J. BRIX WINES | Escondido, California 

In their own words:

After tasting a bottle of Pinot noir grown and made in the Central Coast's Bien Nacido Vineyard, San Diegans Jody and wife Emily got their winemaking start as volunteer harvest interns there, and found they simply couldn't get enough of the dirty work. One dream led to another; J. Brix Wines is the unexpectedly felicitous result.

Jody's college and career background in horticulture translates to time and study in the vineyards; there's nowhere he'd rather be. A keen understanding of plant physiology provides insight into the way each individual growing season affects the vines, the fruit, and the wine. A keen intuition built on many years working with plants helps guide winemaking decisions, which vary from harvest to harvest based on the sum of the season.

He drives a lot.

Emily is fascinated by stories. Along the way, she's found herself caught up in one of her own. Every winemaking year provides a new and unscripted tale to tell, and as a writer and designer, she finds great joy in the translation: written, graphic and vinous.

She and Jody have come to view their lives in two phases: the one before they spoke those three little words ("Let's make wine"), and the one that has followed. Subsequent adventures have been more thrilling, and fulfilling, than anything she ever could have imagined.

Electric mayhem? Absolutely. Heartbreak? Occasionally.

In the fleeting moments, though, it's all nothing short of magical.