Fields of Dreams (page 3 of 4)

• Best of America

A Beautiful Country

In 1974 Robledo landed the position of vineyard manager for Sonoma-Cutrer, running the company's properties in the Sonoma, Napa and Russian River valleys. His salary of $60,000, worth more than four times that much today, reflected his unusual talent. "He was brash, ambitious and smarter than a whip," says former owner Bryce Jones, who helped Robledo learn to run a business and remains an advisor.

Robledo moved on to Curtis Ranches in 1981; the owner was so impressed with his abilities, he sent him to France to teach grafting at an affiliated winery. Robledo's English was still spotty, and on the layover at JFK, he got so lost that he almost missed his flight to Paris. He tried improving his fluency using his children's textbooks, to little avail. (In fact, his linguistic insecurity led him to put off seeking U.S. citizenship until 1990, when he finally took, and passed, the rigorous exam.) "The language barrier was the most difficult thing for my father," says daughter Vanessa, 29.

But it didn't prevent him from expressing a concern for others as intense as his drive to succeed. Over time, Robledo helped all his siblings come north and found them good jobs in the vineyards. He sent money back to Mexico to pave Atacheo's roads and repair its churches. In Sonoma he routinely brought workers home for his wife's luscious meals. "He'd make sure they had a place to stay," says Vanessa. "He was like a big dad to everyone."

To ensure his children's future, Robledo began amassing land. "I wanted ten acres por member of the family," he says. In 1984 he made his first purchase: a 13-acre plot in Napa occupied by a decrepit ranch house and a defunct airstrip. He trundled 18 truckloads of debris to the dump, moved his family into the house and spent his evenings planting vines. He set up experimental plots in the backyard, using different soils and rootstocks.

Despite killing frosts, ill-timed rains and colleagues' warnings that some of his holdings were hopeless, his fields all bore extraordinary fruit. He began selling grapes to wineries, and by the mid 1990s he'd gone into business for himself.

The kids pitched in from the beginning. "I remember working on my birthday and on Christmas," says Everardo. "Instead of a baseball bat, I got a shovel. I was like, Come on, Dad! But I appreciate it now. He instilled the belief that if you work for it, you can have pretty much anything you want in this beautiful country."