On any given day, this could mean sorting, destemming, pressing or even jumping in tanks with the grapes. She and other interns, all of whom pitch in to help the natural winemakers producing wine out of Pax’s facilities, are guided by what fruit comes in and what requires being done. The “immense amount of work” begins at 8 am and sometimes doesn’t end until 9 or 10 pm, says Kerman. It’s just as demanding as she anticipated. “You’ll either love it or you’ll hate it, but you’ll find out quickly how you feel about the process,” she says. The Oakland-based 34-year-old is on sabbatical from her job in education technology and decided to drive her converted van north to Sebastopol to work her first harvest. “In five years, I hope I’m making wine,” says Amy Kerman. What she’s drinking: Martha Stoumen 2020 Benchlands, “a chillable, playful red.” Amy Kerman, interning at Pax, Sebastopol, California / Photo courtesy Amy Kerman Amy Kerman, 34 Interning at Pax, Sebastopol, California He sees himself as part of a growing generation of future winemakers looking toward hybrid grapes, and not just Old World Vitis vinifera vines. “My ultimate goal is to get as much experience as possible, as quickly as possible and then start my own project and be able to make wine in the Northeast somewhere,” says Griffin. A recent day included tasting every barrel of the winery’s Cabernet Franc and making blends from four of them for the 2019 vintage. He appreciates the way that harvest brings something different every moment. Now at Bloomer Creek in the Finger Lakes, Griffin is interning with “absolute legends” who are making some of his favorite wines in the country. But after a stint working alongside natural winemakers in Chile, where he says he was surrounded by passionate people, he was all in. “I just always had this idea of wine being this really lofty, elitist thing that I would never be a part of,” says Griffin. The biology major says he “loves the natural world,” and “loves fermenting things in general,” but admits wine initially seemed out of reach. What he’s drinking: Bloomer Creek 2019 Bear Vineyard Riesling (Barrel Sample), “super beautiful bouquet of cheesy, bread, fruity”Ĭalvin Griffin’s winemaking aspirations came to light during Covid.
Calvin Griffin, interning at Bloomer Creek, Finger Lakes / Photo courtesy Calvin Griffin Calvin Griffin, 25 Interning at Bloomer Creek, Finger Lakes Sometimes, the wake-up time is as early as 3 am if they’re picking fruit and then it’s just “going, going, going.” Siesta lunches, as Bailey refers to the midday meals where the group tastes and talks about wine, feel particularly rewarding. The arduous days don’t bother her, though Bailey warns of something called “harvest brain,” a sort of tunnel-vision that occurs when one lives, breathes and sleeps harvest.
“I wanted to diversify my experience and harvest in order to understand what route I wanted to take what type of method I want to use,” she says. Thank You! We've received your email address, and soon you will start getting exclusive offers and news from Wine Enthusiast. Working three consecutive harvests at three different wineries, Bailey plans to next take her education and harvest skills to launch her own wine and cider label, Madmarvlus, in 2022. Last year, amid the smoke and devastating vineyard losses of California’s wildfires, Bailey says she gained hands-on experience that made her “think quickly on her feet,” and “be innovative.” It’s the third harvest for Marreya Bailey, who quit her corporate job in 2020 to pursue a winemaking career. What’s she’s drinking: North American Press 2020 The Rebel Baco Noir, or “anything delicious with hybrid grapes big, bad, bold-ass reds.” Marreya Bailey / Photo courtesy Marreya Bailey Marreya Bailey, 33 Interning at Horse & Plow, Sebastopol, California
Get to know five of these unsung industry heroes, who are part of the often invisible but essential crews working harvest across the country. They can be hot, too, under California’s blazing sun or in the thick of Vermont humidity.Įducation is paramount during these internships, which often act as a springboard to future careers in wine. The days are long, sometimes stretching to 12 hours, weekends included. hire interns to help with the hard work of turning grapes into wine. It’s a convivial atmosphere, they say, even as the work experience is unequivocally described as physically demanding and intense.Įach year, for six or eight weeks during harvests, producers across the U.S. At the end of the day, or during a family-style lunch break, groups of harvest interns open bottles of wine and pass them around.
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