Aaron and I have stumbled through answering that question for the last several years.
Since we moved here and started planting grapes (4 1/2 years ago!!), we've always said we thought a name would just come to us and that through our experiences of living here and getting familiar with our surroundings that the name would earn itself. One day soon enough, we figured, a light bulb go off and we'd say, "that's it!"
But it didn't...
And it didn't...
...And it didn't...
Aaron and I would spend the majority of our car trips to visit his family in Wisconsin brainstorming winery names. He'd drive and I would take notes and jot down all sorts of different word combinations relating to our area, wine terms, adjectives.
Nothing ever really stood out to us that really seemed to resonate with us. The name is a big deal!
Until one day, we realized the name had been right before our eyes since the very beginning.
Anyone remember this post from nearly three years ago?! The Gentleman Farmer
You've noticed I have used this term throughout the years, but it wasn't until a year ago we really starting thinking about it for our wine. The wine we bottled last summer to hand out to friends and family and volunteers who came to help out during grape-picking, we decided to call "The Gentleman Farmer." We thought it was just a fun label name at the time, until we started getting all sorts of great feedback on the name. Fun, different, catchy, tells a story...
We have sat on it since then, trying it out for a while and it has stuck! Now that it has come around to filling out applications for the County, the State, and Federal, our LLC, etc., we've made it official.
We have sat on it since then, trying it out for a while and it has stuck! Now that it has come around to filling out applications for the County, the State, and Federal, our LLC, etc., we've made it official.
And if you didn't catch wind of our great news on our Facebook page last night, we got approval from the County for our Conditional Use Permit to start the winery! Wahooo! We were humbled to see several of our neighbors show up in support of us, and a few others who had written letters of support as well. What great neighbors we have! Overall, the meeting went very smoothly...just a few points of discussion, but nothing that took us by surprise. We still have a few more hoops to jump through and of course, a lot of work to get everything ready for opening next year, but getting through the county was a big one. We'll likely have several mini-celebrations as we tackle different stages throughout this developmental process.
Also, you may have noticed the blog has a new header. I thought it appropriate to celebrate the new name in our header and think this picture of Aaron and Axel's boots from last harvest season really tells a story and seems suiting to the name. Now that we've made it official, the marketing and branding will begin, so please bear with me in the meantime as I go through some make-overs and changes! Many of you have been following us since the beginning stages, so thank you for your support as you've seen us transition. This coming year will be the biggest transition of all! As always, I'll keep you posted!