Story

The itch to start learning about wine began while we were living in Savannah, GA. Holly was in grad school at the time and I was doing everything I could to avoid such a fate for myself. I had leisure time in between teaching guitar lessons and working at Gap during the week. On one of our daily walks through Savannah’s live oak and palmetto studded downtown, Holly introduced me to Johnnie Ganem’s, the oldest package shop locally owned and operated in the Southeast. We were struck by their broad selection of both new and old world wines. From then on, we spent our free time (not to mention our modest incomes) trying wines from France, Italy, California, Oregon, Australia, and beyond.

In 2011, with little more than $600 and what belongings we could fit into our cars, Holly and I moved to Sonoma County, CA with the aim of working in the wine industry. We both found tasting room positions in the Russian River Valley, where we quickly worked our way into management positions. Six years later, we packed up and moved again to Oregon, having become enamored with the wines that we were trying from the Willamette Valley and the wild - still relatively untouched - spirit of the region. I accepted a harvest intern position at Trisaetum Winery. It was there that I drank from the fire hose and absorbed all I could about winemaking. After harvest I secured a full time cellar position there that quickly turned into the Assistant Winemaker role.

In 2023, Holly and I finally had the opportunity to start making our own wine. Our intention is to not only showcase the vineyards where the grapes grew, but to make wines that reflect back on characteristics that made us love wine in the first place. Relative Squares is a nod to our time in Savannah, a city known for its picturesque squares, and the wines that inspired this journey.