Dr. David Muhleman

The-Wine-Educator    WINE & SPIRITS EDUCATION AND CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE CONSUMER AND THE PROFESSIONAL

July 2008

I was at a winemaker dinner the other evening and I was talking with the Marketing Director of a well known Sonoma winery. We talked about all the elements which impact wine making, and he suggested a winemaker needed to be one-part geologist, one-part chemist, one-part artist, and one-part theologian. I think the last part was because most winemakers talk to their God on a daily basis.

This visit made me think about the role of the winemaker, and it resembles the role of a cook. Ranging from a hired consultant (celebrity chefs and flying winemakers) to the owner/winemaker are invested from the soil to the sale.

Wine making really falls into four distinct areas; viticulture, vinification, the business of wine, and staying up on current wine events. Failing to master all these areas, and the winemaker is doomed.

Viticulture.

Although there are more wineries that DON’T grow their own grapes, than do; it’s still critical that the winemaker know the condition and source of his “raw materials” (grapes or grape juice). Just as a cook tries to get the best ingredient for his meal, the winemaker can make no better wine than the grapes he (or she) has to begin with.

Quality of the “raw materials” can range from what style of wine the winemaker wants to make, to what price range/profit is the wine intended to produce, to the volume of grapes/juice the winemaker will need (all wineries have capacity bottlenecks), and what grapes are available to buy. Most large wineries have long term contracts with their best grape growers and work closely during the growing season to help produce the quality of grape they want to start with.

Vinification.

All the premium grapes/juice in the world is useless if the winemaker ruins it trying to make wine. As with a chef, anyone can ruin a meal if they don’t know what to do with the “raw materials” at hand. It is often said that the grapes/juice will tell you what it is supposed to make. You can’t make a huge 17% zinfandel if the grapes/juice is under ripe or swollen with fresh rainfall. You can’t make what you don’t have.

I am a proponent that a good winemaker can make good wine in a bad vintage. Through winemaking techniques, blending, aging, etc. a good winemaker can often times do wonders. But so can a bad winemaker; as in “I wonder what this wine is?”

The Business of Wine.

Most winemakers want to make a profit, at least once in a while. And just like a restaurant owner, there are a million decisions which affect the bottom line. Many business decisions are out of the winemaker’s control; shipping laws, taxes, weather, etc. But there are hundreds (if not thousands) of business decisions the winemaker can control, from the type of barrels to the type of bottles. Each decision affects the bottom line, plus or minus.

Current events.

The wine industry is a huge, world-wide industry and any winemaker that does not stay current on wine issues will soon succumb. Whether it’s keeping up on legal decisions, new equipment, new information, or even the fad and fashion of what wines are popular and which have gone “sideways”, the winemaker has to stay current on the state of the industry. There are tens of thousands of decisions to be made in the vineyard. There are tens of thousands of decisions to be made in the cellar. There are tens of thousands of business decisions to be made; great and small. And there is a world of changes happening everyday in the wine industry. Any one of these changes and decisions can change the course of a winery and a wine. There are home runs to hit, and strike outs waiting at every crossroads.

To say a winemaker has to be part geologist, part chemist, part artist, and part theologian may be too simple. What a winemaker must be is a great decision maker. Some of those decisions will be made based on geology, some on chemistry, some on inner artistry, and some from Divine intervention. But all are focused on producing the wine they want to make, and the wine the grapes want to make.

Next time you meet your favorite winemaker, remember their day has been full of decisions; important career decisions, everyday. And to all you winemakers, my hat’s off to you. Thanks.

Until next month, drink good wine.