I was recently asked what my favorite aspect of winemaking is. Maybe the obvious answer is, “Well, I like wine”—a fair enough answer but not really a good enough answer, in my mind. After all, so much of our time and energy is spent at work, isn’t it important to understand why it can fulfill us? So, I thought about it, and I’ve been listening to lectures on philosophy lately, so I channeled my inner ancient Greek and thought really hard about it.
I love the puzzle-solving aspect of making wine—the chance to figure out the best way to get from point A (the grapes) to point B (the wine). How do I go about expressing the full potential of each vineyard block? This requires the ability to plan ahead and think things through as well as physically bring these plans to fruition. And I like the opportunity to use my powers of reason and rationality as well as my instinctual and sensorial knowledge to make decisions. (Plato and Aristotle, are you listening?)
And after all this thinking and doing, what I ultimately love about this job is that I get to be involved in making a product that brings people such joy. Wine has the ability to bring people together in simple celebration and help to make memories. It can be shared in friendship and love, and I can’t help but be grateful knowing that my efforts each day have the potential to offer such pleasure. How very Epicurean!
