About the Zimmerman Family
What began as a two-acre project has now become a 9-acre vineyard with plans to grow. We started the adventure in 2004 and, with help from family and friends, have watched it expand. We are blessed with closeness, rich roots in the community, and an abundant sense of humor.
Michael Zimmerman
Proprietor
| When you start something that grows year by year, it's critical to have the support and help from friends and family. |
 First, there's wife Lucía, born in Mexico to parents that emigrated from Spain but now a proud US citizen. She coordinates the activities and the people who make it all happen. With her is first daughter Lucía Marshall who can come up with more ideas than anyone we know. |
 Mercedes is a Physician’s Assistant, but supplies the artistic and musical grace notes to the enterprise. She and husband Stephen now reside in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, where she works in a local clinic while he attends seminary. |
 Mercedes' twin brother, Aaron, is shown with his wife, Andrea, and daughter Abigail. They now have two additions, Athan (4) and August (2). They live near Pittsburgh where Aaron is assistant pastor at St. Stephens Episcopal Church. |
HistoryIn 1894 Junius Lindsay Zimmerman and his bride, Beatrice Estelle Evans, looked for a place to begin their new life, and the Zimmerman Farm was born. Lindsay was the proprietor of The Arcadia Mill and farmed, while Beatrice raised five children and taught school until she was 71. One son, Lee, returned to the homeplace with his new wife, Cornelia Sink, in 1933. A soil scientist with the Soil Conservation Service, Lee knew more about this land than anybody before or since. Lee and Cornelia raised two sons, James Lee, Jr., and Michael. Jim became an engineer and moved to Cary, NC. Michael was appointed to the Foreign Service after graduating from UNC Chapel Hill, and spent 15 years in five countries. He returned to North Carolina with his wife, Lucía Gonzalez, in 1988, and they moved into the home place in 1995. Recognizing the growing interest in wine in North Carolina, we set about to see if such an idea would work on the farm. And thus began the adventure... In 2004, we planted a two-acre vineyard, with plans to expand to about 15 acres over the next few years. The starting vinifera was Viognier, a rare white variety that originated in Condrieu, on France's Northern Rhône River, that traces its heritage back over 2000 years. Later, other varietals--all native to the Rhône Valley--were added: Syrah, Petite Sirah (durif), and Roussanne. Junius Lindsay Vineyard, in northern Davidson County, is located in the Yadkin Valley AVA (American Viticulture Area) The wine industry in North Carolina is the fastest growing in the United States, with some 55 wineries, 350 vineyards and now 10th in grape and wine production. Why the Bee in the Logo? Napoleonic Bee Throughout history, the bee has been a symbol of industry, hard work, efficiency and determination. Napoleon used bees to symbolize his empire after his coronation in 1804. Also emblematic of immortality and resurrection, the bee was chosen to link the new dynasty to the very origins of France. Golden bees were discovered in 1653 in the tomb of Childeric I (father of Clovis) who founded the Merovingian dynasty in 457. They were considered to be the oldest emblem of the sovereigns of France. Anyone who has observed honey bees in the hive or bees foraging on flowers knows the truth in the expression "busy as a bee". There is always something going on, always something more to do. I can’t imagine a more appropriate symbol for a vineyard, where work never seems to end. |