The new year is already a few weeks old and most people have already finished all their reflections, given up on their New Years resolutions, and figured out dry January isn’t that great. For us, this week marks one year from starting this journey.
Every year around this time, the wineries, growers and industry related vendors all gather in Grand Junction for VinCO. It’s a great time to connect with others, learn something new, and tell stories over a glass or two. It was this time last year that I had a conversation that would change the course of our lives… maybe that’s putting it a bit dramatically, but it’s nonetheless true. And it all started by asking a simple question “How are things going?” The response of “Well, we’re thinking about selling our Grand Junction property” caught my attention instantly. I have known the previous owner of our property for years and didn’t realize he even had a vineyard in town, so I asked what the property was like. He gave a brief description of 7 plus acres, with a metal building that had a tasting room, production area and two bedroom apartment, and vines in need of some TLC. It all peaked my interest so I told him, “If you’re thinking about selling, we’re think about buying.” We made arrangements to meet up at the property later in the week.
Of course, then I went home and had told Casey, with some hesitation, “So… I might have told someone we were interested in buying a vineyard, and that we’d meet him out there day after tomorrow.” Fortunately he accepted it in stride and didn’t call me crazy, at least not out loud. We went and looked at the property, for me it was love at first sight. I could easily see us raising our family, growing vines and making wine.
The whole process was a mix of whirlwind and slow motion. We talked with the owner, saw the property, prayed a lot and felt strongly this was what we were supposed to do. We both got confirmation of the direction we needed to go all in that first week. Then we started talking to banks, looking at business loans, talking to friends who had been there, done that, and things slowed down tremendously. It took almost 6 months for us to figure out all the financing and close on the property. Yet now, it’s a year later and it’s been a blur. Those 6 months of waiting and wondering if we would actually be able to make it happen, feels like nothing. This year, as we face some pretty big financial hurdles, I am confident we will overcome them and in a year from now look back and see they weren’t nearly as high as we thought.
Never underestimate the power of a simple question.