Do You Care If Your Winemaker Grows Their Own Fruit?

[Michael_S_c_a_r_p_a]

I am equally interested in the farming aspect as the wine making… so yes i’d say i prefer it

[Jay_Miller]

I care about how the fruit is grown, I care about how the wine is made, I don’t care much of they are done by the same person.

I’ve had great wine made both ways.

[Merrill_Lindquist]

No, it does not matter to me if the wine I am drinking is made by a grower/winemaker. I think there are great vineyards, which I believe is a combination of location/weather (terroir, if you will) and farming practices. If I taste a wine from a winery who has a vineyard designated on the label, and I am attracted to that wine, I often look for other wineries who make wine from that same vineyard.

Am I thankful that as a winery owner I also own my own vineyard? Absolutely yes - I love it. It is the foundation of my business as I have founded and developed it. Just the way this happened.

[Brian_Tuite]

@Markus S

Of course: quality in, quality out.
Wouldn’t you rather know who is involved in the process from the beginning? Just like people like to buy meat/fish/vegetables/etc. from the folks who raise or harvest them.

Do you insist that the restaurant raise the catttle, fowl, sheep, grow all their own veggies? You can direct purchase all the grapes you want but who is going to turn it into wine? The winemaker who is buying direct from the farmer.

[Sebastian_C]

For blended wines not so much. For PN I guess I do. I feel quality control and yields are more important.

[Robert.A.Jr]

@Brian Tuite

@Markus S

Of course: quality in, quality out.
Wouldn’t you rather know who is involved in the process from the beginning? Just like people like to buy meat/fish/vegetables/etc. from the folks who raise or harvest them.

Do you insist that the restaurant raise the catttle, fowl, sheep, grow all their own veggies? You can direct purchase all the grapes you want but who is going to turn it into wine? The winemaker who is buying direct from the farmer.

I agree entirely with Markus here. My favorite winemakers that I buy from quite loyally grow their own grapes. Most of them are old school producers in Northern Rhone, Chinon and Bordeaux. California has trended away from the grower model. Granted, some are producing excellent wines, but to me it simply is not the same.

Respectfully, the restaurant analogy is not a fair or accurate comparison. A winemaker makes a singular product. A restaurant generally produces a myriad of items, making it quite unlikely for them to also grow and raise all of what they ultimately cook.

[Jurgens_E]

Yes I do. It was quite surprised to learn that many of the top US wineries do not grow their own grapes.

I guess this is because my experience with winemakers is almost always small wineries in Germany or France that are located within or close to the vineyards. Its a romantic ideal probably.

Interestingly, I visited van Volxem (Saar) this spring and they told me that one of their wines was not allowed the VDP designation because it was made from fruit that was purchased. So Germans care as well…

[Michael_Martin]

I guess my actions speak louder than words. Most of the wines that I buy are from producers that do not grow their own grapes. With that being said, these same producers write/talk often about spending time in the vineyard. They may not own it, but they tend it.

[M_Dildine]

@Frank Murray III

No, it doesn’t matter for me. Tell me that Kutch, Copain and Carlisle are all suffering in some way with quality because none of these guys own their own fruit, that McDougall, Kiser and Atoosa’s (Papa’s Block) vineyards could taste better if these wineries above owned these key plots.

Frank, I believe that both Mike and Wells manage farming on leased vineyards. Some like Tegan control the entire process, start to finish.

[Paul_Flynn]

It does and it doesn’t. Good wine is good wine no matter what. Still, I feel like there’s a relationship between the wine and the land and if a winemaker is part of that relationship it’s easier for me to envision a long term relationship with that wine. AKA, I’m more likely to buy such a wine year after year regardless of other factors.

[KatrinaBI]

@Jim Anderson

@KatrinaBI

Nope. If I like the wine-maker’s work, I trust him/her to source good fruit.

I certainly won’t say no to Fourrier or Leroy’s negociant bourgognes. I’m just as happy with Ted Lemon’s wine from sourced fruit such as Mays Canyon as I am with his estate grown Haven wine. Kelley Fox’s wines sourced from the Maresh vineyard might be even better for my palate than Jim Arterberry’s estate wine from that vineyard. Makes no difference at all that she hasn’t grown that fruit.

Kelley does a good portion of the farming in her blocks. Probably everything but pruning I would guess and she may do that.

yeah, I knew I was pushing the point with that example, knowing how involved she is…but the larger argument generally holds…

[G_D_y_e_r]

The winemaker is the manager, and a skilled manager knows when and how to delegate. If the quantities are small and the proprietor owns the vineyard, then it makes sense for the winemaker to also farm the vines. But if land costs are prohibitive or there is a lot of land to cover, someone else should be doing the farming. The winemaker can still make the high level decisions, yet avoid diluting his/her time through micromanaging a large operation.

If the vineyard manager can deliver top quality fruit at a reasonable price, then I don’t think it makes a difference. There just needs to be coordination, collaboration and attention to quality at each phase.

[Paul_Luckin]

@G. D y e r

The winemaker is the manager, and a skilled manager knows when and how to delegate. If the quantities are small and the proprietor owns the vineyard, then it makes sense for the winemaker to also farm the vines. But if land costs are prohibitive or there is a lot of land to cover, someone else should be doing the farming. The winemaker can still make the high level decisions, yet avoid diluting his/her time through micromanaging a large operation.

If the vineyard manager can deliver top quality fruit at a reasonable price, then I don’t think it makes a difference. There just needs to be coordination, collaboration and attention to quality at each phase.

+1

[PaulMills]

The romantic in me says I want the winemaker to own the vineyards. The realist says it doesn’t matter, so long as the winemaker has some say in the growing process.

[David_Bu3ker]

@Robert Alfert

@Brian Tuite

@Markus S

Of course: quality in, quality out.
Wouldn’t you rather know who is involved in the process from the beginning? Just like people like to buy meat/fish/vegetables/etc. from the folks who raise or harvest them.

Do you insist that the restaurant raise the catttle, fowl, sheep, grow all their own veggies? You can direct purchase all the grapes you want but who is going to turn it into wine? The winemaker who is buying direct from the farmer.

I agree entirely with Markus here. My favorite winemakers that I buy from quite loyally grow their own grapes. Most of them are old school producers in Northern Rhone, Chinon and Bordeaux. California has trended away from the grower model. Granted, some are producing excellent wines, but to me it simply is not the same.

Respectfully, the restaurant analogy is not a fair or accurate comparison. A winemaker makes a singular product. A restaurant generally produces a myriad of items, making it quite unlikely for them to also grow and raise all of what they ultimately cook.

Do you drink any non-European wines? There are tons of fantastic wines coming from California and myriad other places where the winemaker works with a grower to produce outstanding fruit and great wine. The same goes for restaurants where they have arrangements with farmers to supply top ingredients. Your contention that it is not a fair comparison is convenient and flawed.

[Michael_S_Monie]

Many good points made, so far. I do agree that once the bona fides of the quality of the fruit are secured, the idea that quality or value is added because the winemaker grew their own fruit, is largely a romantic notion.

[Jamie_Kutch]

@Frank Murray III

No, it doesn’t matter for me. Tell me that Kutch, Copain and Carlisle are all suffering in some way with quality because none of these guys own their own fruit, that McDougall, Kiser and Atoosa’s (Papa’s Block) vineyards could taste better if these wineries above owned these key plots.

These three things would remain the same:

1. If I owned McDougall I would hire Ulises Váldez to farm it, who already farms it. So no difference there.

2. If I owned McDougall I could call all the shots including pruning time, amount of wood left on, trellising choices, sprays / timing, irrigation choices and pick decisions. That would be exactly what I am already able to do, purchasing via an acreage contract. So no difference there.

3. If I owned McDougall the fruit and the wine would identical to what I currently have and receive. So no difference there.

These three things would change:

1. I could market to all my customer & inform them all that I own an estate vineyard.

2. I could be a few million dollars poorer but be land rich.

3. I would have to raise the price from $59 a bottle to $99 per bottle to cover the property tax, purchase price, etc.

[David_Bu3ker]

But Jamie, the romance…isn’t that more important than money?

[PaulMills]

I was going to ask how vineyard ownership would affect the price of the wine, would someone like Jamie need to raise the prices significantly to pay for the land or just a little and hold it for the long haul.

[Jamie_Kutch]

Ah yes. The romance.

I am fortunate I can sleep at night and not be the one that has to worry about the drought & running out of water if we didn’t get rain this year.