Love on the Vine

Wine is entangled in the world of amore, often revered (and occasionally impugned) for its role in lust, passion, desire and love, sweet love. We love to drink wine; we drink wine to make love. It is romantic and erotic, and we lap up every last drop of heart-on-our-sleeve courage that it lends to our eager mouths. But some of these love stories started long before the popping of a bottle, and we are simply the lucky heirs to their bottled romance. Here are a few stories of passion-driven wine-makers who beat you to the punch-drunk-love. —Laura Starr

le vieux pin & lastella. Saeedeh and Sean Salem set out in the early 2000s to build an Okanagan winery paying homage to old-world wine design but, when this husband-wife duo had to decide between her amore of Italian style and his amour of French, they chose instead to diverge and open two sister wineries, Le Vieux Pin (for him) and LaStella (for her). We <3 Le Vieux Pin Ava (Viognier/Roussanne/Marsanne), $35 (private or winery direct).

donkey & goat. The love story behind Jared and Tracey Brandt is emblazoned in the name of their Mendocino winery, Donkey & Goat. In France, donkeys are used for vineyard management but, to counteract their capricious nature, they are paired with a goat to keep them in check. Jared is the donkey, Tracey is his goat, and together they are making some of the best natural wines coming out of Cali. We <3 Donkey & Goat Perli Syrah, $63 (private).

soto y manrique. Spain is a featured country at the upcoming Vancouver International Wine Fest, and this Rueda-based winery is a passion project by husband and wife Jesus Soto and Maria Manrique (note how both last names are represented!), who branched away from years of experience in commercial wine to make terroir-driven products grown on their homeland. We <3 Soto y Manrique Naranjas Azules Rosé, $25 (private).