Today we’d like to introduce you to Akash Patel.
Akash, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Roughly 20 years ago, my father created this vision/dream that he would love to have a vineyard, winery and some sort of lodging altogether. My parents and I come from the hospitality industry, mom and pop hotels to be exact. As he set this vision out, he brought home a painting of a vineyard and put it up on a wall and told us and everyone one day we will have this.
Over the next ten years, we searched for land in Temecula coming to the valley countless times. We finally found the right piece of land at the right time and price. So we took a chance on 20 acres of just dirt with no vineyards, building or established business. We immediately started developing the property by grading, bringing infrastructure in and planting the vineyards. Over the next few years, we learned how to farm and what It took to create a great crop. We did everything internally from the vineyard management, developing the plans to submit to the county and create my dad’s dream. After nine years of learning, creating and executing with plenty of setbacks for any family to give up, we finally opened our doors two months ago officially where we do everything from farming, producing our wines on site and have a tasting facility. We have also been approved to develop our bed and breakfast/resort in the future. We run the entire business on the day to day as a family Ran business and take great pride in creating a brand with respect.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There has been plenty of struggles to create a book on! Dealing with the county and other governing agencies to develop and build has been no easy task. We have hit a lot of brick walls and just had to figure out how to overcome them. With the property having no infrastructure like water, power, sewer it took a lot of time, planning and money to figure everything out and have it all approved.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Akash Winery and Vineyards story. Tell us more about the business.
We a vineyard and winery. We grow Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, petite sirrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet franc. We farm everything in house and produce all of our wines on site with our head winemaker Renato Sais. We are very known for creating award-winning wines across the board but if we had to pick our most popular wines are our Rose, Zinfandel and our red blend. As a company, I am most proud of what our family went through to get to this point. It’s no easy task and to overcome all the hurdles and have the reputation we have it’s very humbling and satisfying to know we could possibly be the next biggest thing to Temecula if we keep our head down and work towards our life long goal of creating a brand with respect. I think what sets us apart from others in the valley is you will always see myself at the winery working and getting my hands dirty to greeting and serving guests. My parents often come to the property to do the same thing. We love this environment and Love what it has given us.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck is a funny term because people may not believe in it but I believe if you work hard and put your head down and work towards a common goal luck will come with a vision and passion. Of course, you will get unlucky and fail but failing is a huge part of learning and becoming successful. I always say fail fast and then I can learn and succeed quickly.
Contact Info:
- Address: 39730 Calle Contento Temecula CA 92591
- Website: www.akashwinery.com
- Phone: 7143069966
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Akashwinery
- Facebook: Facebook.com/akashwinery
- Twitter: Twitter.com/akashwinery
- Yelp: Yelp.com/akashwinery
Image Credit:
Temecula valley wine growers association, Temecula life, Astray photography
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