A marriage blooms in the Valley.

“About 10,000 years ago I was Jim’s very bad secretary,” Holly Witte has said, back when Jim was a very big deal in the Mad Men era of television broadcasting. She didn’t last long, and 33 years later, when both of their spouses had passed, they rediscovered each other.

Jim Witte had always remembered his grandparents’ property in Oregon fondly. Jim would spend time helping his grandfather create fruit wines from the tree fruit – mostly to get away from his grandmother, Jim remembers with a rueful laugh.

So, in retirement, he sought a place he could make wine – and found it high in the hills around Cornelius, about 30 minutes west of Portland.

Holly had been a successful nonprofit fundraiser and executive in New York and Seattle. But after reconnecting with Jim, she knew that she would be “the farmer’s wife”. They are an amazing match.

Jim, now in his 80s, still grows the grapes, manages the vines and their extensive horse collection, and makes the wines. And Holly does all their sales and marketing; and serves as a very welcoming host to their beautiful property overlooking the valley.