Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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The vision for Dorner Family Vineyard began after owners Mike and Michele Dorner returned from an extended trip to Europe in 2009. The owners' motivation to plant a vineyard and build a tasting room was inspired by the time they spent in Germany enjoying the Riesling wines of the Mosel River, and their time spent wandering the cobblestone streets in the villages in the Tuscany region of Italy. Their dream of owning a vineyard and winery was realized in June 2020 when they opened their doors to...
As we prepare for our fourth Annual German Christmas Market, we once again reminisce about our wonderful adventure exploring the Christmas Markets of Germany in 2019. During our trip we spent time visiting the Christmas Markets in several enchanting German towns and villages. Each town puts their own special spin on their markets. Most are held in the town square in the shadow of the town's cathedral, some are held on primeval castle grounds, other towns have three or four separate markets and...
“No parent ever imagines having to deal with this. Nor should we ever have to. Everything has changed forever in an instant.” Those words were spoken by my sweet friend, Lindsey Bold Hoffman, after two of her precious daughters, Maggie and Ollie, left this earth due to a car collision on July 22. Lainie survived the car accident and has been, “fighting hard to get on the mend after multiple surgeries and intense recovery.” My heart continues to break for this sweet family, whom we have known for eight years. Words fail to express the shock,...
Our anticipation grew as we sat back and watched the German countryside sail by our window during the train ride from Munich to Regensburg. This trip, in early December 2019, was very different than any of our previous trips to Germany, or anywhere in the world for that matter. We were here, with our son and daughter-in-law, specifically to visit the German Christmas Markets we had heard and read so much about. Dating back to the 1400s, these “street” markets are held during the four weeks of Advent every year. Originating in Germany, Chr...
Framing of the Dorner Family tasting room and winery began in January 2017. Semi trucks full of lumber began their weekly delivery to our property. Never one to let work interfere with our traveling, we continued with our plans to travel to Africa in early March for our much-anticipated safari and tour of Egypt. Landing on a narrow dirt airstrip in a tiny 8-seater plane marked the beginning of our time in the Masai Mara. Getting up close with the elephants, giraffes, zebras and lions on our...
Who can forget Tom and Huck, Sid, Aunt Polly and of course pretty Becky Thatcher? They are found in the lazy crazy summer days in fictional St. Petersburg, Missouri, created by a man whose name came from vessels going up and down the great Mississippi. “Mark Twain!” they would call out. Samuel Longhorne Clemmons penned the name Mark Twain and wrote of the greatest adventures of summertime. Stories of Tom and Huck that have lived on since 1876. Scraps and jokes and tricks, lots of fishing, sca...
As the Grand opening of our Tasting Room and Winery quickly approaches, Mike and I reflect back on the 10-year journey that brought us to this very spot in our lives. Prior to 2009, nothing would have indicated the path that we would take this past decade, the skills that we would acquire along the way, or the friends that we would make throughout the sometimes exhausting, always interesting, but never boring process. In the summer of 2009, after planning and saving for five years, we set off on...
The tragic events last week that culminated in the death of Sgt. Steve Owen left the community in shock, and those of us with ties to law enforcement reeling. Long before my husband Mike became a wine maker, he was a Deputy Sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Steve Owen was Mike’s partner when he worked at the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station. Although Mike retired in 1999 due to an on-duty injury, when the call came in last week about Steve’s death, memories I thought were buried forever deep down inside came flooding back. M...
Exciting things are happening over at Dorner Family Vineyard! With three more medals under our belt, permits in hand for the tasting room, winery and rental cottages, and the wedding calendar filling up, the outlook couldn’t be brighter. Mike Dorner, vinter and owner of Dorner Family Vineyard and Winery, along with Cliff Merdith from Stray Leaves Vineyard in Tehachapi, recently attended the 2015 Winemaker’s International Wine Conference held in Portland, Oregon. The three day event, held from May 28 to 30, gave Cliff and Mike the opp...
