About Winemaking:
- The future of winemaking will be in organic production. This is because only the best, healthiest grapes make good wine, and healthy grapes come from healthy, strong plants. Additionally, every soil is unique only so long as it is still living. Once chemicals are sprayed and the balance of the soil destroyed, you lost the terroir, the unique and subtle variation of flavors caused by different locations.
- Just as healthy vines make good wine, so do healthy and happy people. You must have joy in your work, and that joy will show in the wine. When you lose sight of that, then the wine becomes ordinary and dull.
- The art of fine winemaking lies in the "magic" of the unpredictable and the unexplainable. See previous post.
About Life:
- As Einstein said, knowledge only comes from experience. Everything else is information. It is important to realize that schooling is important, but can only carry you so far. Until you have done something, you do not really know anything about it.
- It is important to remember the above point, because allowing yourself to think you truly know something will limit you, as a winemaker and in life. He went so far as to say some of his worst workers graduated with degrees in Viticulture.
- Always be ready to listen before telling.
About Finding Work:
- It is inconceivable that I will not find work. Showing up with my work-permits in hand, and a willingness to work and learn should go far. My strategy of researching individual wineries, meeting the owners/operators, and showing up with lots of questions should produce results. He had already filled his small crew for the season, but otherwise would hire me.
- Keep looking at small wineries, because only at small wineries will I get exposure to every aspect of the operation. Expect the pay to be poor, but it will be a more valuable experience overall.
~ matt
No comments:
Post a Comment