Wine Trail Traveler Keeps It "All In the Family"

A syllogism in the wine industry might work like this: Many small businesses are family businesses. Many wine-related businesses are small businesses. Therefore, many wine-related businesses are run by families. This statement is true enough, especially if you've read the recent examples provided by the Wine Trail Traveler newsletter.

The publishers wrote a nice article about the many examples of intergenerational involvement with wineries, vineyards and hotels. Mothers and sons, fathers and daughters work side by side to create authentic products and services in limited quantities. Luckily, a couple of Colorado vino-related businesses made the cut. Under the headline, "Families Creating Together," Wine Trail Traveler wrote:

"After visiting numerous wineries of all kinds, we discovered that a number of the wineries have a common theme of parents and children. In some cases, children became interested in the many aspects of the wine industry from helping in the vineyards to working in the winery or tasting room. We would like to take a moment to honor many of those wineries that have a lifestyle that the future generations appreciate."

"Balistreri, in Colorado, is owned by John Balistreri, winemaker. His daughter, Julie, also makes wine and deals with the business end of the winery. As we spoke with John and Julie, we became aware of the love and respect for each other. Julie watches out for her father and knows where he is and he is doing. John's son, while not involved at the winery, is an artist and professor at Bowling Green. He provided the sculptures seen in the landscaping."

Later in the article, the Wine Country Inn is mentioned:

"Although not a winery, Wine Country Inn in Palisade, Colorado, does have 16 acres of grapes. Wine made with their grapes and bearing the Wine Country Inn label are produced by their next door neighbor [Grande River Vineyards]. The Inn is new on the scene and provides a delightful stay for visitor. Wine Country Inn was built by Jean and Richard Tally. Their daughter Anne is deeply involved with the inn and supportive of her parents and the inn."

"After visiting more than 300 winery and vineyard tasting rooms and meeting so many wonderful people, it has been difficult to decide which wineries to mention in this newsletter... One of the purposes of Wine Trail Traveler is to make people aware that visiting wineries is fun, enjoyable, and if they don't visit wineries, they are missing an experience as well as some great wine."

You can read the rest of the newsletter here.