Meet our small group of wine lovers who
have joined forces for your drinking pleasure…
Marc
Marc Girardet is a second-generation Swiss-American winemaker and engineer, having sampled grape juice from the press since 1982 (such a fine vintage!) and built his first steam engine at the age of 12.
He had played so much Atari that by 1994 the Air Force was ready to hire him as a computer programmer, until they suddenly kicked him out for being “Too Swiss!”
Upon his return to the vineyard he embraced a magical style of winemaking in the old traditional ways, and has since also turned the winery into an animal rescue farm.
When Marc isn’t in the vineyard or barrel room, he is usually pursuing his hobbies of aviation and motorcycles, or out hiking the rugged Pacific Northwest. He has been a private pilot since 2010 and survived a near-death experience during an emergency engine-out landing in his Cessna Cardinal on Interstate 5 near Roseburg in 2013. This led to the creation of his iconic Touchdown Red wine and he remains “The only winemaker who landed an airplane on the Interstate.”
Kristie
Kristie was an unemployed thoroughbred race-horse trainer who, as she describes it, literally wandered her way onto our vineyard property after a long, meandering journey from the Midwest. She promptly hassled Marc several times unsuccessfully for a job: “This is a winery, not the Kentucky Derby!” She is finally hired when he learns she is a professional belly dancer. “You’ll fit right in,” he says.
With Scottish in her bloodline she brings unicorn magic to the farm, and employs a very hands-on approach to tending the vines and all the vineyard creatures. We’re pretty sure she is raising a secret horse in the back-40 vineyard acres, we just haven’t discovered it yet! You’ll often find her ready to share a sample of our latest creation in the wine tasting room. Salude!
Francois
Francois lived his life with abandon; he lived with a passion few are blessed with. He came to live on our vineyard as a rescue animal, and even as only a 5 pound dog he took ownership of the property without hesitation – fearlessly patrolling the vines and partaking in whatever activities we had happening on the farm. In the end he left us to go to dog heaven much sooner than any of us expected, but knowing the firey passion of Francois we accept this and know that his time with us was a blessing for him and for us. He lived here and helped us in our vintages from 2012-2018 and we raise a glass in his memory, and encourage everyone to embrace a life well lived, and to “live like Francois.”