CITIZEN

ou may notice that the “Citizen” name holds the paperwork of a Enlistment Record.
This is by design. My great grandfather received his Citizen paperwork almost 7 years after he enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight in World War 1. This fact became apparent to me after starting at these documents for over an hour. I thought back to a time when such things could take place. How you could walk through life without a digital or even a physical copy of your place in the world. How you could sign up to fight in the Great War without so much as a scrap of paper to prove what side you were even on. How Character was the representation of who you are. How your actions defined your commitment. This design choice was in honor of that time.

This wine is one of 3 Syrah’s we have released this year. It all comes from the same vineyard and was all picked on the same day. Furthermore, these vines are genetically identical. The vines are Clones of each other. Cuttings were taken and replicated over and over. Genetically they are all one vine just planted in slightly different locations. These 3 wines are from 3 different hillsides.
The Honorable is from the Little Boy Terrace the furthest and steepest of the hillsides comprising only 16 rows. The Citizen is taken from the FatMan terrace located lightly north comprising 24 rows cascading along the hillside. And Finally, the Enlistment coming from the High Hill the furthest most hillside at the entrance of Windmill Ranch and Vineyard.

Think of these 3 locations as a timeline in someone’s life. Genetically you are the same person in 3 different locations along your path. This term in wine is called Terroir or “land” in french.  It is the set of all environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices, and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these contextual characteristics are said to have a character; terroir also refers to this character. — Each of these wines is distinct and different. Because of their location and association with each other….

This is an expression of Character.

We save everything that seems important. This year as i was working my way through some documents I came upon a small envelope containing some very old pieces of paper. I gently slid them out to reveal 3 documents from my Great Grandfather Rykman Wichers. I slowly unfolded them to reveal:

His certification of Citizenship of the United States - 1925
His Enlistment Record - 1918
His Honorable Discharge from the United States Army. - 1919
Each of these pieces of paper in their own right are amazing.
The Penmanship, the Color, the Smeared Ink, The Embossments, The History.
But as I looked deeper into them I saw deeper into who my great grandfather was. It states that he was a proud 5’4 and 22 7/12 years of age upon his honorable discharge on February 8 1919. That he was in Good physical condition served at Camp Dodge Iowa and was paid in full $66.80 Moreover he received his certificate of citizenship after he served in the united states army by way of naturalization by being a minor when his father came to America Dec 17, 1896.

That his Occupation was that of a Farmer.
And way down on his enlistment record, I see his signature.

As I sat there looking at these pieces of paper laid out in front of me I thought for a moment. These are not only proof that my great grandfather was alive but tells an interesting story about him. That he enlisted while he was a farmer in Orange City Iowa while WW1 ragged on. That he was Honorably discharged on the 4 days after the great war came to an end.
And finally, he never held a piece of paper that said he was a citizen of these united states until 7 years after the war at close to 30 years of age.
These documents are proof he lived and who he was.
It is amazing in these times of email and digital footprints that the real proof of someone’s existence are a few old photos that hopefully have, words, dates, names, and locations written on them.

We take it upon ourselves in our family to follow our family creed :

We live in order to: Honor those that have come before us + to prepare the way for those yet to come.