Co-Owner 

 

Vivác Winery is the creation of brothers Jesse and Chris Padberg, along with their wives, Michele and Liliana Padberg, respectively. In November of 1998 Jesse and Chris embarked on a new mission "to make the best wine possible and have a good time doing it!" This meant professionally crafted, world-ranked, dry red wines; a first for New Mexico. While the brothers had grown up experimenting with making fruit wines from the family farm, this journey would prove to be one that required dedication, devotion, sacrifice and courage.  

 

Jesse, having spent a semester abroad in Chile, had fallen in love with wine...mostly because he was a college student and the wine was great (aka cheap) and the beer was bad (aka  expensive). But it wasn’t until he was on a backpacking trip through Europe after graduation that he felt the calling to be a winemaker. A Spanish Literature major, Jesse had found himself pondering where his life would lead with this ambiguous degree. It was while drinking over a bottle of wine in the majestic rolling vineyards of France that things clicked. A phone call to his brother Chris, at that time in school in New Orleans, consisted of infectious excitement with the statement “let’s start a winery!” and Chris, always an adventurous man and having spent his whole life making fruit wines with his brother, jumped at the chance to return home and create something that relied on agriculture and art. Not yet 21, Chris had vision and could see the potential of this venture and the brilliance of combining his and his brothers skill-sets. 

 

The brothers began reading every publication they could find about grapes, winemaking, and the world of wine. They planted their 1st vineyard and devoured research on vineyard management. Their then girlfriends, now wives, Michele and Liliana jumped in feet first supporting the dream of the winery into existence. The foursome found inspiration in European countries, and were especially drawn in by the Old World wine culture, where winemaking is a dance between art and science.Through extensive travel around the world and mentorships with other local winemakers, they learned about the wine business in general and more specifically about the wine business in Northern New Mexico; "At every turn people were there to help us out" they say. Continuing education, certifications and advanced wine chemistry classes have allowed them to better their craft with each vintage and push the business into a leading example of success. 

 

Michele and Liliana, have passionately dedicated themselves to the winery focusing on the business side with formation of the branding, marketing, managing the tasting rooms, distribution, events, staff and wine clubs. Jesse and Chris, often working around the clock, have built all the winery facilities and tasting rooms, toiled in the now expansive vineyards and have sacrificed in every way imaginable. It is a team effort for the four giving them the unique ability to take the winery from square one to International Award Winning pioneers of New Mexico.

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To shop wines & for more information visit www.VivacWinery.com

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