Bottle Envy: Winery Owner Ramon Guerrero’s Meadowlark Vineyards

Creating great wine isn’t much different from creating great art, which is the way my family approaches winemaking at Meadowlark, our vineyard in Southern California. For our canvas, we chose what we think is the perfect plot of earth. We selected our grape varietals with the same attention to detail and subtlety as a painter might choose his color palette. Instead of paint brushes, our tools are fermentation, maceration, oak barrels, and time. Each year, the fruit dictates the unique characteristics of the finished bottle.

Like art, wines also have their critics. We’ve won a few medals, like the Dallas Morning News Wine Competition (Silver Medal), and the International Green Wine Competition (Silver Medal) for our Earth Friendly wines. Because we care about the environment and care about how our grapes are grown, we know our wines will taste better. We tend the vines by hand and harvest by hand to minimize our carbon footprint and protect our environment.

Pick up a bottle of our Limited Selection 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. Here’s what I taste: Rich, supple tiers of tobacco, vanilla and dark cherries with a soft, silky finish.

About Guerrero: My wife Sandra and I both grew up in Santa Barbara, California. When we first visited the Santa Ynez Valley, we fell in love with the area,  its people and, soon thereafter, its wines. When I graduated medical school, we moved to Galveston, Texas for my anesthesiology residency, I told Sandra it would only be for three years.  That was fifteen years ago.  Like raising our children, being in the wine business is a true labor of love.  We have three kids and thousands of baby grapevines. We can’t imagine living without either.

Meadowlark is a registered organic grower in California. You’ll find some of our wines at Whole Foods in Texas and can you can also order them though our Website, www.meadowlarkvineyards.com, (805)245-4768.