I'll drink to that where we get behind the scenes of the beverage business.

I'm Levy Dalton.

I'm Erin Scala and here's our show today. Oh, Bruce Niers of Niers Vineyards and also Kermit-Linch Wine Merchant on the show and

back on the show. Hello sir, how are you? I'm just great, lovey. It's wonderful to be back here.

Nice to spend some time with you again. Nice to see you. Good. So around the early

90s you left Phelps. You joined Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant as a

national sales manager and you had designs on starting your own winery and vineyard

Yeah, I actually left Phelps with the intention of starting my own wine business with Barbara.

Barbara was working at Shepin East at the time,

but we had purchased a piece of land in Con Valley in 1984.

We developed it over the next three years or so. We were about to get our first

crop off of that vineyard in 1992.

And the plan for me was to simply leave Phelps,

make my own wine.

I had worked out an arrangement with Herner Rumbauer.

He was going to Lisa Space.

And from a financial standpoint, while I knew it was going to be a bit of a struggle to get it started,

it made long-term sense to do it and Barbara had mentioned something to Alice

Waters about it right after the announcement was made public enough that she could in comfort tell Alice.

And Alice, ironically, was having dinner with Kermit that night in San Francisco at the old Moss's restaurant and

Alice mentioned something to Kermit about it. Kermit got up and used the phone in the restaurant I guess called me at home.

I answered the phone and he said well don't do anything I've got a great idea and it turned

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