Episode 8 – Ben Martin (USMC) – Dauntless Wine Company

“I was white knuckling it down the highway with a 1,000 gallons of wine in my flatbed…”

What you’ll find in this episode with Ben Martin – Founder and Winemaker at Dauntless Wine Co – is a love of education, history, and a spirit of perseverance that often places him in situations like the one described above.

Dauntless is a veteran-owned and operated winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon whose ultimate mission is to give back to warriors in need by offering them a place to learn about agriculture and an opportunity to heal.

Ben’s story of transition to agriculture is filled with some colorful detours along the way – from driving a truck load of AK-47s and 1,000 gallons of wine down the interstate to a recognition that a first-time job in retail sales following three deployment in a combat arms profession, including the invasion of Iraq in 2003, is probably not a glove fit.

But what always seemed to make sense to Ben was the desire to make his community more resilient through agriculture. This mentality launched Ben into a dauntless journey of problem solving, hand-on education, and the need to continue the veteran’s historical pursuit of agriculture and all the benefits it provides.

I hope you enjoy this episode as Ben describes “wine as bottled history”.