My thoughts on Interns
Entry by Stephen Tebb, Director of Winemaking Operations
Categories: Winemaking
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During the harvest period the amount of work is 3X greater than during the “off season”.
We could not get this work done with out the additional help of seasonal interns.
Often time’s interns are college students who are studying viticulture and enology and therefore already have a love of wine and are eager to “get dirty”
The interns are the work horses of the vintage doing a bit of everything, but mostly the unglamorous cleaning and sanitation that is needed everyday as well as grape sampling, crushing, draining and digging out tanks, pressing, multiple additions and then cleaning up and sanitizing all over again. They do this 10-14 hours a day (and night) 7 days a week. A successful harvest would not be possible with out a hardworking, conscientious and dedicated group of interns.
Most seasons I like to hire at least one if not more from overseas. This year in addition to Austin my nephew from Santa Cruz we had 2 interns from France.
Clement de la Farge joins us this vintage after having worked in vineyards in the Loire Valley in France with experience producing Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. He has a Masters degree in Food Technology with an emphasis in wine production. Edouard Lambert had just finished a vintage in the Barossa valley of Australia before he joined us for harvest this year and prior to that worked in several Chateau’s in his home region of Bordeaux including Château Figeac, Saint Emilion 1st Grand Cru Classé. Additionally he received his Masters degree in Enology from the University of Bordeaux.
One of my favorite aspects of harvest is working with the interns, whether it is the unbridled youthful energy and exuberance from a “rookie” like Austin to the cultural and technical exchange as I experienced with Clement and Edouard, is the fresh perspective and shared camaraderie and passion for winemaking.
In the end we couldn’t do it with out them.
So I want to extend a sincere Thank You to the interns of 2007 as well as all those that I have had the pleasure to work with in the past.
Know anyone interested in working a harvest in 2008?
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