LOCAL MOM
pouring
into the family wine business
"The greatest challenge to running our wine business was finding a coastal city that understood that guests at a winery are not the same people who go to a standalone bar." —Maureen Coomber
The Wine Enthusiast recognizes local "95" winemakers with a high score of 95. The Wine
Enthusiast team of reviewers tastes more than 24,000 wines from across the globe every year, covering everything from France and Italy to California, Australia, South Africa, Argentina and beyond. We had the opportunity to chat with Maureen Coomber of Coomber Family Wines. She shares how she and her husband, Skip, are blending their love of wine and community into a growing family business.
QTell us a little bit about yourself.
Who are Maureen & Skip Coomber?
A: We've been living in North County San Diego since 1995. We are the parents of two daughters, 22 and 24. We are animal and wine lovers. We also love our daughters...and each other.
QWhy did you want to start your own wine business?
A: We invested in a winery in Santa Barbara
County and began making wine for ourselves. We made wine in the style we like — big and bold. We were able to purchase very good grapes and our wine turned out to be very highly rated. Our first rating was from Wine Enthusiast, which awarded it a 95. Bertrand Hug of Mille Fleurs and Bertrand at Mr. A’s really liked that wine and asked if we would allow him to sell our wine. So we got our California Alcohol and Beverage Commission “Wine Grower’s License” so that we could legally sell our wine to businesses and to individuals. As time went by we dreamt of being able to meet the people who were drinking our wine and we started looking for a place to open a wine tasting room. The coastal cities turned out to be pretty tough to work with, as they didn’t differentiate wineries 16
from bars. Fortunately, Oceanside found out we were looking for a location and asked that we locate in downtown Oceanside. They made it incredibly easy for us. Now, we get to be true hosts and welcome guests into our winery and tasting room.
QStarting a wine business sounds
very romantic. How did you go about getting started?
A: It all started because we grew to love wine after taking our first trip together to Napa. So when we had the opportunity to invest in a winery we didn’t hesitate. Our dreams have truly been answered with our winery, where we have live music on our safe, covered patio seven nights a week.
QWhat has been the best part
about starting & running your own wine label?
A: We have five different wine labels that we
designed ourselves. Seeing our wines in a store or on the menu in a restaurant was something that always made us feel great. But, ultimately, the best part is getting to pour our wine for our 350 wine club members. There is a great deal of effort that goes into choosing grapes, barrels, bottles, corks and capsules. There are many hard decisions to make. After all of that effort, sitting back and watching people truly enjoy your wine is sort of the coup de gras.
QWhat has been the greatest challenge of running your own wine business?
A: Finding a coastal city that understood that
guests at a winery are not the same people who MOMSTOWN • FEB 2021
