2022 UNION — 15th Anniversary Vintage

Estate Grown | Windmill Ranch + El Camino Real Vineyard | Santa Ynez Valley
“Marriage in a Bottle.”

TUNION

Soulmates Are Not Found. They Are Forged.

Before there was a vineyard.
Before there was a tasting room.
Before there was a name worth putting on a bottle—
There were two people.
Two souls.
Two stubborn hearts staring down a world that wasn't about to hand them anything.

Gil Saarloos grew up fast.
Lost his father too young.
Thrust into a world that didn’t slow down for brokenhearted boys.

At thirteen, he packed whatever was left of his childhood into calloused hands and moved forward.
Working. Grinding. Hoping.
Crossing a country one dirty mile at a time, not chasing fame—
just chasing the chance to stand on his own two feet.

He landed in California.
Drank a glass of orange juice in the middle of winter.
Felt the sun warm his back and thought:

"If I can drink orange juice in the middle of winter... I'm a rich man."

He wasn’t talking about money.
He was talking about life.
About possibility.

About home.

Bertha came west too.

Not in comfort.
Not on wings of fortune.

She came jammed into a tired car, tires splitting under the weight of everything her family owned and the hope they refused to give up on.
Dust in her teeth.
Sun in her eyes.
Strength in her blood.

The road was cruel.
The odds weren’t in their favor.
But they made it.
Because that's what people built of hope and grit do.

They found each other in the everyday kind of miracle only real life knows how to write.

Not love at first sight.
Not fireworks and violins.

No—something harder.
Something real.

They didn't find each other already shaped and perfect.
They didn’t click into place like puzzle pieces pre-cut by fate.

They chose each other.
Day by day.
Year by year.

And in the choosing —
they forged something indestructible.

Because soulmates are not found. They are forged.

Forged like iron.
Forged like vines clawing their way through rocky soil, season after season.
Forged in work, in patience, in forgiveness.
Forged in showing up again and again even when the storms come.

Gil and Bertha didn’t just fall in love.
They built it.
They fought for it.
They protected it.
They shaped it with hands weathered by work and hearts worn soft by mercy.

They built a family the same way.

Two sons — Larry and Harvey.
A table that never got too full.
A home that stretched wide enough to fit anyone who needed a place to land.

Gil, who never really had a father, became one.
Bertha, who never had an easy road, made sure it was smooth enough for those who came behind her.

Together, they traveled further than anyone thought possible.
Flew across oceans when flying was still a thing you whispered about.
Crossed into East Germany when fear kept most people locked behind borders.
They danced.
They laughed.
They lived bigger than their circumstances.

But at the heart of it —
it was never about adventure.

It was about each other.

It was about family.

It was about building something that would outlive them,
something planted so deep it would bloom for generations.

THE WINE: UNION

When we made UNION, we weren’t just making wine.

We were bottling that same choice.
That same fight.
That same vow to stay.

We blend two distinct vineyards every year:

• Syrah from Windmill Ranch — fierce, wild, untamed.

• Cabernet Sauvignon from El Camino Real — steady, strong, timeless.

Two vines.
Two voices.
Two souls that, on their own, are beautiful—
but when forged together?
Something unbreakable.

Some years, the Syrah needs to roar.
Some years, the Cab needs to anchor the storm.

We don't chase consistency.
We chase honesty.

Because that's how real unions work.
You bend. You break. You rebuild. You grow.

You forge.

This wine is for them.
And maybe, if you’ve loved hard enough and long enough—
It’s for you too.

TASTING NOTES

60% Estate Syrah – Windmill Ranch
40% Cabernet Sauvignon – El Camino Real Vineyard

Big blackberries, wild cherry, cracked pepper, olive tapenade.
Dark cocoa, dusty tannins, cigar box, campfire ash.
Structured by Cabernet.
Set on fire by Syrah.
Layered, lingering, alive.

Smells like standing under an oak tree after a hot day.
Tastes like a story you don’t want to end.

PAIR IT WITH

• Steak, seared hard and kissed with salt

• Grilled vegetables, still snapping with smoke

• The person who still laughs at your dumb jokes

• An old wedding album

• A little bit of silence and a whole lot of appreciation

WHEN TO DRINK IT

2024–2052
Open it now, and raise a glass.
Open it later, and tell the story again.
Or save it for the day you need to remember what love can build.

ONLY 252 CASES MADE

That’s it.
One run.
One chance.

Like a good marriage—
There are no do-overs.
Only the work, the joy, and the miracle of choosing it every day.

WHY IT MATTERS

Because someone before you chose to stay.
Because someone before you built something from nothing.
Because every great thing you stand on today is built on someone else’s sacrifice.
And because if you’re lucky—you’ll get the chance to build something just as lasting.

This is more than wine.
It’s a monument.
It’s a time capsule.
It’s proof that love leaves a mark.

THE MISSION

We Live to Honor Those Who Have Come Before Us
And Prepare the Way For Those Yet to Come

This is UNION.
Fifteen vintages.
Fifteen vows kept.
Fifteen years of saying "yes"—again and again and again.

From our Plow to your Porch,
Keith Saarloos