Grandson of Salvatore Bruno, Shawn was passed the torch, and learned from his uncles Joe and Nick how to make wine with his wife Misha. In the investigatory process of creating a business, Shawn and Misha dicovered that an old Texas statute declared making and marketing of wine from dried fruit( like raisins) illegal. Shawn and his brother Rocky lobbied to change the laws, and in 1999, the Texas State Legislature lifted dried fruit from the list of prohibited items from which to make wine.

In early 2000, Shawn and Misha began building their boutique winery in historic Sour Lake, and the first wines were produced and sold in the summer of 2001.