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A Dream Realized
Written By: Davis Picklesimer - Highlands Wine Shoppe | Issue: 2018/11 - November
We all have different reasons that brought us to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau. Some of us were raised here; others attended a friend’s wedding, or a corporate retreat, maybe even a family vacation.
For DAOU Vineyards President Karen Hunt, she would travel to Highlands and Cashiers as a child with family from Charleston, South Carolina, each year to see the fall leaves change. At first, thanks to carsickness, this was not the highlight of Karen’s fall.
Fortunately, over time, she fell in love with the area.
“We would have our fall drive up to Highlands and Cashiers to see the leaves change,” she says. “We could not afford to stay, so we would either camp or drive to Gatlinburg. I said to myself, ‘One day I will live here.’”
Karen was the first in her family to graduate from college (even attended Clemson). She started learning about wine indirectly after college while working for the Mars Family and Ben & Jerry’s.
True to her adventurous spirit, she decided to leave the corporate food world to learn more about wine in Napa. Karen made this move without a job in place. Fortunately, Peter Mondavi was looking for someone outside the wine industry and saw an opportunity with Karen.
This allowed for a successful relationship and both Krug Wines and Karen excelled.
So much so, another job offer came from Frances Ford Coppola. Being content at Krug, Coppola made an offer Karen couldn’t refuse, “Coppola said he would double what I was making and I just couldn’t turn that kind of offer down.”
Once again, success followed Karen. Sales and market share grew under her leadership. Having a personal goal of making her own wine, she decided to venture out on her own to make 500 cases of Hunt McKay Cabernet. This found early success with a 95 point rating by Robert Parker.
With success in building wine brands and making wine, Karen was at a crossroads. She couldn’t do both. With 14 job offers to become president of a winery, she accepted the DAOU Vineyards offer 10 years ago. Being true to form, DAOU has experienced success with Karen’s leadership, “If I had stayed in making wine, I wouldn’t be here (Highlands). I had a dream and my dream came true.”
Karen bought her house in Highlands over the summer and moved from Napa. Come and meet Karen during the Highlands Food & Wine Festival on Nov. 10 here at Highlands Wine Shoppe from 4:00 to 5:30 P.M.
May our next glass of wine be together.
