And thus begins the next chapter of the Umbra Winery story… The two looked at each other and said, “Let’s go check it out!”. After numerous efforts at expanding their space in Grapevine, a flyer for a vineyard sale in Springtown, Texas arrived in the mail in the summer of 2016. Production continued in Little Elm but demands for more event space and wanting more control over their production, the two were struck yet again by a flash of serendipity. Sight unseen, but anxious to grab it as the wait list was long, the couple leased it, then took off on their cruise with the peace of mind they had finally found a “home” for their newly rebranded winery, Umbra Winery.īut the story doesn’t end there. 18 months of relentless searches led them to a shop on Main Street in downtown Grapevine that they found on the eve of a summer cruise vacation. Merely production and a small one at that, they investigated and decided “why not?”.Īs Debbie says her thought was if they went bankrupt, at least they could drink their sorrows away! John knew immediately the winery needed to be relocated from Little Elm to someplace with more foot traffic. He raised the idea with Debbie who had in fact been to the winery some years back. His search ranged from coffee shops to vending machines to home building… And eventually, he came across a small winery for sale named Crossroads Winery. They both fell in love with wine country and began a search for some land back home where they could recreate their vision.Īs marriage approached, John began searching for work locally and chemical jobs are not abundant in the DFW area. The vision of a vineyard and sunny Mediterranean days somewhat came to life when they visited Napa and Sonoma for the first time in 2011. John’s side of the family hails from Cefalu Sicily and Debbie grew up in the southern part of Italy. John, a chemical engineer in Longview Texas at the time, and Debbie a self-employed bank consultant knew they both had a love for Italy. The two hit it off and it wasn’t long before they were discussing the idea of marriage. John and Debbie met ironically at a wine tasting in 2010. Today we’d like to introduce you to John Wilson and Debbie Ray.
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