I've been making wine for 20 years. I have always been hands-on—walking the vineyards, working the vines, sorting grapes when they arrive at
the winery, pumping over and punching down, driving the forklift,
dragging hoses, even fixing bottling machines myself. This is the
way I like it (well, maybe not the bottling machine part).
I am constantly studying the grapevines and the ground in which
they're planted. Understanding where your fruit comes from doesn't
just happen. When I go snooping around in the vineyards,
I like to joke that I'm off to "become one with the vines."
But there's always a little truth in jest, no?

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