Greetings All,

I am grateful for so many things in my life. Truly.

Sometimes, I admit, despite such good fortune, it is hard to remain firmly grounded in all of the beauty of my life, and this world. What tends to bring me back, more often than not, is Passion.

I've been lucky. When I was coming of age there were lots of friends and acquaintances in my Gen X community who were lost. They didn't really know what they wanted to do, or where they were headed. Many years passed and despite searching with a profound (and perhaps misapplied) sense of urgency, they struggled to come up with the “answers”. This only added frustration, and a bit of depression to their lives...

Me? I've always had lots of things I was passionate about. And those passions are what keep me alive: my heart racing, soul ever dreaming, mind captivated by idealistic notions of what-can-be, striving to make a difference and upend societal values that cause so much harm to an incomprehensible many, yearning to share life with someone truly special-- with a connection like no other.

This little winery encompasses many of those passions. That is what makes it so intense for me, but also so indescribably beautiful. I have been able to weave my love of crafting something with my hands-- something firmly rooted in the soil, and the cycle of the seasons-- with my artistic inclinations (winemaking and photography), social justice missions, and of course, watching the business grow while my beautiful boy grows in, and along side, of it.

Sometimes it feels like the success of Shoe Shine Wine // Justice Grace Vineyards is nothing short of a real-time referendum on my own deeply held joys and dreams. Of me, itself. I'm sure it feels that way for many family owned businesses across the world.

When I get a moment to come up for air, and a moment of peace to reflect, I realize that I will always continue to pursue my passions, whether the business achieves all that I had hoped, or not. Those passions are as much a part of me, as any part of my body. And they bring me so much of the joy I feel in this world everyday. I can only hope that you get just a glimpse of that from sharing a bottle of Shoe Shine Wine, or lost in thought while looking at one of the abstract winemaking photos. I tried to put it all in there.

I really did.