There is life after wine: These guys prove it

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As the economy continues to affect the California wine industry, there is a prevailing feeling of dread among industry analysts and producers; a recent report by Silicon Valley Bank, a major investor in vineyard properties, suggests that as many as 10 vineyards and wineries in the Napa Valley alone are likely to be sold under distressed circumstances this year; in a survey accompanying the report, 7% of the region’s producers considered themselves to be in dire financial shape.

Michael Havens, shown above, Mat Garretson and John Buechsenstein and were unfortunate enough to be on the leading edge of that trend. Each had built a small, high-quality winery from scratch only to have it falter in the new economic reality; each has had to face seeing wines they crafted selling for dimes on the dollar at discounters.

Yet, happily, each man, to varying degrees, can testify to the fact that there is a life in wine that comes after. Read more here.

Michael Havens checks his grape quality in the vineyards of Carneros.