Midlife Crisis -- The Wine

Starting a winery probably ranks with owning a bed and breakfast at the top of many people's fantasy job lists. So if you're hitting significant birthdays and can make that fantasy come true, what do you name your new venture?

How about "The Midlife Crisis Winery?"

Here's how Jill and Kevin Mittan tell their story on the winery's website:

When we combined these passions (wines and winemaking) with all the associated midlife concerns about what we have done with our lives and dreams deferred, workplace stress, etc., and a booming real estate market in LA, the stage was set for us to start a winery.

... The incredibly hot real estate market in LA in 2004 brought everything together in a very short time. In less than 3 months, we sold our home, bought 22 acres on 46 EAST (in Paso Robles, CA), and started a winery. It was probably a very good thing we did not have time to stop and think or we might have chickened out! Our bond came through at the end of August and our first crush was in September, 2004 and second thoughts were not an option any more.

We still have to keep the day jobs for a while longer. We climb in the car after work every Friday with our two Australian Shepherds and the four of us drive to Paso Robles. We spend our weekends and free days at the winery or working on establishing the vineyard.

We hope you enjoyed this marketing effort and that you enjoy our wine. Life is really too short not to do something crazy and to chase your dreams. Watch us do something crazy and chase our dream. ENJOY!

They'd thought about starting a winery for a decade or more, so the decision wasn't as rash as it sounds. Winecountry.com wrote that they were "driven by the dream but grounded in reality." They told the writer "If we had been twenty and had our whole lives ahead of us, we might have thrown caution to the wind, but when you are staring middle age straight in the face, you get more cautious." They took courses at UC Davis, learned from other winemakers, and made wine in their garage for years.

But it's taking that final leap into the unknown that's the hard part -- and they should be congratulated for that!

Their food-friendly wines have already won awards, and the authors of "Great Boutique Wines You Can Buy Online" name them as one of their favorite California boutique wineries, saying that the Mittans "produce superb Pinot Grigio and Zinfandel."

If you'd like to find out for yourself what kind of wine a midlife crisis produces, they have a tasting room in Paso Robles (listed in WineCountry.com's "Top 10 Free Tastings") and are at events up and down the west coast (a list is on the website).

I hope that when I finally get a chance to sample their work, I'll find it "well-rounded," "mature," and "not worried about aging."