1. Now it's real...

          Today I signed a contract to purchase 10,875 grape vines for delivery in 2018. Prior to today, everything I have done regarding this project has just been ideas. Today my adventure transitioned concretely into real life when I signed on the dotted line. I ordered equal numbers of Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, Syrah, Tempranillo and Mourvèdre vines to be delivered in the spring of 2018 (apparently they have to grow them first or something?). I have linked a video below that gives a very basic explanation of how grape vines are grafted and grown in a nursery before they are shipped out to a vineyard to be planted.

          In January of this year (2016), I visited the Texas Davis Mountains (near Marfa, TX) for the first time. I had one question in mind. Was the climate there really as perfect for growing wine grapes as I had read about? The answer was a resounding yes! Before the trip I had thought of one day planting my own vineyard or starting my own winery, or both, but there was no certainty of where or when or how this would happen. After about half a day of driving up dirt roads to look at potential vineyard properties I had already made up my mind. I was going to plant a vineyard and I was going to plant it in the Davis Mountains of Southwest Texas. The dirt, the beautiful views, the clean air; everything smelled, looked and felt perfect.

          From the time I realized I probably wasn't going to be a professional soccer player (when I graduated high school and chose to go to a college that did not even have a soccer team) until this first trip to the Davis Mountains I had known that I wanted to do something I was passionate about, but I truly did not know what that thing was. I realized what I was going to do for the next 10, 20, 50 years when I was on top of a large hill at the edge of the Davis Mountains looking south; I could just see the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico about 50 miles in the distance. In that moment I felt simultaneously a great relaxation and a great excitement. My search for what to do was over.