DELANO, Calif. -- It was more than three decades ago when a young man from Mexico planted his roots in Delano with the hope of finding work in the fields.

ABC23’s North County reporter Crystal Figueroa brings us the story of his road to success.

Juvenal Montemayor, 52, was only 15 years old when he, his parents and nine brothers and sisters settled in Delano.

They all found work in the fields, but Montemayor also found an opportunity to go into business for himself.

Shortly after arriving in the country, Montemayor bought a big-rig to haul grapes instead of pick them.

Business took off and in the mid 1990s he was able to purchase his first plot of land.

"That's when I bought my first 40-acre grape field,” said Montemayor “People would laugh at me. They thought that I didn't know what I was doing and that I didn't know how much it would cost to cultivate 40 acres of land, but I knew because I had planted grapes my whole life for other growers."

Montemayor says the fruit of his labor paid off and he’s been buying more land ever since. Today, he owns more than 1,000 acres of grape fields.

He called his farms La Jolla, meaning the jewel.

He said those grapes are now more to him than any gem on earth.

His grape vineyards have an estimated worth of $50 million.

He said the secret to his success is to go for it with a positive attitude and put in countless hours of work.