The two earned professional certificates in viticulture and enology from the University of California, Davis, over three years of coursework both online and in visits to California. The studies gave them the foundation to begin at a high level, trying to get the best out of the six acres planted in grapes on their 35-acre farm in the Outer Coastal Plain (OCP), an officially recognized wine region (or AVA) that covers the lower southeastern third of the state. Its mild maritime climate has been likened to Bordeaux's, but the OCP's sandy soils are markedly different from the clay-rich and gravelly earth of its French counterpart.