McGregor Vineyard Blog- the distinction

Blunt honesty: I'm still not sure what all this blogging is about and what the best approach is, so I've created another blog! Visit www.mcgregorwinery.wordpress.com as the "real" McGregor Vineyard blog. This blog will serve as a supplement of sorts to the "official" blog or visa versa depending on what you're looking for...I want to start telling our (my) story, from a completely biased viewpoint here on this blog. I'll use the other for keeping you updated on what's going on (or will be going on) at McGregor Vineyard. Let's get going!
First, check this out...a few of the first taken of the land Bob and Marge McGregor purchased with the help of David and Libby Stewart. Early Picutres. So, this is how it began...or so I've been told.

My parents, Bob and Marge McGregor, had a keen interest in wine back in the 1960s. Having recently moved to Rochester, NY, there were few local places to visit that actually had grapes and actually made wine. One such place was very inviting from day one...Bully Hill Vineyards the brainchild and love of Walter S. Taylor. Walter was the "Johnny Appleseed" of hybrid grapes in the United States and I will humbly declare right now, was the "Robert Mondavi" of the Finger Lakes...I'll write much more about Walter as time goes on. Suffice it to say for the time being, Walter was an incredibly dynamic, influential and addictive personality. He had a club of sorts for people who enjoyed his wines and wanted to stay connected to his winery and back in the 196os that's exactly what my parents wanted to do.

Each year, Walter held debaucherous evening events for those on his mailing list. On one such evening, my folks drove down to Keuka Lake from Rochester and attended one of his dinners. As the evening wore on, Walter's devilish side appeared and he non-chalantly gave my father a cork puller to open the next bottle of wine. After wrestling with it for a few moments, it became clear to my father that he couldn't so much as open a bottle of wine. It turns out, that the cork pull was a "left handed" cork pull (perfect for me, a lefty, devistating to a righty...ha ha ha) and he just about destroyed the cork. Anyway...at some point in the evening, Walter shared his vision with my father...Walter believed that the Finger Lakes (Keuka Lake?) would/should be dotted with family vineyards and wineries in the future. This stuck with my father...

Let's back up for a minute and put it in perspective: My father worked for the Government Systems division of Kodak, had three daughters all about one year in age apart, and had a loving housewife, Margie. In the late 1960s, Kodak was laying people off right and left (what's changed?) and my dad was worried. What if, what if? So, when Walter, in an elated moment of drunkeness, shared his vision with my father, it impressed on him and he wanted to be part of that vision!

He went back to his usual routine, and headed off to work. Sometimes he liked to visit a wine shop near Kodak on his lunch breaks. Shortly after his experience with Walter, he was in the wine shop on a lunch period. For whatever reason, he talked to the store owner about his evening with Walter. Apparantly, my father had a sparkle in his eye and a twinge to his voice. Later in the day, another regular visitor to the wine shop visited and for whatever reason, the store owner felt the need to share my father's enthusiasm with him...Dr. David Stewart. David was interested. Literally, out of the blue, David gave my father a phone call. Are you really interested? What do you need? I'm interested! Let's figure this out!

And so it began.