Growing up
in Kokomo, In., and earning a management degree at Purdue University seems an
unlikely path to a successful boutique winery in California's Sonoma Valley.
But Erik
Miller has achieved the unlikely career path with the success of Kokomo Wineries,
named after his Central Indiana hometown. It's a story of two Purdue roommates
and a fourth generation Sonoma grape grower combining their passion.
"I had
a buddy who moved out to Sonoma County when we were at Purdue," Miller
said. "I came out and visited him and just fell in love with the place. It
was really weird for a guy from Indiana to come to San Francisco and all you
have is public transportation. Then I saw Santa Rosa and thought it would be
big enough to support a career and still small enough for me to fit in and be
comfortable."
Miller talking about his winery earlier this year. |
He accepted
an offer to do harvest work for a California winery. "That's how I became
passionate about wine," he said. "I worked with grapes in the outside
and watched the winemaker working. I put all my effort then toward that career
- being in the wine industry."
Miller's
love for Kokomo made naming the winery easy. Working with his college roommate
Josh Bartels and grape grower Randy Peters gave him a team to direct the
winery's success. He also thinks being a Hoosier has its advantages.
"I
think there is one thing we have in the Midwest and it’s this stereotype that
we're hard workers," Miller said in the modest winery offices. "That
has been a connection with me and Randy and some of the other farmers out here
that we're down to earth, salt of the earth kind of people."
Peters, on
the other hand, is a fourth generation farmer. His family produced fruit and
wine grapes for decades. "We didn't have much money growing up,"
Peters said. "We were growing fruit and wine grapes but working on a low
margin. My dad had a second job."
Peters
credited Miller's hard work and integrity for their 'handshake contract' and
shared success. "The honesty and integrity of Midwestern people is
true," he said. "Growing up here I've always had a passion for raising
the fruit but now I can see the end result."
Growing up
Peters would watch the family harvest be sold off to very large producers and
dumped into 10,000 gallon tanks with fruit from all over the region. Now his
grapes to go vineyard designate wines that represent his work as well as the
winery.
Miller
makes wines widely available in the Midwest. His Cabernet Sauvignon is a big
fruity but well-balanced wine that can be found in many wine shops.
"Maybe
people will try the wine because the name is comforting too them," Miller
said. "We don't spend extra money on the showboat things, the tasting room
and winery but we will not take shortcuts on the equipment it takes to process
grapes. We use the best oak we can buy, and make sure we're sourcing the best
possible grapes."
Miller may
have Midwestern industrial roots growing up in Kokomo but his wines have been
lauded by the biggest competition in the world, The San Francisco Chronicle's
annual wine contest.
Note: In four years
I've not done a two-part column. But if you want to learn a lot about wine,
talk to a winemaker. Next time Miller will talk about some of his wine-making
philosophy.
Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com
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