisions in making a bottle of wine” and I believe it.   Given all the work that goes into making one bottle of wine, it’s amazing every bottle isn’t at least $100 each.