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Creating the wines of Chumeia Vineyards is an effort of a team of friends led by Lee Nesbitt. Lee Nesbitt is the winemaker of Chumeia Vineyards. Before Lee discovered his talent for winemaking he was channeling his energy into tackling runningbacks. Lee once had a dream to become a linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings. Today Lee dreams of making award-winning wines. Discovery has played a major role in getting Chumeia off the ground. That’s why, when deciding on a name, the partners chose the Ancient Greek word for alchemy.

“Winemaking and grape growing are similar to alchemy,” he says. “You take something abundant, like grapes and then through our processes we turn it into something precious. The Ancient Greeks believed that you could take base metals melt them down to their fluid state, add ingredients and as it cooled the metals would turn to gold. The winemaking process is similar; however the end result is better. We actually get something better than the base material that is very close to gold.

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