we retired full-time and found our property where we live now.” They began constructing their new home, and that is when Wornick met Gibson. “In the course of the construction project, hundreds of sub-contractors have come through the property,” said Wornick. “Only a small number of people, I’d say five or six, have stayed in my memory, and Gibson is one of them. He is very creative and resourceful, and I realized there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do, in the broadest sense.” What started out as one large home soon became nine buildings. “The house was going in, and we decided to put in grapes for landscaping so we would look like we have always been here,” Wornick recalled. “We had no intention of making wine professionally. We started to make wine for the family and let the grandkids stomp grapes. We got to know people in the wine business like Robert and Margrit Mondavi. One day Margrit said to me, ‘There is something going on in your glass of wine.’ That awakened me to the idea that we are sitting on some interesting terroir. After all, we were right in the middle of some the best wines being made. Why should our property be any different?” Wornick upgraded the wine making process and equipment, and built a wine building with a tasting room and barrel room. Their 2005 vintage, their first professional vintage, received a score of 94 from Robert Parker. “Suddenly I had an important boutique winery,” he said. “We only do 500 cases so we are about quality, not quantity. I want see how far we can 24 www. n A PAVA L L E Y L I F Emagaz ine .com go toward perfection.” It’s that talk of perfection where I see Gibson and Wornick see eye to eye. He has placed confidence in Gibson to create his own works of art in the detail of the showcases that enhance Wornick’s prized art collections. “My prized project in this home is the long cabinet in the dining room. I finished it with six coats of transparent green stain so the wood grain shows through. It was a challenge to keep it smooth all the way through.” Throughout the Wornick property different elements come to light. Whether it’s by the winery, a guest home, the garden shed, the pool house, caretaker’s house or the main home, Gibson’s handiwork is evident. Gibson said he sees himself more as an artist than a painting contractor. We stare up at a massive wall in the living room, and he points to an area that is stained by a water leak and describes to me how he will blend the faux painting on the wall to cover up the stain without having to replaster the entire surface. I’m impressed. Then we tour the property as he points out details he has been responsible for, including refurbishing fifty teak chairs and tables positioned near the pool. Then he shows me a striking door. “I take pride in the fact that I can match anything,” said Gibson. “When I did the front door I had to match the bell to the doorknob. This made me realize I wanted a lot more artistic value in my life. I wanted my work to be imaginative.” The “Seven Stones” sculpture Mike Gibson and Ronald Wornick
NVLife_SeptOct_2013
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