Garfield Estates Vineyard & Winery

Winemaker

Rainer is a native of Koenigheim, Germany, where his family manages their own family vineyard. Rainer grew up around the wine business and holds a degree in winemaking. After graduation he worked at several wineries, including Europe’s largest.  Since moving to the United States in 1999, Rainer has worked for wineries in both Washington state and Colorado.

Rainer, his wife Cara, twin boys Brody and Quayden, their dogs Max and Jetta make their home in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Partner

Suffering from the well known “more money than brains” syndrome and with no desire to buy a boat, Mike became a partner in Garfield Estates in early 2008.  Mike moved to Colorado in 1990 from Philadelphia and from 1995 to 2002 was Chief Financial Officer for Children’s World Learning Centers, then the second largest childcare company in the United States.  Subsequent to that, he was CFO for a charter school company and most recently for a luxury destination club operation.   He and his family reside in the Cherry Hills Village suburb of Denver.  Mike finds the wine business terrifically rewarding and enjoys all aspects of the business—from pruning the vines and harvesting the grapes to meeting new and longtime friends of the vineyard in the tasting room and at wine festivals throughout Colorado and working to expand our network of retail outlets and restaurants.