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Medal Wine. Gold Medal Families.
a taste of fine wine
Five years ago when Robb McKinney submitted his first bottle of wine for expert critique, he had no idea he would win a silver and a bronze medal fromtheAmericanWineSociety’samateurwinemakingcompetition. He also wouldn’t have guessed that by 2016 he would have amassed 16 medals
including several silvers and an international gold in this year’s Winemaker Maga- zine Competition, the largest of its type in the world with almost 3000 entries from 13 countries.
How did you get your start in winemaking?
After visiting a bed and breakfast in 2006, whose niche was winemaking, I started helping the owner who had learned from “the famiglia”. In 2010 I started making wine on my own, attending educational conferences and being mentored by other winemakersIhadmetalongtheway. NowIhaveawineclubofmyown.
Do you grow your own grapes?
No, we source them from Suisun Valley or Lodi, California (some from the same vineyard where Francis Ford Coppola sources his grapes.
How does winemaking tie in with your family dynamics work of coaching and advising families of wealth?
Wineneedsgoodrootstocktosucceed. Butgrapesgrowinadynamicterroir(ter- rain, climate, soil and tradition) that gives wine its unique aroma and flavor and also contributes to its success. Families too need that good stock but are also affected by a dynamic environment that gives them each their unique aroma and flavor for success.
So as long as you have good grapes you will have good wine?
It’s an essential starting point, but not necessarily. A lot happens after the grapes are picked. A vintner considers the grapes and his vision of the desired finished prod- uct. Withthisinmindhecandevelopaplanandmakeadjustmentsasneeded. We help families consider their own fruit--their intellectual, human, social, spiritual and financial wealth--and then help them develop a plan to maximize it.
This plan helps a family pinpoint their vision, values and goals so that they can not only work intentionally toward these themselves, but also share them with their other advisors (accountants, trustees, attorneys, etc.) and their family members so that everyone is on the same page—piloting the family toward their discovered, and sometimes undiscovered, place of most of most potential.
How do you help families define their vision, values and goals?
The answers are inside every family; we just ask the right questions to bring them out. TheUltimateDiscoveryExperienceTMleadsfamiliesintostrategicexplorationof whatisimportanttothem—forthecurrentandfuturegenerations. Havinguncov- ered and established these significant purposes affords a family a firm foundation for success.
Do you integrate hands-on winemaking into your practice?
We invite families to work alongside each other pressing grapes, racking and bot- tlingthewine. It’sfun,fellowshipandbondingwithagreatbonusattheend. Both of my passions are incredibly rewarding-gold medal families and gold medal wines.
Itsoundsinteresting. HowcanIlearnmoreaboutyourdiscovery experience. . .and get involved with the winemaking process?
You can visit our website to learn more about The Ultimate Discovery ExperienceTM or call or email us to check on upcoming winemaking activities.
Robb McKinney CFS, CLTC, CRPC® | 435 Swanson Lane, Wexford, PA 15090 724.940.6321 | Robb@BridgewaterValues.com | BridgewaterValues.com
Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Stratos Wealth Partners, Ltd., a registered investment advisor and a separate entity from LPL Financial.
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