He had never grown anything before, not even a tomato plant, but grapes seemed to be doing well in his area. “We’ll just test it out,” he reasoned with us. A vine or two seemed reasonable. Dad proceeded to plant nine acres of cabernet sauvignon. The naysayers (his own family) were baffled. “He doesn’t even drink wine,” my sister Edna commented. But once Dad has his mind set on something, pity the obstacle that stands in his way. My immigrant parents have the ethic and talent to build the American dream. With Dad's construction background and viticulture friends, the vines had a great start. Edna and I decided to start drinking wine more regularly to help the family out. And thankfully, Mom is a farmer’s daughter.

But growing grapes is more than science and engineering. Mother nature is an uncontrollable and formidable companion. My parents’ backyard consists of dry, steep hills at 1,800’ elevation. The vines are warmed by sandstone, granite, and Franciscan rock and by the sun’s heat averaging 90+ degrees in the summer. If the dry heat doesn’t get to you, then the winter nights averaging 33 degrees with frost risk just might. Growing grapes in these conditions are for the truly courageous or truly mad. Or both. But at night, the grapes ripen under a lake of stars while the moon reflects its silver in the oak trees’ leaves. The only traffic you hear is the crickets’ horns and the slight rustle of the trees. It’s the soul of the earth that inspires the vineyard and its caretakers to grow.

Before we could see the literal fruits of our labor, Mother Nature gave us another reminder of her command. In 1996, “The Highway 58 Fire” destroyed thousands of acres in our area. We were lucky- the fire claimed everything but our house and my Dad’s woodworking shop. Our community rallied many long days and nights with firefighters from all over the West Coast. Even Mom smothered red glowing embers with her shovel.

This was the moment when many would take the insurance money and let go of the dream. However, Dad’s motto in life is “No means find another way.” He replanted the vines (again, despite more heated protests from the naysayers) on soil that became richer from the embers. His determination proved successful. Eden Canyon Vineyards has produced grapes for wines that have picked up an accolade here and there. It must have something to do with the weather, the land, and the occasional fire or earthquake.

Dad still hasn’t grown a tomato plant. But try our wine and we hope you’ll agree that he’s doing all right with grapes.

Cheers,
Elaine Villamin

Danilo (Danny) Villamin Winemaker, Vineyard Manager, and Mad-Man at the Helm
Nieves Catahan Villamin The Real Farmer
(Edna) Vivian Villamin “Wine Researcher”
Elaine Villamin Winemaker, Thirsty Traveler, and Vineyard Pixie