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San Marco* Kyi. Wlmberley A301 CM Allen 103 rront Ranch Road 12 fjs4Art'; U Parkway Street North —' XJLyiA B396-2488 268-2021 847-5504 — -W' ^__.n. . Balcones BancFulC Insured s.vin« a,^.ionLocal business finds a niche with gourmet herbal vinegarsh 12 rluhBy Linda Allen Staff WriterMargie Miller si's In her business. Cypress Valley Gardens, surrounded by bottles of vinegar in various sizes, shapes and stages of completion. Some are waiting for their gold seals to be ironed closed. Some are still being stuffed with hot peppers, a time-consuming job that involves rubber gloves and a long tool that stuffs each sliver of jalapeno. each sprig of cilantro or green onion, into the bottle in a calculated design.Two women work at the peppers, examining each bottle as they finish, turning it from side to side to make sure the result is appealing, the red. green and yellow peppers arranged Just so.There's a technique to It. Margie says, and each employee has her own style and way of doing It. The results are bright and eye-catching, or. as one customer calls It-bottled art.When Margie moved to Wlmberley from Houston, she browsed the shops, as everyone does when they first arrive. An avid cook, she realized that one of the few things Wlmberley didn't offer was gourmet vinegars, and it occurred to her that she might find a business niche there.No stranger to business, she had approached it as an accountant for 15 years before moving to Wlmberley with her husband. Richard, in 1990. Richard bought the Texaco station, and. in 1992. Margie decided she'd start her own business.Intrigued with vinegars and herbs, she began boiling up mixtures In her kitchen. Research and development, she called It. And she started talking graphic design with a young woman whose boyfriend worked at the Texaco station.Jeanette Reddy had Just graduated from Southwest Texas State University with a degree in commercial art when Margie gave her the go-ahead to design labels for her fledgling business The result has been the creation of Cypress Valley Gardens with its line of vinegars. pepper sauces, and its upcoming flavored cooking oils. The business is located next door to WlmberleyInto the wholesale world.Both Jeanette and Margie laugh now. although at the time it must have been disheartening. They only sold six cases and still have a garage loaded with cases from that first venture.They're very well aged. says Margie.The mistake they had made, she says, was not researching the needs of their market. Most of the buyers were from gift shops, specialty and gourmet stores, and they wanted bottles smaller than the 12 ounce size Margie and Jeannette had prepared. They also expressed an Interest In hot pepper vinegars.Rather than accepting defeat. Margie and Jeanette hauled their 12 ounce bottles home, put them In the garage, and began looking for smaller bottles to hold their vinegars. They alsoadded a lemon pepper and a cranberry vinegar and perfected the hot pepper vinegar they call Fiesta del Sol.'In addition to the smaller bottles, they added big glass decanters from Spain that hold the pepper vinegar and showcase the bounty of peppers inside.Jeanette designed gift packaging for the smaller bottles, enclosing the bottles in a picket fence laced with herb-like foliage.We built the first one in our garage with Richard’s saw. says Margie. We had no Idea what we were doing.She remembers that several people scoffed at their plan, but they went ahead with It.We do everything ourselves. first.’ she says. We get so tired of being told what can't be done by men.Armed with new products See Vinegar*. Page 5Margie Miller of Cypress Valley GardensUwcclt;Hea-the Ini JOS •Whout of•WJ•Do •Do river \ Sla'■D*
Newspaper Details
Wimberley View
Wimberley, Texas, US
Sat, Apr 23, 1994
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Mike B.
TX, 05 May 2017
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