First Crush featured in Detroit Examiner

by: Chris Kassel, Detroit Examiner
August 9th, 2010 12:26 pm ET

First crush; remember her?  Or him?  (Or it?—stuffed animals count.)

Mrs. Terrace’s kindergarten, the Rossi twins, can’t recall their first names—they no doubt rhymed—but  what I do remember is that they sported those virginal little white patches that ophthalmologists use to treat wonk eye; one wore hers on the left eye, the other on the right, and it was the right-eye twin that got to me.  Who knows why—does anybody really understand pre-school sexuality, or, for that matter,  post-school sexuality?

All I know is, to this day I have a thing for one-eyed women.

By the very nature of the love beast, a first crush can only happen to you once in a lifetime, but out in California, the term takes a different spin.  A pair of Paso Robles wine fanatics, Becky and Lowell Zelinski, had such a knockout personal experience with winemaking a few years back that they decided to take the show on the road.  Lowell, with a doctorate in soil-plant-water relations from the University of California Davis (who knew such a degree even existed?) and Becky, with a degree in communications from California State University Bakersfield, have both the smarts and the people skills to get the job done.  It also doesn’t hurt that they have a vineyard management company called Precision Ag, and thus, access to numerous vineyards up and down the Central Coast—an area that accounts for 15% of California’s wine grape production.

Excerpt from the SLO City News, Sunday, August 12-18, 2010:

Becky Zelinski and her husband, Lowell, share wine grape growing, harvesting and winemaking information with their customers in the best possible way, right in the vineyards and winery, through their First Crush winemaking experience.

Q: First Crush is a great way to make some wine country memories beyond the tasting room, let’s start with your memories of the first harvest you worked. How did it all unfold?

A: Having lived and worked in viticulture for several years, my husband and I finally got the bug to make our own wine. We picked enough fruit from a customer’s vineyard to make one barrel of wine (or so we thought).  We took it home and crushed, fermented and pressed it. We quickly discovered that making garage wine is not only challenging and probably impossible for most people – but it’s also expensive making small lots of wine. We even
had the luxury of being able to call all of our winemaker friends in the area and ask questions, borrow supplies, etc. My husband jokes that our first wine probably cost us about $100/bottle to make!

Nonetheless – we had a blast. The entire winemaking process is fun and interesting, but the best part is picking the fruit in the vineyard. Fall is my favorite time of year and I think the most beautiful season in wine country. I’m a photographer so I photographed the entire process, then turned my photos into a slideshow that I shared with family and friends via email. We started receiving numerous replies from people begging for the opportunity for this type of the experience.  This is how First Crush was born....

BY ANN TATKO-PETERSON
Reprinted from the Contra Costa Times
October 9, 2009

Custom winemaking for the general public is not exactly a new experiential travel opportunity. But few of those experiences allow participants to be hands-on in every facet, from harvesting to bottling and tasting.

Lowell and Becky Zelinski set out last year to turn First Crush Winemaking Experience in Paso Robles into a vine-to-wine educational adventure.

The husband-and-wife team had been in the vineyard management and consulting business since 2003. Their access to vineyards made it possible in 2007 to take 14 friends to pick grapes and begin making their own wine. They realized they had stumbled onto a great business opportunity.

Interview by Dave Wilson
Grape Encounters Radio.com
October 4, 2009

Listen to an interview with Becky Zelinski as she explains how the First Crush Winemaking program works.

Listen to interview