Flora Springs Winery is named after two life-giving forces: the springs that flow unceasingly from the hills behind the winery and Flora Komes, the matriarch of the family. Flora will celebrate her 99th birthday in November and don’t even begin to imagine her as a decrepit old woman.

Flora has a sparkle in her eye, a jaunt to her step and a mean game of dominoes. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1911 Flora has always lived up to her name. She loves to garden and at all times has green plants thriving around her. Although it’s been a few years since she has put a shovel to the earth on the Flora Springs Estate, we credit her with the spectacular show of color that occurs each Spring around the winery.

The hillside behind us is usually still lush from the winter rains, the fruit trees that line the terraced vineyards flower with splashes of pink and white, and Grandma Flora’s fig tree starts to show life. She has poured a lifetime of love and energy into the Grounds of Flora Springs, which stand as wonderful tribute to her legacy.

Flora left Honolulu after her high school graduation to become a nurse. It was as a student at St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco that she met the love of her life on a blind date. Jerry Komes knew he met “the one” but Flora refused to marry him until she successfully graduated and had secured a nursing position.
While she eventually gave up her career to raise their children, she is still a nurse at heart and it shows. Jerry and Flora were quite a team. She was his greatest supporter and he was always quick to tell you that his accomplishments were not his alone but possible because of Flora. They were married 67 years when Jerry died at the age of 89.

If you have the good fortune to meet Flora, you won’t soon forget her. And, if you have the opportunity to walk through the gardens at Flora Springs, you may even feel the soul of Hawaii.