From House Hunting to Running a 315-Acre Winery

Living Your Legacy

Melanie and Jeff Caesar share their unexpected transition from searching for residential land to operating the 305-acre Rancho Victoria Vine

Key takeaways

• The vineyard purchase was accidental, stemming from a search for property to build a home.
• Jeff Caesar transitioned from a whiskey enthusiast to a fan of port and red wines like Grenache and Barbera.

Main topics

• Vineyard ownership
• Entrepreneurial pivots

Notable quotes

We weren't even looking to buy a winery. We were just looking for a piece of property to build a house on.

Conclusion

A compelling look at how passion and adaptability can turn an unplanne

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) We weren't even looking to buy a winery. We were just looking for a piece of property to build a house on. And somehow it led into this. Speaker 2 (0:08) You were not always a wine guy, right? You were actually not even a beer guy. I knew Speaker 4 (0:13) nothing about it. Speaker 2 (0:14) You were like a straight whiskey dude. Speaker 4 (0:16) I looked at her when she got that little question mark in her. I was like, are you out of your mind? And next thing I know, she's saying, how do you feel like running a 102-acre vineyard? And he said, well, I'll give it a shot. Speaker 1 (0:31) Melanie and Jeff Sessor are entrepreneurial, adventurous, and family-driven winery owners and the owners of Rancho Victoria Vineyard and Winery, a 315-acre estate in California's Amador wine country. What began as a search for a property to build a home unexpectedly led them into the wine industry. Speaker 3 (0:49) They say when you do what you love, you don't work a day in your life. I've Speaker 4 (0:53) said that. It's like, this does not work for me. It's stressful, don't get me wrong. Very stressful at times, but it's not work. You go in and you just love what you do. We Speaker 3 (1:03) share the same passion. Speaker 4 (1:05) Yeah. Speaker 3 (1:05) And we'll do anything to make it happen. Speaker 1 (1:10) It spans the globe like a super high school internet. Elvis, Brendan, I agree. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. Speaker 2 (1:20) It's not over until I win. The Speaker 1 (1:23) Living Your Legacy podcast. For those who live to leave a legacy. That's extraordinary. Speaker 1 (1:43) Hey, Speaker 2 (1:44) welcome back everyone to another episode of Living Your Legacy Podcast. I'm your host again, Jay Slangen. And thanks for joining us again down here at the Miami Beach Studios in our podcast room. And yeah, we get the pleasure to talk to some of the best entrepreneurs from around the country, the disruptors and experts from all different kinds of fields. And today for our Couples Empire podcast, We have a special guest with us today that have an amazing business. So why don't you guys introduce yourself? What's your name? Where are you guys from? And what do you do? Speaker 3 (2:13) I'm Melanie Caesar. Speaker 2 (2:15) I'm Jeff Caesar. And Speaker 3 (2:17) we're from Amador County. And we are the owners of Rancho Victoria Vineyard and Winery. Speaker 2 (2:22) Amazing. Winery. So I got this little happy... kind of sneaky smile on my face because I have been enjoying your wine, right? We all have. I know. Honestly, it's an amazing wine. And I'm not just being fake, but I'm being totally serious. It's something that I would definitely enjoy. So what have we been drinking today? Speaker 3 (2:43) Well, you've had a couple of things, actually. So we started out with our reserve cab, and then we switched over to our dessert wines. You tried the Mojo Legacy and the Little Secret. Speaker 2 (2:53) Yeah. Actually, so... They told me, hey, do you like ports? And I'm like, honestly, I don't because I had a port wine experience in Australia at a vineyard and I wasn't into it. Right. And honestly, since then, I really haven't had a port. But I said, well, you know, I don't really know. I haven't had a good port that, you know, so they introduced me to port and I'm sold. I'm a port guy. Thanks for being a trooper. Yes. So I'm a port guy now. We Speaker 3 (3:20) turned another one, honey. We're very proud of you. Speaker 2 (3:23) So talk to this. I had the pleasure of doing your episode. Right. And we had a great time. And so you guys kind of how'd you end up purchasing a vineyard? Oh, Speaker 4 (3:36) man, where do you start? Speaker 3 (3:38) Well, truth be told, we weren't even looking to buy a winery. We were just looking for a piece of property to build a house on. And somehow it led into this. Speaker 2 (3:48) That's amazing. So I hope when I look for a house, it kind of leads into that. And so, yeah, you guys discovered you. So you were interested in buying the house and then your real estate agent, the land. OK. And then the real estate agent was like, hey. The Vineyard Across the Street is also a Speaker 3 (4:07) segue. Real nice segue there. Speaker 2 (4:08) Yeah. And so you looked into it. First, there is a romanticism of like, hey, we can be vineyard owners, right? But then there's like the actuality of it, right? So between the romanticism, right, and the actuality, right, where's... Where everything hits the pan. Yeah. Speaker 3 (4:26) And everything in between, right? Yeah. Yeah. So initially we were looking at this 100-acre... piece to build a house on. Wow. Speaker 2 (4:34) A hundred acres. Yeah. That's no joke. A hundred Speaker 3 (4:37) acres and just rolling hills, beautiful, serene area. And it overlooks the vineyard. Speaker 2 (4:43) I saw the photos. It's a beautiful piece of land. Thank you. Thank Speaker 3 (4:47) you. It was love at first sight. We saw the property and we're like, this is it. This is where we want to build. This is where we could just see ourselves living out time. Speaker 2 (4:57) Yeah. And you were not. Always a wine guy, right? You were actually not even a beer guy. I knew Speaker 4 (5:05) nothing about it. You Speaker 2 (5:06) were like a straight whiskey dude. Speaker 4 (5:07) I looked at her when she got that little question mark in her. I was like, are you out of your mind? And next thing I know, she's saying, how do you feel like running a 102-acre vineyard? I said, well, I'll give it a shot. Speaker 3 (5:23) Yeah, so I need you to quit your job and come work the vineyard full time. Speaker 4 (5:28) And tried to juggle them both at the same time, but it didn't work, so I had to quit my