My path was simple: Follow your passion. Pour in your heart and soul. Settle for nothing less than excellence. And with enough hard work and faith in yourself, you can realize your dream.

My mother served me wine and water from the time I was 3 years old.

If you go back to the Greeks and Romans, they talk about all three - wine, food, and art - as a way of enhancing life.

Later, at Stanford University, I thought I'd become a lawyer or businessman, but my father came to me and said he thought there was a big future in the fine-wine business.

Ever since I was a child, I wanted to excel in everything.

My wife taught me the importance of living well.

I know that wine is, above all else, a blessing, a gift of nature, a joy as pure and elemental as the soil and vines and sunshine from which it springs.