A Visit to Lesterland Winery in Fresno, California
Dr. Kevin Lester welcomes Professor Corksworth and Oliver to Lesterland Winery along the San Joaquin River.
"Great wine begins with a great story. Sometimes that story begins with a vineyard. Sometimes it begins with a friendship. And every so often, it begins with a simple invitation to pull up a chair."
A Warm Welcome at Lesterland Winery
The San Joaquin River flowed quietly beyond the vineyards, reflecting the warm glow of a Central Valley afternoon. Professor Corksworth paused for a moment, looking toward the vines and then toward the river.
“There is something comforting about places like this,” he said quietly.
Oliver nodded. “They don’t seem to be in a hurry.”
Professor Corksworth smiled. “Neither are the best stories.”
As they approached the tasting patio, Dr. Kevin Lester stepped forward with an easy smile and an outstretched hand.
“Professor Corksworth, Oliver—welcome to Lesterland.”
The greeting felt genuine, as though they were old friends returning rather than first-time visitors.
Oliver leaned toward the Professor.
“I like him already.”
“Oh?”
“He welcomed us before he offered us a glass of wine.”
Kevin laughed. “I’ve always thought the conversation comes first.”
“Then,” Professor Corksworth replied, “I believe we’re going to get along very well.”
A Seat at the Table
The afternoon began with hospitality, conversation, smoked trout, cashews, fruitcake, and wine.
Instead of leading them to a tasting counter, Kevin invited his guests to a shaded wooden table overlooking the vineyard.
Waiting there was more than a tasting.
There was smoked trout, roasted cashews, fresh bread, and a fruitcake whose aroma immediately captured Oliver’s attention.
Oliver stopped.
Fruitcake.
Professor Corksworth noticed.
“My dear Oliver.”
“Yes, Professor?”
“You appear uncertain.”
Oliver lowered his voice.
“I’ve spent years believing fruitcake was something people politely accepted at Christmas and quietly gave away the next morning.”
Kevin laughed. “Then today may change your opinion.”
Oliver cautiously accepted a slice.
One bite.
He paused.
Another bite.
Without saying a word, he quietly reached for a second piece.
Professor Corksworth smiled.
“I’ve long believed travel broadens one’s horizons.”
Oliver nodded.
“And apparently, it also rehabilitates fruitcake.”
The laughter that followed was easy and genuine.
For several minutes, no one discussed vineyards, medals, or wine. They simply shared food, stories, and the kind of conversation that reminds us that hospitality is often the first ingredient in every memorable bottle.
A Passion Forty Years in the Making
From Medicine to Winemaking
Kevin poured the first wine of the afternoon: Lesterland Cabernet Sauvignon.
Kevin poured the first wine.
“Our Cabernet Sauvignon.”
Professor Corksworth gently swirled the glass before taking a thoughtful sip.
“Beautifully balanced.”
Kevin smiled. “Thank you.”
Oliver took his turn.
“I taste blackberry.”
Kevin nodded. “Good.”
“Maybe a little blueberry.”
Another nod.
“And something I can’t quite identify.”
Professor Corksworth looked toward the vines and then toward the river.
“Perhaps, Oliver, you’re tasting the place.”
Kevin smiled. “I couldn’t have said it better.”
The conversation drifted naturally from medicine to family, from Fresno to farming, and from a lifelong profession to a passion that had waited patiently beside it.
Finally, Professor Corksworth asked, “Kevin, did you always intend to own a winery?”
Kevin laughed. “Not at all.”
“I’ve been making wine for nearly forty years. My friends and I simply loved the process.”
“In the early days, we even crushed grapes with our feet.”
Oliver slowly lowered his glass.
“You crushed them with your feet?”
Kevin smiled. “We did.”
Oliver looked thoughtfully into the glass.
“I have suddenly developed a much greater appreciation for stainless steel equipment.”
Kevin laughed.
“My friends and I always believed one thing,” he continued.
Oliver leaned forward. “What was that?”
Kevin raised his glass.
“Grapes are meant to become wine.”
Professor Corksworth quietly nodded.
“And stories are meant to be shared.”
“Grapes are meant to become wine.”
Four Cuttings That Crossed an Ocean
The Beginning of Četiri
Četiri takes its name from the Croatian word for “four,” honoring the four original vine cuttings brought from Croatia.
For a moment, Kevin became thoughtful.
He reached beside him and picked up another bottle.
Across its label appeared one distinctive word: Četiri.
Beneath it were the words: Proven Genetically Unknown.
Kevin carefully turned the bottle toward his guests.
“Great wine starts with a great story.”
“This one begins in 1960.”
Oliver leaned closer.
“Four vine cuttings were brought from Croatia to California,” Kevin continued. “For decades, they remained in relative obscurity.”
Professor Corksworth listened without interruption.
The best stories, he had learned, never enjoyed being hurried.
A Friendship That Preserved a Legacy
More Than a Patient
Kevin gently rested the bottle on the table.
“The story really begins with a patient.”
“His name was Peter Kupina.”
“He became much more than a patient. He became my friend.”
Peter made wine from the unusual Croatian grape and shared it with Kevin and his friends.
Before Peter passed away, he taught Kevin how to make it.
Not merely the steps.
He taught him the subtleties—the small details that experience carries but recipes rarely preserve.
Oliver spoke softly.
“So every bottle carries part of Peter’s story.”
Kevin nodded. “It does.”
“He taught me how to make it, and he taught me all the subtleties about it too.”
A Vineyard Planted with Trust
A close friend planted four acres of the unusual grape, helping turn Kevin’s winemaking passion into Lesterland Winery.
“But that’s only part of it,” Kevin said.
“A close friend believed in the project enough to plant four acres of these vines.”
Oliver’s eyes widened.
“Four acres?”
Kevin nodded.
“He grew the grapes. I bought the tanks and the winemaking equipment.”
“He was helping me by growing them, and I was helping him by making the wine.”
Professor Corksworth smiled warmly.
“There are vineyards planted with tractors.”
He paused.
“And there are vineyards planted with trust.”
“There are vineyards planted with tractors, and there are vineyards planted with trust.”
The Grape Without a Name
UC Davis was unable to identify the grape genetically, leaving its precise variety unknown.
Oliver looked once more at the bottle.
“What does ‘genetically unknown’ really mean?”
Kevin laughed.
“We wondered the same thing.”
After Peter’s death, specimens of the locally grown grape were sent to UC Davis for identification.
The researchers could not determine the variety.
“They really don’t know?” Oliver asked.
“No,” Kevin replied. “They really don’t.”
Professor Corksworth slowly turned the glass in his paws.
“In a world determined to classify everything, nature has quietly kept one beautiful secret.”
“Nature has quietly kept one beautiful secret.”
Lesterland became the first California winery to grow the one-of-a-kind grape and make its wine available to the public.
The result was Četiri Special Reserve No. 4—a bold wine with notes of blackberry, blueberry, spice, and something more difficult to describe: the flavor of history carried forward.
Četiri later earned Double Gold at the Orange County Wine Competition.
Nature’s Vineyard Crew
Ducks and chickens help manage weeds naturally throughout the Lesterland vineyard.
As they walked through the vineyard, an unexpected chorus interrupted the conversation.
Quack.
Quack.
Oliver stopped.
“Professor, do vineyards usually make that sound?”
Kevin laughed.
“They do here.”
He pointed toward a flock of ducks and several guinea fowl wandering purposefully between the rows.
“They’re part of the crew,” Kevin explained. “We don’t use herbicides on the grapes. The birds help take care of the weeds.”
Oliver watched one determined duck march confidently past.
“I’ve never seen employees quite like these.”
Professor Corksworth smiled.
“Nature often hires the best help.”
The Beauty of California’s Central Valley
The vineyards of Lesterland grow near the banks of the San Joaquin River in Fresno’s Central Valley.
Kevin spoke proudly about Fresno and the Central Valley.
California wine conversations often begin with Napa or Paso Robles, but Kevin believed the Central Valley also had the soil, climate, growers, and agricultural history needed to create excellent wine.
Professor Corksworth looked across the rows.
“Great vineyards are not measured by reputation alone.”
Kevin nodded.
“They are measured by what grows there and by the care people give it.”
The Professor smiled.
“Then perhaps the Central Valley has been keeping more than one secret.”
Four Cuttings, One Legacy
A final toast to friendship, stewardship, and the legacy preserved at Lesterland Winery.
The afternoon slowly gave way to evening.
Golden light settled across the vineyard.
Professor Corksworth stood quietly for a long moment, looking toward the vines and then toward the river.
“Kevin.”
“Yes?”
“When most people look across this vineyard, they see rows of grapevines.”
Kevin nodded. “I imagine they do.”
“I see something different.”
Kevin looked at him curiously.
“I see four cuttings.”
“I see a friendship.”
“I see another friend who believed enough to plant four acres.”
“I see a physician who spent a lifetime healing people and now spends his days preserving something that might otherwise have disappeared.”
Neither man spoke for a moment.
Oliver quietly looked across the vineyard.
“So this vineyard wasn’t really planted with vines.”
Professor Corksworth smiled.
“No, Oliver.”
“It was planted with trust.”
“It was planted with trust.”
The three raised their glasses one final time as the San Joaquin River continued its quiet journey beside the vineyard.
Some wines are remembered for their medals.
Some are remembered for their rarity.
And some are remembered for the friendships that made them possible.
About Lesterland Winery
Lesterland Winery is a locally owned and operated family winery situated along the San Joaquin River in Fresno, California. Founded by semi-retired orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kevin Lester, the winery grew from his decades-long passion for handcrafted wine and Central Valley agriculture.
Learn more about Lesterland Winery
In addition to Četiri Special Reserve No. 4, Lesterland produces wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Barbera, Zinfandel, dessert wine, honey mead, and limited seasonal releases.