ISSUE #1: William Bitner Browne

People never cease to inspire and fascinate me. Each day I come into contact with familiar and new faces and find that every individual has a fresh perspective to offer. Most of the pleasure that I derive from travel is the forced upheaval of my mindset. The abrupt distinction from what I have come to know and what I have yet to learn. I find that people have this same tendency; the more people I meet, the more I realize how each impacts and alters my life in a positive manner.

The most influential person I encountered was my late grandfather, William Bitner Browne.  His integrity, hard work ethic, and zeal for Bordeaux varietals ignited my own passion for winemaking. Through my grandfather’s stories of studying at the University of Bordeaux in France and his memories from World War II, I have developed a great respect for his generation. To this day, I find myself in the midst of people who have both a compelling personal history as well as a reverence for history itself. I feel the need to share their stories, just as I celebrate my grandfather’s. I aspire to learn from and emulate “The Greatest Generation.”