The Secret of Success
Years ago, my son wrote a story about his grandfather for a school project. He said that his grandfather was going to be a millionaire one day because he would never give up; he would never quit.
My dad has had a lot of careers in his lifetime. The first one I can really remember was when he was building fences. I remember it because he built the fence around our house, and years later, when I bought my first house, he was there to help me build a fence around it. Then I remember him driving dump trucks with Pedroza Trucking painted on the doors with a cool cobra in the logo. The one bad thing about those dump trucks is that they were really good at destroying BB guns that had shot out the back window of our Vega station wagon.
When dad moved to Vegas, he worked as a singer at some of the casinos, and even sang with Debbie Reynolds at her casino a few times. I have some videos on my YouTube channel of him performing on a Fremont street stage near the Golden Gate casino as well. But dad really found his greatest success when he and a friend were musing about what to do with a small piece of land on. the west side of his house. They considered putting in a bocce ball court, but it was too short for that. As they sat there drinking their Pinot Grigio, the thought came to them to see if grapes would grow.
They did.
When they started looking at registering with the state of Nevada as a winery, the cost was prohibitive, so they started looking to neighboring states. Arizona, specifically Kingman, fit the bill. They found some property near several other wineries, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Those grapes from Vegas made the trip to Arizona, and now make up the Heritage Red Blend dad sells at the tasting room, along with other varietals and his signature "Clothing Optional" Strawberry and Grape wine.
The Little Old Wine Drinkers Winery is more than just a winery, it is something I have watched my dad build from the dirt up. He now has a bottling room, a tasting room, a storage facility, and a campground where Harvest Host campers can camp and enjoy some time in the vines. All from that small start in the Vegas house.
The thing is, dad started this when he was already in his 70s, and he is still going strong, working in the vineyard among the grapes, making and bottling the wine, and making sure the customers are entertained. And that prophecy his grandson put in that school report? It also came true, because dad never gave up on his dreams or on himself, and I am pretty proud of him as well.
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