Making of a Winemaker

Like any journey has its peaks and lulls, we’re in a bit of a limbo state. We often think back to our days in Temecula, CA. Exactly half a decade ago, our aspirations of moving to wine country were just stirring, sparks were flying. Now an enology/viticulture degree, two major moves, and three kids later, we’re living in the heart of Oregon wine country and Dave has logged a year of full time work at Argyle Winery. We wonder what the next step will be. Paying his dues at Argyle another 2-3 years? Looking for new opportunities to move up the ladder? Venturing out into our own startup? We’re constantly weighing out the risks and benefits, the sacrifices and gains to be earned between Dave’s career and our family life. We got back from visiting some good friends in Corvallis last weekend, and found our friends asking the same questions. It seems to be a theme of being adults (no longer young adults) with little kids needing much of our love and attention. It’s a busy but very full season of our lives.

I’ll often meet people that are intrigued with Dave’s career choice. I thought it’d be fun to interview some of the winery interns Dave has had the chance to hang out with over the last several months to get an idea of what brings people into the industry. Meet the interns:

Marie Charlemagne – 23

Growing up in a winemaking family in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in Champagne, Marie had the opportunity to discover the wine industry at an early age and participate in the elaboration of several vintages. Her father not only passed on his knowledge but also his passion for winemaking. She is currently pursuing a double degree in Viticulture-Oenology at Montpellier SupAgro and general agronomy in AgroParisTech. She is the president of the Oenology Association at her school where she has organized tastings with several estates and also international blind tasting challenges between schools such as Cornell, Cambridge and Oxford through the CAV’iT (Challenge AgroVinoTech) in partnership with Champagne Ruinart. This is her third harvest across Oregon, South Africa, and Australia and she plans to return to her family winery while keeping an open mind to other methods of winemaking.

Nicholas Cheatham  – 23

Nick is a graduate of Oregon State University’s department of Food Science and Technology with a Fermentation Science option and a minor in chemistry. Interestingly enough, he went to OSU with absolutely no intention of making wine; in fact, he was quite opposed to it. He wanted to make beer and was very set on doing so until he attended his first career fair at OSU as a sophomore. He had no professional experience in the alcoholic beverage industry or family background, and when his interest in brewing companies wasn’t reciprocated, he gravitated towards a few friendly faces at the A to Z Wineworks booth. He was offered his first harvest internship in 2014, helped with the bottling line, and returned for a viticulture internship in 2015.  Since then, he’s worked at Hat Ranch Winery in Idaho, BlueBird Hill Cellars in Monroe, OR, and recently another viticulture/harvest internship at Adelsheim Vineyard in Newberg, OR. He will be working full-time at BlueBird Hill Farm B&B, and Cellars in Monroe, OR. He also plans to travel to New Zealand in February 2018 for his first harvest internship abroad.

Dave Cho – 33

Dave left managing his family’s restaurant in southern California in 2014 to begin his studies of enology & viticulture at Oregon State University and to pursue a career in winemaking. He is currently spending his fourth harvest experience as a viticulture and cellar intern at Stoller Family Estate in Dundee Hills, his first two were in Temecula at a custom crush facility working as a lab tech, and last year he was in the cellar at Benton Lane Winery in Monroe. In the long term, he hopes to one day have his own label.

Gioacchino Manzulli – 22

Gioacchino is an Italian from Apulia, South Italy. He graduated with an enology & viticulture degree at the University of Padua and is in his second year of the Master degree program in enology & viticulture and wine marketing at the University of Udin. Winemaking is in his blood – his father, Vinicola Manzulli, is an owner of a winery in South Italy, so naturally Gioacchino grew up in that environment and was drawn to the field. Their winery doesn’t own their own vineyards, but buys grapes from friends and follows the process from crush to bottling in their winery. His goal is to expand his family business – his graduation gifts were pressure tanks to produce his own sparkling wine.  His first harvest in Oregon was in 2017 at Argyle Winery, but he has also done a harvest in Rioja, Spain.

Pierre Marot – 20 

Pierre, one of Dave’s intern housemates, is currently a reserve winery intern at Stoller Family Estate. This is his 5th harvest – four in Burgundy and his first in Oregon. His first harvest was at 15 years of age at Domaine Dubois Bernard & Fils in France. He is from a small town called Saint-Loup-Géanges in Burgundy, France and his family owns Domaine Arnoux Père & Fils. He initially came to Oregon to improve his English and learn other techniques of vinification and Chardonnay.  His uncle’s enologist is also a consultant at Stoller.

Riccardo Passiente aka “Maestro” – 26

Riccardo, another one of Dave’s housemates, is from the Prosecco region of Italy. This year is his seventh harvest – four in Italy and three in Oregon. His family owns a vineyard that sells to well known wineries such as La Marca. He went to the University of Padua and studied enology & viticulture, and is currently working on his marketing degree. He started out doing an overseas internship through his university when he first came to Stoller Family Estate. The “maestro” also bakes authentic pizzas for his housemates on the outdoor grill.

Roverto Sepulveda – 23

Roverto was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York at the age of 10 to pursue the “American Dream”. With little work experience, he starting working as a dishwasher at 19 years old and quickly moved up the ranks. Wanting to expand his food and wine knowledge, he was invited to a study group for a group of sommeliers studying for the Court of Master Sommeliers certified and advanced exams. After passing the introductory exam, he was selected to attend a wine & spirit class by Master Sommelier and executive beverage director Joshua Nadel.  Josh introduced Roverto to the winemakers at Northwest Wine Co who took him on as an intern with no cellar experience. After finishing his first internship at Northwest this harvest, he plans to continue working in the Hospitality industry as a sommelier/bartender and eventually become a beverage director. He plans to work a harvest every year now.

These interns are pretty entertaining to hang around after a hard day of cellar work. I had the chance to sit in on their conversations about the ins and outs of their work days and their future aspirations. They geek out on their knowledge of what goes into a specific vintage and what could have been done to improve the wine. This combination of locals and internationals is something truly special.

The last of the fruit has come in the last couple weeks in the Willamette Valley. Finally, the craze of harvest – receiving and processing grapes – is slowing down. Some of the interns will be returning back to their homes overseas. Last week, Bill Stoller, owner of Stoller Family Estate, held an incredible harvest party for the crew and the pictures prove it.  He was a generous host that opened up his personal wine cellar for each of his staff to pick any bottle of their choosing. Dave chose the 1999 Musigny from Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue (it averages $1500 a bottle). Such a huge privilege!

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