Renewed Spirits

Dave Minton felt the crush of the real estate crash more than most, given his 30-employee realty firm collapsed in the early goings of the bust.

In the boom, in 2004 and 2005, Minton says he spent at least $40,000 a month in overhead. That's when his firm sold homes from Venice to Ellenton under the Gainesville-based Bosshardt Realty flag.

By 2006, though, activity in Minton's agency was at a standstill. “When the market stopped, it was like the faucet just got shut off,” says Minton. “It was a pretty emotional time.”

Bosshardt Realty is still in operation, with offices in Gainesville, Ocala and Venice. Minton, meanwhile, left the firm and turned his negative emotions about the real estate collapse into a new company. He followed the advice of business experts and went with his passion. For Minton, that's the business of wine.

“I've reinvented myself several times,” says Minton, 65. “Now I'm doing something I enjoy doing with very little pressure. It has been a terrific transition.”

Minton's business, D&D Wines, hosts wine tastings, parties and events for groups and companies. Recent clients include Wagner Realty, the Sarasota Junior League and a group of 55 residents from The Landings in Sarasota.

Minton even had to go through a reinvention with D&D Wines, which is named for him and his wife, Diane. When he initially launched the business in 2009, he focused on being a wine broker and distributor, but his first three clients ran into their own recession-induced financial issues last year. So he switched his focus.

Minton was a well-known figure in the Sarasota-Bradenton real estate community in the boom. In 2003 he founded the Suncoast Wine Festival, which has since raised $1 million for local charities. And, Minton and some other business leaders founded the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance in 2005.

Minton initially tried to hang on in real estate after Bosshardt. He worked for a few local firms, but soon quit the industry entirely. Says Minton: “I wasn't having any fun, and I also wasn't making any money.”

The wine business, however, is more than a hobby where he can make extra cash, Minton insists. In addition to the parities and events, Minton holds wine education classes. Topics range from wine basics to how to judge wine by taste, not the bottle.

Minton also put a significant amount of time and money into the venture, though some people surely wouldn't consider visiting 280 California vineyards over a period of three years work. In addition to those trips, in 2009 Minton earned Level II wine certification from the International Wine Guild in Denver — a process Minton called more rigorous than the Realtor's license exam.

“I really got humbled,” says Minton. “I thought I knew a lot about wine, but I knew the least in my class.”

Minton even took a seasonal job with the famed Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley last year to gain some on-the-job experience. He plans to return to California this summer for some more experience, when business slows down in Sarasota-Bradenton.

Says Minton: “I have an obsession to know the big picture.”