Milum was born into a traveling lifestyle. He and his two sisters were the children of an Army Engineer who took the family on a wild ride around the USA and the world throughout the first 18 years of Milum’s life. As a young boy he spent the first three years of grade school living in Greece when it could still be considered the old country. Sheep used to be herded down the dirt street in front of the family house twice a day.
 

Upon returning to the United States, the family moved each year to different states around the country for different tours of duty, only to move later to Thailand where Milum attended high school for two years. Returning to the US, Milum finished high school in New York and later attended the University of California at Santa Barbara majoring in environmental economics.
 

After college life, a passion for the outdoors led to many years of outdoor adventure and athletic competition. These included marathon running, bicycle racing, ultra-marathon cycling riding with the Spenco team, raft guiding in the Grand Canyon and on California rivers, marathon kayak racing, and mountaineering mixed with telemark skiing.
 

“I balanced my passion for the outdoors with work in the construction industry and years of managing outdoor retail and service businesses to pay the bills. Managing bike and ski shop businesses and working in management for ski areas helped keep me active and working with like minded people. Working for and managing a large bike touring operation satisfied my travel bug and let me interact with a large range of people in exciting locations around the world.”

Milum’s interest in wine dates back to his racing days. “When I was a competitive cyclist I trained while riding through the vineyard areas of old-vine Zinfandel in the Amador County foothills. Those old gnarly, dry-farmed vines reminded me of the ancient olive trees in Greece. I had to buy some of those wines just out of curiosity, and wow! That wine told the story of those old vines through its depth and character."

"Later, as a member of the US Marathon Kayak team, I raced down the length of the Douro River in Portugal for four days, past the steep, terraced vineyards of the Port wine producers. Each night the wineries who were sponsoring the race would wine and dine us. Marathon kayaking and marathon wine dinners were the first taste of what my life was to become.”
 

Milum’s transition from collecting and consuming wine to winemaking has been a fulfilling experience. Farming, cellar work and owning a business provide the roots that a traveling lifestyle never did. Milum spent a couple of harvests working for a small winery to learn more about the needs and design of a small winery before building their winery in 2004. His experience as a former general contractor came in handy as he and a couple of helpers pounded the nails and raised the frames that became Tildio.