Alcohol is banned<\/a> in modern Iran under Islamic law, but Momtazi has built a globally recognized wine business in the United States.<\/p>\n Maysara Winery means “house of wine” in Farsi. It currently ranks No. 23 worldwide.<\/p>\n “If this regime is gone, we could progress and be the pride of the Middle East,” said Momtazi, 74.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moe Momtazi was born in Iran and later became a United States citizen. He owns Maysara Winery in Oregon, home of one of the world’s top vineyards. (Direct Wines Inc.)<\/p>\n Iran’s restrictions on alcohol date back to the Islamic Revolution in 1970, when religious authorities outlawed production and sale for most citizens.<\/p>\n “In Persian culture, wine has been and still is a very key component of society,” Momtazi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n TEXAS WINERY BEATS NAPA ELITES WITH SMALL-TOWN SAVVY AND TOP-NOTCH TASTE<\/a><\/p>\n He, his wife and their three daughters see the family business as a continuation of that legacy, thousands of miles from their ancestral homeland.<\/p>\n Momtazi’s 98-year-old mother still lives in Tehran, as do two of his brothers.<\/p>\n Momtazi, center, poses for a photograph with his wife, second from left, and the couple’s three daughters at the family’s Oregon vineyard.\u00a0 (Karissa Williams Photography)<\/p>\n His middle daughter, Naseem Momtazi Bachinsky, told Fox News Digital she’s communicated with her mother’s relatives in Iran \u2014 and they’re all safe.<\/p>\n Momtazi left Iran with his wife, Flora, who was eight months pregnant at the time with their oldest daughter, in 1982. Tahmiene Momtazi was born later that year in Spain.<\/p>\n “We had a really hard journey to get to the United States, but I’m really thrilled and happy<\/a> that we did leave from there because, even then, life was unbearable for us,” he recalled.<\/p>\n NAVY VET-TURNED-WINEMAKER INFUSES MILITARY GRIT INTO POWERHOUSE POURS<\/a><\/p>\n It would be more than two decades before he returned to visit family.<\/p>\n Despite the distance, the Momtazi family’s success<\/a> in America is something their relatives back home celebrate.<\/p>\n “They’re very proud of us, which makes me proud that they’re proud of what we’re doing and what we’ve created,” said Momtazi Bachinsky, who is also president of sales.<\/p>\n Moe and Flora Momtazi are pictured in their native Iran before they got married and settled in the United States. (Momtazi Family)<\/p>\n Wine, they pointed out, is part of a cultural heritage that stretches back thousands of years \u2014 one that predates modern political divides. Persian poets wrote about wine as a symbol of joy, reflection and even spiritual connection, Momtazi said.<\/p>\n For the Momtazi family, producing wine in America is both an expression of gratitude and a nod to history.<\/p>\n “We’re just really lucky and thrilled to be in this country.”<\/p>\n “The United States<\/a> is not second to any other country, and we’re just really lucky and thrilled to be in this country,” Momtazi said.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n Momtazi Bachinsky, who was born in the U.S., said her parents raised her with a simple principle.<\/p>\n “Add value to where you are and who you are,” she said.<\/p>\n Naseem Momtazi Bachinsky, left, told Fox News Digital her mother and father, shown at right, raised her with the following principle: “Add value to where you are and who you are.” (Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n That mindset shaped the winery \u2014 and their outlook on Iran’s future.<\/p>\n “I want freedom \u2026 for the people<\/a> to be able to make their own choices and to be able to do what they want,” Momtazi Bachinsky said.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES<\/a><\/p>\n She remembers first visiting Iran and being upset that she was forced to wear a hijab while she was there.<\/p>\n Moe and Flora Momtazi share a dance on their wedding day, Aug. 2, 1981, in Iran. (Momtazi Family)<\/p>\n “I want women and girls to be able to make that choice without a fear,” she said.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n She’s also hopeful that Iran will become a country that is welcoming of all religions.<\/a><\/p>\n Pictured in his vineyard, Momtazi hopes for a better future for Iran. (Direct Wines Inc.)<\/p>\n “I’m personally not Islamic. I don’t have ties to the religion,<\/a> but it’s not the religion that [is] making people bad,” she said.<\/p>\n “There are certain leaders [who] are using the religious aspect as a power mechanism. And that is what has been bad for the root of that country.”<\/p>\n![\"Moe](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/moe-momtazi-at-maysara-winery-vineyard-in-fog.jpg\")
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