Impressive home vineyard/winery

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What would you do with a passion for winemaking with an unlimited budget?

Probably exactly what this guy did.
This guys started his own vineyard/winery as a hobby and detailed every single little aspect along the way. I don’t think there is one category this site doesn’t explain in amazing detail.
From staritng the vineyard, the winery build with architectural drawings, setting up with the latest equipment, progression of the lab testing over the years, the winery, cellar, etc...
Quite impressive. I found myself unable to stop reading through the site.
http://chateauhetsakais.com/
 
Loved it.

“We see ourselves progressing along the following steps: i) making wine, ii) making wine without basic faults, iii) making good wine, iv) making good wine that could be sold at a profit, v) making great wine and vi) making great wine profitably. If we are lucky, we may get to step v before 2030.”
 
Loved it.

“We see ourselves progressing along the following steps: i) making wine, ii) making wine without basic faults, iii) making good wine, iv) making good wine that could be sold at a profit, v) making great wine and vi) making great wine profitably. If we are lucky, we may get to step v before 2030.”

Glad you liked it. Figured it was interesting enough to post the link.
There was a lot I enjoyed too. The years invested until 1st vintage peaking/ winery design w/ each stage descending in height/ etc... But also how humble they are, with pointing out mistakes made and just a good grasp of what it takes to make a great wine.
 
Wow! That dude has spent some serious coin! A shame he can't grow grapes without mold issues. :p

Sounds like he's getting close to figuring it out. What a setup!
 
“We see ourselves progressing along the following steps: i) making wine, ii) making wine without basic faults, iii) making good wine, iv) making good wine that could be sold at a profit, v) making great wine and vi) making great wine profitably. If we are lucky, we may get to step v before 2030.”

I have done (i), (ii), (iii), and (v).

But which one can vary between years. Making a good wine from your own grapes is actually not difficult. Making a good wine from your own grapes, consistently, can be.

Which is why I am still seeking (iv) and (vi).

:)
 
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I googled where that property is. It is 2.2 miles from the house I grew up in. My bride of two years and I moved out of the Bay Area in 1986 because it was too expensive and traffic. The same holds true today.
 
What would you do with a passion for winemaking with an unlimited budget?

Probably exactly what this guy did.
This guys started his own vineyard/winery as a hobby and detailed every single little aspect along the way. I don’t think there is one category this site doesn’t explain in amazing detail.
From staritng the vineyard, the winery build with architectural drawings, setting up with the latest equipment, progression of the lab testing over the years, the winery, cellar, etc...
Quite impressive. I found myself unable to stop reading through the site.
http://chateauhetsakais.com/

An excellent find and website! Thanks for sharing.
 
Well the owner must have done pretty damn well for himself in life (assuming there is one majority owner).
Not a bad way to spend your later years— building a new winery and vineyard while sparing no expense- and working towards making the best wine possible with a little help from some friends and family? Sounds kinda perfect actually. :)
 
He had a lot of issues, fortunately ive killed all the 9 gophers that tried to get my vines with traps. As to spraying, no need as where i live i have next to no diseases that are running around getting vines. Ive spoken to a local winery thats been here over 50 years and they told me the few things i need to watch out for and what they typically encounter.
 
Yep, there was a news article just about a month ago that said if you make less than $117K you are considered to be low income in parts of the bay area today. LOL

I lived in Switzerland for almost a decade. Not exactly a "low cost country". But yet, I was jaw dropped when I check some of the costs of living in New York or the bay area.

What the heck is happening when it is cheaper to live in Zurich than NY? And especially when I had all the perks of living in Switzerland. Such as pretty much zero crime? Seriously. My auto mechanic use to leave the keys of my car on the front seat for me to pick up my car. Being born and raised in Los Angeles I was at first horrified by that act. I had no idea such a care free, crime free world was possible......

Despite that, I left Switzerland gladly. Excessive security, financial or otherwise, often comes with various forms of oppression, be that official or unofficial.
 
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Great article! I like this part:
"Economics: I want to use the latest techniques and technologies in the business if they can be applied to our small scale. This is an enthusiast’s hobby for which the only important financial decision at the outset was defining the diameter of the black hole."
 

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