On a recent trip over to Stockton...yeah I know...Stockton. Well first let me give you some geography as we live in Brentwood and in order to get to Stockton we'll travel out on the highway 4 through Discovery Bay and over a few bridges to get there. After the first bridge you end up on one of the many islands that make up the delta where Victoria Island Farms is located.
Victoria Island Farms is a decades old farm of over 7000 acres primarily known for their Blueberries. However they also farm many other crops of which Corn is so important to the Sabbatical story and Whiskeys.
In a spontaneous moment I said to Claudia "Hey, did you know there was a distillery just past Discovery Bay?" So off we went along with our constant companion Circe.
Given the time of year it was Blueberry season and we also discovered that you can go pick Blueberries at Victoria Island Farms. We found this out when we arrived to a packed parking lot overflowing into an adjacent dirt lot. "I said what the heck is going on here?" That is when we found out that you could go harvest blueberries yourself and that it is a quote popular occasion within the Asian community and others.
Luckily we found a parking spot close and sifted through the crowds to the distillery part of the location. It was so fun to see all the barrels stacked up and the meager but inviting tasting area. There we met with an enthusiastic staff including one of the principles Danny Leonard. Given my decades long career in the world of wine & spirits I was quite interested in the back story. Don't mind the medicinal tasting cups as it's part of the charm.
"Why would you create a distillery on Victoria Island?" was my first question. Danny shared the back story that he and Jack Zech were college buddies and came up with a crazy idea together 15 years ago. Jack is a grandson of the founders of Victoria Island Farms. The space they use for the Distillery was originally an old Asparagus packing shed. When the demand for Asparagus declined the 9000 square foot space became the perfect place to create their distillery.
Jack and Danny originally envisioned a brewery initially, but felt that Beer breweries were well established and that a niche idea would be better served. Particularly given the vast resources of Corn they had available to them. What better to make with Corn than Whiskey! And well, Sabbatical was born.
Sabbatical is a San Francisco Double Gold World Sprits competition Award Winner. Definitely visit Sabbatical when you are near Discovery Bay!
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