Kitchen Tastings - The Beginnings of Amista Vineyards

A Journey of Friendship and Wine…

…that started in our tiny kitchen

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, I'm excited to share a series of short weekly posts that take you behind the scenes, revealing memorable moments that have shaped our journey at Amista Vineyards.

In 2004, we officially launched Amista Vineyards. By late spring 2005, our initial wines were bottled and ready to share. However, we had a problem: we didn't have a place to offer tastings. While we were planning to build a winery and tasting room, we hadn’t received approval and wouldn't get the building permit until late 2006.

In what would become a repeating theme, we decided to convert a challenge into an opportunity. Friends, relatives, and curious wine enthusiasts had heard about our venture and were eager to try our wines. We decided to use our tiny kitchen for tastings, making sure we got the proper permit to avoid any issues (we were just beginning to discover that the wine business is heavily regulated). Whenever friends were in town, we’d invite them over to sample our wines.

One memorable evening, we met a couple, Wayne and Annette from Florida, at our favorite local restaurant. We invited them to a tasting the next day, bonding over our mutual love of wine and Shelties. They joined our wine club and have remained loyal members ever since, enjoying our wines over these many years.

Our kitchen became a hub of curiosity, drawing a steady stream of visitors intrigued by the prospect of wines produced by two former tech professionals with no prior experience in winemaking, running a small business or working side-by-side. To our delight, many of these visitors were pleasantly surprised. They didn’t just taste, they bought wine and joined our wine club.

The variety of people who graced our kitchen was astounding. We welcomed my folks from Arizona, several of Mike’s seven brothers and their wives, Mike’s best friend from Munich, colleagues from my consulting practice, local neighbors, and friends from across the U.S. and even a winemaker from France. It seemed that making wine and living in wine country attracted long-time friends and relatives to visit. This warm reception solidified our choice of the name Amista, meaning “it makes friends” in Spanish.

Those early days were a blend of fun, exhilaration, and challenges. What made it all worthwhile were the moments spent talking, tasting, and laughing with friends in our kitchen. To this day, gathering with friends, tasting our newest releases, and sharing stories continues to make this journey a dream come true.