Who We Are: Voluptuary & Lucid Wine
On my website, you'll notice that I usually speak in the first person as in "I made this wine from organic grapes because..." but sometimes say "we." I wanted to take a moment and give proper thank you to everyone who makes up that "we"
Wine is a collaborative effort of many people. From the grape to the winery to the bottle to the glass, many people's hard work, heart and soul go into the creation of a simple glass of wine.
But ultimately, naming all of those people isn't practical in most cases. So I will most often say "I" because I am the Owner of Voluptuary & Lucid and the Winemaker (in charge of all winemaking). But in reality, things are more complex than that. In the vineyards, I work with amazing vineyard owners, managers, and laborers, including many hard-working Mexican-American immigrants who are absolutely vital to our industry. In the winery, I owe much to the hard work of the wineries where I used a corner of their space to make my wine, with much help from them. My labels, design & website owe much to the assistance from friends & family. And the wine in your glass, I owe to you, for supporting me and my cause with your hard-earned dollar. Thank you all, you are appreciated and recognized.
As poet Tony Hoagland says in his poem "From This Height"
"...we are atop a pyramid of all the facts that make this possible... So an enormous act of forgetting is required...simply to kiss someone or enjoy..." (to get the full meaning of my reference you really ought to read his beautiful poem here)
So I know most people will never know much about the many hard working people who run the wine industry behind the scenes. But I want to take a moment to thank some of the people who have formed the pyramid of realities that make my wine possible.
A partial, but by no means comprehensive list of my collaborators who helped make Lucid & Voluptuary Wines happen:
Sam Patterson, William & his family, & everyone else at Shadow Ranch Vineyards
Frank Hildebrand & the folks at Narrow Gate Vineyards
Len Lehmann at Portola Vineyards
Julian Erggelet & his Biodynamically & Organically farmed grapes down in Contra Costa
Jim Chapman & his stunning Syrah & Petite Syrah up in Amador
Cat, Cuong, Mark & everyone else at Scribner Bend Vineyards in Clarksburg
Randy Nathan & his team at Star Canyon Ranch in Calaveras County
My brother & sister John & Jayme who helped me with much of my design
My brother Marcus who collaborates with me on woodworking design from his business Ambrose Crafts
My best friend Alex Gocke, his wife Raluca, my brother Jerome & his girlfriend Danger, and countless others who have given me feedback & input along the way
My loving girlfriend Sarah Miles
The many friends who have come out and volunteered their time to help me pick the grapes, make the wine, and bottle the wine.
And so many others who I've never met but who helped plants these grapes, care for these vines, pick the grapes, and help make them.