I have been away from this site for a while, mostly because my life has changed almost completely in the last year. I am still making my own beer at home, I am still married, I still have my three loyal dogs, but other than that everything has changed.
My career took a little bit of a detour and I went from being a warehouseman for the coffee roaster of the year, to being an award winning roaster for the same company. Then my wife and I realized that our dream of moving from Washington state to Texas was slowly slipping from our grasp, so we put our focus on that. Six months ago, we either sold or packed up everything we had and blindly moved to Texas. Within a week I had the job I have been looking for. I am now the Assistant Winemaker for Inwood Estates Winery in Dallas, TX.
I started work on July, 17th, and before I knew it I was in the midst of harvest, crush, press, etc. I went into the job with the understanding that I will be learning the trade in order to start my own winery in the future. I am lucky in the fact that I am Apprenticing under one of the (if not the) best Winemaker in Texas, Dan Gatlin. This year, with his supervision, I made every drop of the 2010 vintage. Processing 68 tons of grapes and turning them into $30-60 bottles of wine. Now Dan is helping me prepare to plant my own grapes in April, 2012, and I am running the Dallas winery on my own (he runs the one that is 2.5 hours south).
I have officially restarted my life. I didn't do it to escape a bad life or anything, in fact I loved my life there. I did it to follow my dreams. Any questions?
My career took a little bit of a detour and I went from being a warehouseman for the coffee roaster of the year, to being an award winning roaster for the same company. Then my wife and I realized that our dream of moving from Washington state to Texas was slowly slipping from our grasp, so we put our focus on that. Six months ago, we either sold or packed up everything we had and blindly moved to Texas. Within a week I had the job I have been looking for. I am now the Assistant Winemaker for Inwood Estates Winery in Dallas, TX.
I started work on July, 17th, and before I knew it I was in the midst of harvest, crush, press, etc. I went into the job with the understanding that I will be learning the trade in order to start my own winery in the future. I am lucky in the fact that I am Apprenticing under one of the (if not the) best Winemaker in Texas, Dan Gatlin. This year, with his supervision, I made every drop of the 2010 vintage. Processing 68 tons of grapes and turning them into $30-60 bottles of wine. Now Dan is helping me prepare to plant my own grapes in April, 2012, and I am running the Dallas winery on my own (he runs the one that is 2.5 hours south).
I have officially restarted my life. I didn't do it to escape a bad life or anything, in fact I loved my life there. I did it to follow my dreams. Any questions?
