Exploring Sicily

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend last week cycling through Sicily - which is quite a feat as Sicily has many, many hills. Sicily is an island on the southern part of Italy and is great place to visit if you get the chance. The people of Sicily are very nice, the food is delicious and they have some tasty wines made from indigenous grapes.

 The wines from Sicily are getting to be more and more popular...likely the most famous grape variety is Nero d' Avola (a red wine), but they have many other varieties that I recommend you keep a look out for...one is Grillo, a crisp white wine - perfect for a hot day. Catarratto is another wonderful white with a touch more elegance and aromatics. Another res to keep an eye out for is Negrello Mascalese - a dark, spicy red with great depth. Obviously there are more grapes grown in Sicily as there are more vineyards there than any other Italian regions.

For those food lovers, I would be remiss to not touch on some of the wonderful food specialties that I sampled while there. Pasta alla norma -- a wonderful pasta dish with tomato, eggplant, cheese, Scabber fish - a long fish that they typically serve rolled up - the fish has a sweet and clean taste, then there is  fresh ricotta (served both sweet and savory), and for those with a sweet tooth - Sicily is into their Dolce, there were so many delicious deserts from a Pistachio and ricotta pie to a cucumber and mint sorbet served along side a warm pastry filled with sweet ricotta and chocolate (heavenly!!!)

Now on to Sardinia to meet with some more potential wine partners and explore what Sardinia has to offer...

A challenging week...

To say last week was a challenging week would be an understatement. Murphy's Law, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" was in full force. 

Last week our plan was to get our bottling line installed on Monday and Tuesday and begin bottling our red blend on Tuesday afternoon. We did not start bottling anything until mid-day Friday. There were issues with filters, pumps, hoses, and then we had the wrong capsules (those are the things on top of wine bottles), and the labels were incredibly stubborn and didn't want to go on straight. And so on...and so on...

It may sound like I'm complaining, but actually I'm not. While it was a difficult week and at one point I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh or cry - and FYI, I laughed. It was still a day in the wine business and that's not so bad.

At the end of the day, all we want to do is to create wines that people will enjoy and are a little friendlier to the environment, and of course have fun! And while not ever day is fun-filled - we do manage to smile, laugh, joke and enjoy the fruits of our labor quite often.

Here's to a better, more productive week. Cheers!

A Leap Year

"Leap and the net will appear."...It's not often that I take advice from a magnet. 

In 2011, a friend of mine knew I was considering making a big move away from the corporate world to open a winery, and then one day I received a magnet in the mail with the phrase above on it. This phrase became my mantra as I pushed through my anxiety and fear about leaving a safe, secure job to pursue my passion for wine and venture out into the world of entrepreneurship.

It's been over a year since I left that corporate job and my business partner, David Forrester, and I have been working hard to open our very own winery here in Orlando, Florida. I would like to officially introduce to you Quantum Leap Winery (opening very soon).

At Quantum Leap we are local winery with a global reach and sustainable focus. Meaning we will source our wines from around the world, transport the wine in an environmentally friendly way to Central Florida, where we will finish and blend the wine to our high standards. 

The journey to open the winery has been challenging, thrilling, educational and satisfying. I hope that you will take the time to read our blog, come visit us at the winery, and of course share a glass (or two) of wine with us.

Oh and for those wondering, or even if you weren't - Was the name Quantum Leap inspired from the magnet? I have to admit that it was not, at least not consciously. Instead, we used the following as a filter: 1) find a name we liked, 2) that subtly indicated we wanted to do things differently in the wine industry and 3) wasn't taken already. You would be surprised how hard that entire process was - we are happy with our name and proud to put it on our wines.

Until next time...
Cheers, Jill Ramsier

A Leap Year

"Leap and the net will appear."...It's not often that I take advice from a magnet. 


In 2011, a friend of mine knew I was considering making a big move away from the corporate world to open a winery, and then one day I received a magnet in the mail with the phrase above on it. This phrase became my mantra as I pushed through my anxiety and fear about leaving a safe, secure job to pursue my passion for wine and venture out into the world of entrepreneurship.


It's been over a year since I left that corporate job and my business partner, David Forrester, and I have been working hard to open our very own winery here in Orlando, Florida. I would like to officially introduce to you Quantum Leap Winery (opening very soon).


At Quantum Leap we are local winery with a global reach and sustainable focus. Meaning we will source our wines from around the world, transport the wine in an environmentally friendly way to Central Florida, where we will finish and blend the wine to our high standards. 


The journey to open the winery has been challenging, thrilling, educational and satisfying. I hope that you will take the time to read our blog, come visit us at the winery, and of course share a glass (or two) of wine with us.


Oh and for those wondering, or even if you weren't - Was the name Quantum Leap inspired from the magnet? I have to admit that it was not, at least not consciously. Instead, we used the following as a filter: 1) find a name we liked, 2) that subtly indicated we wanted to do things differently in the wine industry and 3) wasn't taken already. You would be surprised how hard that entire process was - we are happy with our name and proud to put it on our wines.


Until next time...
Cheers, Jill Ramsier

It's not like Watching the paint dry

We’re doing so much right now, installing equipment, talking to so many different people and it’s crazy! But we’re getting it done and we’re so excited.