From House Hunting to Running a 315-Acre Winery
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How did Melanie and Jeff accidentally discover Rancho Victoria Vineyard while house hunting?
We weren't even looking to buy a winery. We were just looking for a piece of property to build a house on. And somehow it led into this.
You were not always a wine guy, right?
You were actually
not even a beer guy.
I knew nothing about it. You
were like a straight whiskey dude.
I looked at her when she got that little question mark in her. I was like, are you out of your mind? And next thing I know, she's saying, how do you feel like running a 102 acre vineyard? I said, well, I'll give it a shot.
Melanie and Jeff Sesser are entrepreneurial, adventurous, and family-driven winery owners and the owners of Rancho Victoria Vineyard and Winery, a 315-acre estate in California's Amador wine country. What began as a search for a property to build a home unexpectedly led them into the wine industry.
They say when you do what you love, you don't work a day
in your life. I've said that. It's like this is not work for me. It's stressful, don't get me wrong. Very stressful at times. But it's not work. You go in and you just love what you do.
We share the same passion.
Yeah.
And we'll do anything to make it happen.
It spans the globe like a super high school internet. Elvis Redmond. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. It's not over until I win. The Living Your Legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy.
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Hey, welcome back everyone to another episode of Living Your Legacy Podcast. I'm your host again, Jay Slangen. And thanks for joining us again down here at the Miami Beach Studios in our podcast room. And yeah, we get the pleasure to talk to some of the best entrepreneurs from around the country, the disruptors and experts from all different kinds of fields. And today for our Couples Empire, we have a special guest with us today that have an amazing business. So why don't you guys introduce yourself? What's your name? Where are you guys from? And what do you do?
I'm Melanie Caesar.
I'm Jeff Caesar.
And we're from Amador County, and we are the owners of Rancho Victoria Vineyard and Winery.
Amazing winery. So I got this little happy kind of sneaky smile on my face because I have been enjoying your wine, right?
We all have.
I know. Honestly, it's an amazing wine. And I'm not just being fake, but I'm being totally serious. It's something that I would definitely enjoy. So what have we been drinking today?
Well, you've had a couple of things actually. So we started out with our reserve cab and then we switched over to our dessert wines. You tried the Mojo Legacy and the Little Secret.
Yeah. Actually, so they told me, hey, do you like ports?
What motivated them to quit their previous jobs and commit full‑time to the winery?
And I'm like, honestly, I don't because I had a port wine experience in Australia at a vineyard and I wasn't into it, right? And honestly, since then, I really haven't had a port. But I said, well... You know, I don't really
know. I
haven't had a good port that, you know, so they introduced me to port and I'm sold. I'm a port
guy. Well, thanks for being a trooper.
Yes. So I'm a port guy now.
We turned another one, honey. We're very proud of you.
So talk to this. I had the pleasure of doing your episode. Right. And we had a great time. And so you guys kind of how'd you end up purchasing a vineyard?
Oh, man, where do you start?
Um, well, truth be told, we weren't even looking to buy a winery. We were just looking for a piece of property to build a house on and somehow it led into this.
That's amazing.
So I
hope, I hope when I look for a house, it kind of
leads into that.
So, yeah. Um, and so, uh, yeah, you guys discovered you, so you were interested in buying the house and then your real
estate agent,
the land. Okay. And then the real estate agent was like, Hey, The Vineyard Across the Street is
also- Real nice segue there.
Yeah. And so you looked into it. First, there is a romanticism of like, hey, we can be vineyard owners, right? But then there's like the actuality of it, right? So between the romanticism, right, and the actuality, right?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Melanie and Jeff accidentally discover Rancho Victoria Vineyard while house hunting?
0:00–2:57
2
What motivated them to quit their previous jobs and commit full‑time to the winery?
2:57–5:30
3
How do Melanie and Jeff split responsibilities based on their strengths?
5:30–8:24
4
What role do events and community experiences play in their business model?
8:24–11:07
5
How do they handle unexpected vineyard crises, like equipment failures during harvest?
11:07–13:43
6
What inspired the launch of the Herd & Harvest cattle program and the Wine‑and‑Beef Club?
13:43–16:40
7
How are they expanding the ranch with new bulls and what does that mean for future growth?
16:40–18:26
8
What are the couple’s biggest visions for the next phase of Rancho Victoria?
18:26–21:45