A dancer has to take a pretty big leap to go from toe-tapper to grape-stomper, but that is the graceful transition legendary performer Rodney Strong made in 1959 when he and his longtime dance partner, Charlotte Ann Wilson, married and moved to Tiburon, Calif., to begin a new life.

Rod was once asked what inspired him to give up dance for a career in wine. He responded with his now famous quote: “I knew I couldn’t be an old dancer, but I could be an old winemaker.”