Meet Tom Gustason | Co-Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tom Gustason and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tom, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We moved out here to Arizona in 2013 after spending 3 years working side by side in Afghanistan. Tom and Edie are both retired Army, having served 21 years and 20 years respectively. In July of 2013, we were married in Tombstone and later that year a friend of ours took us wine tasting. The owner/wine maker walked out in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops and Tom immediately stated “That’s what I want to do”. And thus “High Lonesome Vineyard” was born. We cleared land and planting started in the Spring of 2014.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Tom and Edie are both retired Army. Tom retired in 2010 after serving 21 years and Edie retired in 2007 after serving 20 years. Tom would serve most of his military career in Germany, Korea, Fort Irwin, CA, Fort Huachuca, AZ and Fort Hood, Texas. Edie would serve most of her career in Central and South America, Fort Drum, NY and Fort Huachuca, AZ. Despite having the same skill set, Tom and Edie would never meet while in the military. Once retired, Edie served 3 years in Iraq as a contractor and in 2010 returned to the states to sign on to another contract. Tom, having just retired, was signing on to his first contract at the same time. This is where we met. We would officially start dating on Edie’s birthday in 2010. After signing on the dotted lines, receiving specialized training for our next duty assignments, Tom would deploy as a contractor to Afghanistan and Edie would return to Iraq for 6 months. At the end of her 6 months, Edie would immediately fly to Afghanistan to complete the rest of her tour of duty. As luck would have it, Tom and Edie would work side by side in Afghanistan for the next 3 years. It would be here that Tom decides that if he could sit next to Edie for 3 years in a Combat Zone, she is probably worth marrying. Tom decides that on Edie’s birthday, exactly 2 years after we started dating, that he is going to propose to her right there in Afghanistan. And of course, Edie said YES!!!!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When our friends come to visit, first we bring them to the Vineyard and Winery. We give them a full tour, show them the different areas of the vineyard and explain how we got started, the different varietal of grapes that we grow, why we chose those grapes and the process that we go through with the vines. Then we move in to the winery. Once in here, despite being a bit colder than outside, we explain the process that the grapes go through in order to make them in to wine. We cover de-stemming, pressing, fermentation, filtering, aging, bottling and labeling. Then we get to the part they all like – tasting. We move over to our all outdoor tasting room area and starting their wine tastings. As each wine is poured we describe the different flavors and aspects of wine that they can anticipate experiencing. Depending upon their arrival time, this usually completes day one.

Day two – We take them to Bisbee, AZ. Here they can go shopping for antiques, metal art and even tour the Copper Queen Mine. Lots of great places to eat including the Screamin Banshee for pizza, Contessa’s Cantina for Mexican, or if they want a more formal type of dining – The Cafe Roka. Lastly, a stop at the Old Bisbee Brewing Company – where they can try a beer that was first brewed there in 1881.

Day three – Off to Tombstone, AZ. Again, more shopping and sight seeing. They can enjoy a gun fight show, ride the zip line, and even attend a Bull Riding Rodeo. Here they have their choice of great and historic places to eat. The Crystal Palace with their famous burgers and Big Nose Kates with their mouth watering brisket. We always recommend they try the great beer at the Tombstone Brewing Company, as they are truly outstanding.

Day Four – Relax and hang out at the pool at the house.

Day five – The Chiricahua National Monument for some great hiking. We tell them to enjoy their day admiring the sand stone formations, the wildlife, and of course the Faraway Ranch, the guest house in the 12,025 acre National Monument, that Lillian and Hildegard Erickson started in 1917.

Day six – Another day to relax by the pool, do laundry and prepare to return home.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We would not be where we are today if not for several of our very good friends. First, Thomas and Charlene Johnson. They own TJ’s Speedometer Shop in Tucson, Arizona as well as Double Adobe Vineyard in Double Adobe, Arizona. Their friendship, encouragement and willingness to get down in the dirt with us is worth far more than we can even describe. They have been with us through the good times and the bad times. Ruth Evelyn Cowan and Robert Giles, our dear Rancher friends, who have on more than one occasion used their equipment to help prepare the land for planting, lift full harvesting bins off of trailers and spent countless hours and days helping us process grapes. Thirdly, a by-chance meeting through the Small Business Administration SCORE office, brought Gary Wooten in to our lives. His mentorship, guidance and all around willingness to sit with us and ensure we got things right the first time not only saved us time and money, but a lot of back breaking work, sleepless nights and frustration. Without him showing us a no nonsense way of doing things, we might have given up a long time ago. Our closest neighbors, Jacob, Patricia and Jonathon Tucker who always made time to come help us on a moments notice. They assisted us with from our very first planting to digging holes and helped with harvests despite the long hours. Their capacity to give their time to their neighbors is the true definition of what it means to be a good neighbor. Lastly, to our dearly departed friend, John Kovacs. His friendship, kindness and always caring spirit was inspirational and lingers on with us, even today. Without this very close circle of friends, we would not and could not be where we are today. It is through their friendship, support, caring, willingness to help us when we needed it and their sense of doing the right thing will always be the driving force behind the love and care that we put in to this business.

Website: www.highlonesomevineyard.com

Instagram: HighLonesomeVineyard

Twitter: @HLVineyard

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HighLonesomeVineyard

Yelp: High Lonesome Vineyard

Other: EMAIL: highlonesomevineyard@gmail.com