Encore Careers and Family Satisfaction – More Reasons to Grow Wine Grapes in El Dorado County

When we first started this line of questioning among the members of the El Dorado Wine Grape Growers Association, the ready answers were those that you’d expect from those who have been farming as a family enterprise for some time.  But here below are some other views, from grape growers who looked at the prospect of “encore” careers – careers for the next stage of their lives.

Don Lahey, Kingsgate Farms, has been rewarded beyond his expectations… but cash is not the motivator.

“I certainly had no clear cut plans to grow wine grapes when I bought my property 20 years ago. There were a few things I knew: I didn't want to live in the Bay Area any longer, I liked the Foothills area and thought gardening would be a fun retirement activity. Little did I know how much work a vineyard would become, especially when almost all of the work would be done by me.

“The rewards have been more than I expected.

“There are constant challenges to growing grapes that keep me connected to daily weather, best practices and networking with neighbors and fellow farmers. The money we make is nice but it's not a big issue - it's not why I get outside every day regardless of the weather.

“Oddly, I'm not at all interested in the end results of the grapes. I don't drink wine but I certainly like the way the vineyard looks. I guess it's an extension of the past 40 years I spent in the product design business. I had a passion for design, and still do. There's a satisfaction in creating a graphic pattern with the vineyard that is pleasing every time I look at the grape rows.

“This life style sure beats sitting on the couch with a TV clicker in my hand,” Lahey said.

Early days in the Baiocchi Vineyard

Greg Baiocchi followed his heart from careers in business, music and skydiving to  El Dorado wine grape growing in El Dorado County.  Together with wife Sharon, he created Baiocchi Family Vineyards;  their first vintage was 2009.  Greg’s reason for starting a family vineyard is short, sweet, and resonates with so many other grape growers:

 “Passion, Passion, Passion to farm winegrapes that will craft premium wines, the kind of wines that I had become accustomed to drinking,” said Baiocchi.

 Paul Bush of  Madroña Vineyards enjoys a benefit that quite a few El Dorado wine grape growers mentioned – time with his spouse.

Paul and Maggie Bush and their children

“The ability to work with my wife, Maggie, every day is one of the highlights of owning a family business. The final decision is ours, both with the benefit and the risk. When a person tastes one of our wines, we have a sense of ownership from the grape to the final product. There are few businesses in this world as diverse and fully-integrated as the wine industry. And the ability to work in the vineyard in the morning, the winery in the afternoon, and then enjoy our own wine at the nicest restaurant in town that evening is an amazing feeling,”  Bush said.