W. P. Carey Alumni Spotlight

Featuring: Sean Minor ’88 

 W. P. Carey alumnus Sean Minor ’88, along with his wife Nicole Fregosi Minor ’89, are the founders and owners of Four Bears Winery and Sean Minor Wines. The couple stated that their perspective of ASU has progressed from “we went to ASU” to “we are proud graduates of Arizona State University!”

Both Sean and Nicole attribute their success to the strong foundations instilled in them during their time as undergraduates. Heavily involved in campus life, Sean shared that he had the opportunity to gain leadership experiences that helped him to overcome his shyness and opened the doors for professional opportunities.

Additionally, Sean believes that the classes in entrepreneurship, marketing and business analysis had a significant and real world application. Specifically, the mandatory upper division marketing class allowed Sean to not only work in a cross functional team but also to hone his talents in developing forward thinking strategies – skills heavily relied upon in his business operations.

Compelled by the spirit of entrepreneurialism, Sean and Nicole founded Four Bears Winery and Sean Minor Wines in 2005. They are all about family and named the business for their four children: Nick, Elle, Jack and Charlie. Starting the winery was both a professional and personal dream. After a number of years in the industry, Sean knew there had to be an affordable way to produce great wines at an affordable price. The initial production featured a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Central Coast Chardonnay, and Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc. Wine selections have grown to include the Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley Merlot, and a Napa Valley Carneros Pinot Noir.

For today’s W. P. Carey student, Sean and Nicole offer this advice: “Concentrate on being well-rounded! Be involved. The size of ASU is a benefit in that it offers something for everyone. Learn to manage multiple priorities and prepare for doing well with a variety of tasks. The world does not function in a single dimension and neither should you!” “Don’t be afraid to fail. Putting yourself on the line is worth the risk. Practice humility…realize you are not the smartest person in the room…only then can you learn from others.”

These first few months of 2010 have flown by so quickly and all of a sudden we realized it was time to get an update out to our loyal Sean Minor Wines community! We hope the new year is off to a great start for all of you.                   

We hosted our first local wine dinner here in Sacramento mid-January at Tuli Bistro. We had such a wonderful time meeting new people and reconnecting with friends. Not only was it our first local dinner, but it was also the inaugural wine dinner for the restaurant. As Chef Adam Pechal recently recalled, “it sold out in about five minutes!” The food and wine pairings were outstanding. The menu and pictures from the evening are available for viewing on our Facebook fan page. We really appreciate all of you who attended and we are hoping to do another dinner at Tuli in the near future.                  

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A friend of ours recently contacted us to find our wines in Utah. He picked up a bottle of our 2008 Sean Minor Four Bears Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma County and shared this recipe with us. We thought we would pass it along to all of you to enjoy!

“Last night I prepared Moroccan spiced game hen with couscous, a veg medley, and olive bread. This was artfully enjoyed with one of the most AMAZING Sauvignon Blancs I’ve ever experienced, thanks to your skillfull mastery of some Sonoma grapes!! I LOVED IT!! Whoo-hoo!! I’m one happy camper, so thanks for all your help in getting me introduced to 4B!! Consider me hooked!”

Although it can be altered, this is what I prepared for Moroccan Game Hen, which I was very happy with:
2 Game Hens (can be either rotisseried, or spatchcocked flat for the grill)
1 Grated Onion
2 Tbs chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 Tbs chopeed fresh cilantro
3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp white pepper
Combine everything and whisk to mix, then add hens, cover and marinate for 8 hours. Then grill for 16-22 mins, alternating med and hot sides of grill on both sides.

for the Moroccan veg w/ couscous, I used a receipe I found on Epicurious:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Quick-Moroccan-Vegetable-Couscous-1194

-Steve, Salt Lake City, UT

If you try out this recipe let us know what you think! A big thanks to Steve for giving us the opportunity to please his palate.

Cheers,

Sean and Nicole Minor

We are posting daily on Facebook and Twitter. If you use either of these sites check us out! And if you aren’t into the social networking don’t worry about it. You can see all of our posts right here on our blog. Just check out our live Twitter feed to the right to stay on top of all the latest and greatest from Sean Minor Wines!

Cheers,

Sean and Nicole

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