09/25/2026
Feeling incredibly grateful today.
Thank you to the Auburn Journal and to our community for this recognition. I am truly humbled by it.
And a special thank you to Placer County Agricultural Commissioner Josh Huntsinger, who I now know was responsible for nominating me for this recognition. Josh, thank you for believing that my work was worthy of being recognized. That means more to me than you probably realize.
Josh has been a supporter of our farmers and ranchers, of the Farm Bureau and of agriculture throughout Placer County. I am grateful for his friendship, his encouragement and his willingness to work alongside those of us in agriculture.
Josh, thank you for the nomination and for giving me an opportunity to stop for a moment and appreciate just how many people have been part of this journey.
Agriculture has been part of my work life for 28 years. I had the incredible privilege of growing Viña Castellano alongside my dad, Gabe Mendez, whose dream and vision thrust me into this career. Also my “work husband,” Mr. Victor Brambila, who was beside me as our vineyard manager for 25 years. Victor taught me more about farming a vineyard than I could ever put into words. Also important was my longtime consultant and mentor Derek Irwin. Derek believed that the Sierra Foothills was not just a place where you could grow w**e, but instead of a place where you could grow incredible w**e if you paid attention to the varietals you planted and appreciated our unique terroir.
The truth is, Viña Castellano has always been a Mendez-Wilkins family project. In one way or another, nearly everyone has been pulled into it over the years. Brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, our boys and now even our grandchildren have picked grapes, pruned vines, poured w**e, worked events, washed glasses, moved tables, hauled cases, helped with bottling, bookkeeping, labels, w**e club, harvest, cooking, cleaning, decorating, deliveries, fixing things, selling w**e and doing just about anything else that needed to be done. And, of course, they’ve all learned to be a little wary when I call and start the conversation with, “Hey, are you busy?” 😂
I love my family dearly, and I am incredibly grateful for their patience with me and with this crazy dream we have all somehow shared.
No one deserves that acknowledgment more than my other original partner, Carolyn Mendez, my mom. Mom never particularly wanted to be a farmer. In fact, I’m pretty sure she had no idea she was marrying a frustrated farmer when she married my dad. She married him, raised a family with him, supported his dream and then somehow ended up owning a vineyard and w**ery with the rest of us. Bless her heart! 😂😂😂
And then there is my actual husband, Craig, who has somehow survived 26 years as my assistant, partner, sounding board, heavy lifter and the person who gets volunteered for just about everything. Without him, I could never have developed this passion and kept the Winery going. He is my unsung hero, whether he wants to be or not!
Most importantly, our boys, Cooper and Chance Wilkins, grew up as part of all of it. This w**ery and vineyard have never simply been a business. They have been our family’s life. The sacrifices that both boys made growing up feral on our ranch is noted.
I also know that none of us builds something like this alone.
There are women in Placer County agriculture whom I have looked up to for years, women like Raylene Snow of Snow’s Citrus and Joanne Neft, whose fingerprints can be found on so many of the agricultural projects and organizations that have helped shape this community. They were doing this work, building relationships and advocating for agriculture long before I stepped into many of these roles, and I am grateful for the example they set. I hope someday somebody will say the same of me.
I am equally grateful for the men and women who worked alongside me as we built and grew the Placer County w**e industry and trail. People like Jim Taylor of Mt. Vernon Winery and Charlie Green of Green Family Winery, and friends who joined the journey a little later, like my good buddy Karen McGillivray of Dono dal Cielo and Zane and Pam Dobson of PaZa Estate Winery.
There are so many more. After all these years, I consider myself fortunate to be close to almost everyone in our local w**e industry, and I could never begin to name all the people who have been part of this journey. But these are some of the people who have pretty much always been on speed dial when I needed advice, counseling, a reality check or, occasionally, an emergency mental health check. 😂🍷
And then there is my unofficially adopted little sister, Jocelyn Maddux, who stepped in along the way and helped take our little trail to the next level as our marketer extraordinaire. She has sat beside me on more boards, committees, community projects and crazy ideas than either of us can probably remember. Today, she continues to be one of those people I can count on, and I’m especially grateful to serve alongside her as she leads the Placer County Farm Bureau as our President.
Those are just a handful of names from a much bigger community that has shaped me along the way. Agriculture is not built by one person. It is built by people who show up for one another.
Today, I am incredibly grateful to have Cooper and Katera Wilkins carrying our family legacy forward. They are really exceptional and I think have added a glimmer of hope to an in industry, that frankly, has been struggling. With a hope and a prayer, I believe they can one day pass it down to their children and to my beloved granddaughters, Sophia and Olive. Knowing that what we built is in their capable hands has given me the opportunity and freedom to devote more of myself to another passion project, serving our agricultural community through the Placer County Farm Bureau.
And I am so grateful to the Placer County Farm Bureau Board of Directors for trusting me, supporting me and helping me turn some of the goals I have for this passion project into reality. I may come in with plenty of ideas and enthusiasm, but it takes a board willing to listen, participate, make the phone calls, open doors and work alongside me to actually accomplish them. I am excited about what we are building together and incredibly thankful that they have given me the opportunity to put my energy and my heart into strengthening our local Farm Bureau.
Losing our son Chance this year has made the meaning of the word legacy more real to me than I ever wanted it to be. It has also made me understand, on an entirely different level, just how important community is.
When life changes in an instant, the people who embrace you, encourage you, pray for you, show up for you and lift you when you aren’t quite sure how to stand on your own become part of your story too.
And that is what I love about agriculture in Placer County. We may grow different crops, raise different animals, make different w**es, run different businesses and come from different generations, but at the end of the day, we are a community. And I will absolutely give a shameless plug, if you do not currently belong to the Placer County Farm Bureau give me a call. 530-916-2929. I’m looking for people to help us keep the legacy of agriculture alive in Placer County. 🤪
So while I am incredibly grateful for this recognition, I am even more grateful for all the people who helped me get here and for the opportunity to use this next chapter to help strengthen and protect agriculture in Placer County for the generations who come after us.
Dad and Chance, I sure wish you were both here to see this one.
To my family, my Farm Bureau family, my w**e family, our farming community and the many people whose names I couldn’t possibly fit into one post, thank you.
I am honored. I am grateful. And I’m ready to keep working.
https://www.facebook.com/100063570070663/posts/1727312639397722/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Teena Wilkins helped grow Viña Castellano Winery with her dad, Gabe Mendez. But her vision extends well beyond her family's vineyards on Bell Road.
