Our Story
Angry Butterfly Vineyard & Estate was founded in 2011 by Drew and Debbie Smith. It was a strange beginning to a vineyard. Debbie and Drew were visiting her uncle in California for his 80th birthday. They took a tour of Temecula Valley Vineyards with a Limo because at 80 he deserved to arrive in style. Debbie was the youngest one in the limo, but the older folks quickly out paced her. So, she decided to sit a few of the tastings out at a small family owned vineyard that was just sold and going to be incorporated into a larger holding. Over the course of tasting several bottles, the father and son duo decided that they were going to send all the vines on the property to Debbie’s farm in Florida since the new owners did not plan on keeping the Muscadine vines and were planning on pulling them all out.
Fast forward six months and Debbie gets a phone call that the vines are on their way to her. Wishing her good luck and happy wine making. Debbie told Drew that the Temecula vines are on their way to us we need to get things ready to plant. Drew thought she was joking until two days later when several large boxes of vines were delivered. Drew took it like a challenge, albeit with some complaining about never leaving her with anybody again drinking wine! You just never know what can happen.
Debbie would like to say that it was easy from that point on, but it was not. Florida proved to be a difficult place to grow vines for someone with truly little experience. Florida has bacteria in the soil, bugs that eat the vines from the inside out, bugs that lay eggs in the grapes, spiders that eat the vines, black root rot from too much rain, flooding of the vineyard by hurricanes, high winds that strip the vines of their leaves, birds that eat the grapes, and mother nature that seems to be against anything and everything! But Debbie was determined not to fail. So, she visited Piedemont, Italy and spent time with the vintners and growers learning the craft of making a great wine from soil to yeast. Learning different types of corks, screw caps, bottle shapes, labels, temperatures for storage and much more. Making lifelong friends with many along the way, she found a love for the process. What started out as just producing grapes turned into a chemistry lab of how to make a great wine.
As the years progress, the vineyard matured. Then the process of how you present the bottle of wine began. Years of trial and error. In the end the love for making the wine became a passion for creating a wine unlike anything else available in Florida.
Many people do not know that Muscadine is Indigenous to America. The very first American Wine made in the "New World" was in FLORIDA as early as mid 1500's. That there are 300 different strains of Muscadine that range from tangy, dry to sweet, to Port style dessert wines. Debbie has planted 6 different types of Muscadines and some interesting other vines such as Barbara, Gunter, Chardonnay, and Malbec. She has learned about grafted roots, bare roots and planting all the roots!
Drew has become an expert of detecting weeds, and bugs. He is not to be left out on the process he is the main bottle, corker, and labeler! He has learned what temperature the wine must be at to stabilize the fermentation. Debbie’s parents assist with picking and crushing the grapes which at 90 and 82 years of age is a huge help.
Friends have happily enjoyed taste testing the wine, helping to determine the direction each crop matures into during the final stages. It is an evolving labor of love for Drew and Debbie. Currently, only a third of the vineyard is producing enough grapes to bottle. The rest Debbie is confident will be producing within the next two years.