Mimi Casteel grew up on her family’s vineyard, Bethel Heights. Growing up working in the vineyard and winery, Mimi gained such an appreciation for the industry that she promptly left home after high school. Armed with a B.A. in history and classics from Tulane University, Mimi spent the next year working in various national forests across the West. Her adventures fueled her passion for studying botany, forestry, and ecology. Mimi earned her M.S. from Oregon State University in forest science and spent the next several years working as a botanist and ecologist for the Forest Service, living in the backcountry. She could never get past the longing for the vineyard and working with the vines. Mimi returned to Bethel Heights in 2005. In 2016 Mimi left Bethel Heights to grow and make wine at her home vineyard and living laboratory, Hope Well.