Wine growers are just as important as winemakers

Wednesday, 26 October, 2016
VinePair, Laura Burgess
Winemakers are the prom queens of the wine business. Generally, they deserve their tiaras and the spotlight — there really is a degree of magic in transforming a pile of grapes into delicious wine, after all. (Trust me, stomping grapes in your backyard won’t get the same results.)

But there’s another person in the winemaking equation who deserves more of that same spotlight, and maybe even a crown of his or her own: the wine growers who provide wineries with the raw materials - the grapes - essential to vinous bliss. It’s easy to get lost between the bottles and flashy marketing, but wine is an agricultural product.

Like the prom planning committee, devoted, hardworking farmers are essential to winemaking, but their role lies behind the shiny labels and pretty barrels that surround winemakers. From farmers who own and tend their own vines, to contracted managers who care for large swaths of vineyard land, these growers do an equal share of a season’s work, guiding the fruit of a grapevine into the perfect balance for award-winning and chuggable wines.

While a handful of winemakers also tend their own vineyards, the amount and scope of work it takes to get grapes wine-ready makes doing both jobs almost impossible. Contrary to popular belief, the job duties of growers and winemakers share few (if any) similarities, and both require a full year’s work.

The start and end of grape season may get all the attention, but it’s a labor of love for a full 12 months.

Even in seemingly “slow” seasons, growers stay busy fertilizing vineyards and monitoring rainfall, vineyard parallels to constantly topping up and tasting wine in the cellar.

These jobs require two different skill sets, and while the roles overlap, especially at the harvest hand-off of grapes, their key traits and critical skill sets are completely different and warrant separate college degrees.

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