Unfortunately, their venture was sideswiped by turbulence in the television industry, in which they both work, and the breakdown of the economy, which sealed their fate. The winery closes this weekend, and Jill and Kevin have been trying to clear out their existing inventory at bargain basement prices. Making it worse is the fact that they will not even be able to bottle what Jill considers their best Zinfandel – the 2007 vintage. Jill has written eloquently about their plight on the Midlife Crisis website,
www.midlifecrisiswinery.com. She writes of their 5 year labor of love, and the mixed emotions of ending this noble experiment.As a friend and a fan of the winery, my heart breaks for the Mittans. Their wines are excellent examples of the best kind of winemaking – handcrafted wines, made with love and passion and humor. One of their trademark wines was Roo Boy Red, named for their beloved Australian Shepherd, who passed away just a few weeks ago.
But to paraphrase Jill’s own sentiments, how many of us get to live our dreams, even if only for a short time? I wish them all the best for the future, and hope I get to taste that 2007 Zinfandel someday.
Midlife Crisis Winery: 1244 Pine Street, Suite A, Paso Robles; open Thursday through Monday 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m., until July 26th.Denise Lowe has been collecting and learning about wine for many years, and there is nothing about which she is more passionate. She is a certified Junior Wine Executive through LearnAboutWine (
www.LearnAboutWine.com), and is now teaching classes as a Senior Educator at LearnAboutWine. Denise also hosts guided, in-home wine tastings through WineShop at Home, a bonded Napa winery (www.denisemlowe.com).
Heard about this a few days ago. Very sad. Unfortunately, probably not the only winery we will see closing.
I would love to know of any wineries, or wine bars, on the "cusp" of closing…so that patrons can maybe (is this too wishful?) make a difference…
I will keep my eyes and mouth open during my visit to Paso.
Mike, dear, I need the dates of that visit – maybe we can meet up!