While helping her parents, Bill and Brenda Murphy, find a marketing director for their business Clos LaChance Winery in San Martin, Durzy realized her heart was no longer in her account managing position at Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.

"I just didn't have any passion for it anymore," she says.

Durzy decided to apply for the position herself. Although her parents may have been the owners, nepotism was not a factor in their decision to hire Durzy. She had to submit to an interview like any other potential employee and was then hired on a six-month trial basis to make sure she would work hard and get along with her co-workers.

"It was a weird experience," Durzy says. "But they wanted to make sure I would take the job seriously."

Durzy is businesslike when it comes to her job, but she also knows when to relax and let go. She says part of the attraction of the wine industry is its emphasis on pleasure.

"[Winemaking] is all about having fun and enjoying life," she says.

Ultimately, Durzy was well-qualified for the job. Bill says that since she joined the company in 1999, Durzy has been largely responsible for expanding the market for Clos LaChance wines into 25 other states. She is now putting her efforts into introducing the winery's products to the international market.

As the economy rebounds from a slump, Durzy says wine sales in the United States are on the rise. She attributes the trend to lowered prices. The success of the movie Sideways, she adds, has also helped to make wine-geeks chic--and something to which inexperienced wine drinkers can aspire.

People who want to up their wine-geek ratio are attending the winery's array of classes, which Durzy says are more popular than ever. Ranging in topic from basic wine appreciation to wines of specific regions, the classes are designed to help novice and experienced connoisseurs bone up on their knowledge of varietals, noses and other specifics of the wine culture.

But wine knowledge isn't all about esoteric terminology, Durzy says. She has discovered that people also want to gain insight on the personal side of winemaking.

"I'll get emails from random people who have had our wine in Florida or Chicago and liked it," she says. "They want to learn about the winery and about us. It's great to establish a personal connection with people who experience our product."

And while many small family businesses are losing out to large, faceless corporations, Bill says winemaking is one industry where the familial spirit is still the top vintage.

"In the industry, it helps to have a family-owned winery," he says. "If you look at the great wineries of the world, like the French chateaux, they are multigenerational family businesses, not large corporations or conglomerations. It's part of the romance."

Clos LaChance is a family operation right down to its moniker. "Clos," is the French word for a small, fenced-in area surrounding a vineyard, and LaChance is Brenda's maiden name. Kristen, who is Durzy's younger sister, is the winery's events director, and Amber, the "winery dog," entertains the staff and guards the crops.

Like famed French wines, the company is homegrown. Clos LaChance began in Bill and Brenda's backyard in Saratoga. Although the vineyard started as a relaxing hobby for the couple--Bill worked at Hewlett-Packard and Co. Brenda was a teacher--it blossomed into a full-time occupation.

"I have always felt that when you reach a certain point in your life, you need to be repotted," Bill says. "I had a great run in the high-tech industry, but it was time to move on and do other things."

After retiring, Bill had time to pursue two lifelong passions--making wine and running his own business.

"I've always had an abiding interest in wine," Bill says. "As I moved out of high tech, my wife and I thought running a small business would be enjoyable. And wine was a great choice because you can enjoy the product."

Looking to expand their business, the family purchased a vineyard in San Martin in 1999. In 2001, they opened the hospitality building, which houses their tasting room and other guest services.

This year, Clos LaChance is featuring a wine produced from the grapes of another local family--Ted and Nancy Biagini of Willow Glen.

The Biagini family grows grapes at their home in Aptos. Ted says that when they purchased the house, a crop of less-than-thriving apple trees were stagnating on the property. Wanting to keep the land fertile, the Biaginis planted grapes in hope that the fruit could yield wine.

"There is a certain romance to it," Ted says. "It's a wonderful crop, and you get to enjoy it for a long time."

Since they planted the vineyard seven years ago, the Biaginis have reaped five harvests of grapes, with the 2002 crop turning out to be especially fruitful--Clos LaChance selected those grapes to turn into pinot noir.

"It's pretty exciting," Ted says. "It's a long, difficult process, from growing the grapes to delivering them to the winery. It takes about two years."

But doing business with the Murphy clan has been enjoyable, Ted adds.

"It's really wonderful to be able to deal family to family," he says. "It's a commercial relationship, but also family-oriented."

Durzy predicts that local growers like the Biaginis and Murphys may end up harvesting a cash crop. She says the San Martin area is well on its way to becoming the next destination for wine tours.

"The north Central Coast is the next hot growing region," she says. "You don't have to deal with as many tourists."

Clos LaChance Winery is located at 1 Hummingbird Lane, San Martin. For more information, call 408.686.1050.