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News & Reviews

California Winemaker Has Roots in Kansas
September 18, 2008


The Wichita Eagle
Kansas.com

Sean Minor says his Kansas upbringing isn't too odd a background for a California winemaker.


"My parents always enjoyed wines, and my mother's side of the family, we're all farmers," Minor said while in Wichita recently to promote his Four Bears wines.


Minor, 42, whose parents are from Hutchinson, was born in Manhattan and grew up in Overland Park before leaving to attend Arizona State.


After going into sales for a California winery, Minor caught the winemaking bug and took classes in the University of California-Davis' famed viniculture program. He spent two decades with wineries in California and Oregon before starting his own label -- named for his four children -- in 2005.


The wines, which have been available in Wichita for about three months, have been garnering accolades from the wine press and sellers alike.












The Minor Family

In August 2007, she had a C-section, and though she worried about complications, Monica delivered a healthy baby girl. But hours after Sofia was born, Monica began running a fever. No one was concerned at first -- Monica figured it was just hormones -- but three days later the fever hadn't broken, and Monica's abdomen was swollen and painful. iReport.com: What do you think about this story? Sound off on video

The doctors at Monica's hospital thought she might be infected with a deadly strain of bacteria. They flew her to a hospital in Boston where she was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating bacteria.

Defying the odds, Monica survived, but many of her organs didn't. The doctors removed Monica's uterus, ovaries, gallbladder and part of her colon that same day.