A Colorado Winemaker is Born

The beginning of my Colorado winemaking career

I’ve been reading other winemaker’s stories lately. Particularly fascinating to me have been the beginnings and development of California winemakers such as Mike Grgich, Warren Winiarski, Merry Edwards and Paul Hobbs. As a passionate winemaker myself, their long lasting dedication to careers in winemaking and the wine business inspire me on my journey to craft the best Colorado wine in the Rocky Mountains.

In my research for more stories, I recently came across an interesting article by Cathy Huyghe. Cathy writes about the people, business and politics of the wine industry. This specific article was written for Forbes and is called, “The Most Important Question to Ask a Winemaker,” and got my attention immediately. She starts her article with a challenge and the inspiration for my blog, saying, “This gets my vote as the most important question to ever ask a winemaker: Ask them to tell you their story. And then ask them to tell their story… without mentioning the wine.” Cathy credits the idea to a colleague of hers, Dr. Damien Wilson, director of the Wine Business program at the Burgundy School of Business in Dijon, France.

So, this is the beginning of my story, the story of a Colorado winemaker being born…literally.

I was born Stephen Francis Flynn in Jersey City, New Jersey, one of two identical twin babies. My parents were working in Manhattan and living in Jersey at the time. They had both grown up on the north shore of Long Island, and we all moved back there shortly after my birth. The future looked bright and positive for my folks, being surrounded by family to help raise the babies and both having new higher paying jobs.

But, my mother was growing restless. She was uncomfortable during the hot, humid Long Island summers, and the constant growing noise of crowded Suburbia was weighing heavy on her peace of mind. It was time to make a drastic change. She desperately wanted to raise her boys in a quiet, peaceful place. A place that had cool summer nights. A place that had inspiring views far away from the concrete jungle that Long Island was becoming.

Such an place existed, and she found it: Tupper Lake, New York. A quiet lumber industry community in the picturesque Adirondack mountains of northern New York State. This is where she would plant her new family’s roots, and where I would become extremely passionate about the true loves of my life: Art, Food and Colorado Wine.