It's the Fruit Stupid

I am a winemaker. Well...a home winemaker.

As we end the wine making season and put this years wines to bed, it reminds me that the unsung heroes in the wine business are the growers - the people that grow the fruit that allow us Californians to make world class wine. In retirement, my hobby is both viticulture and wine making so I straddle "both sides of the fence" (eight foot deer fence that is). We grow small amounts of both Pinot Noir and Viognier, and in addition to making these wines, from time to time we buy fruit or get free fruit from generous grower friends.

Those that are "into wine" know that the winemakers are the heroes - especially if their wine is rated a 90+ in the Wine Spectator. When that happens we celebrate the winemaker and put him on a pedestal. And quite often they deserve it.

I have been making wine for only five years, so admittedly I am a novice. But I have never forgotten something I read once: "It's impossible to make good wine from bad grapes, but easy to make bad wine from good grapes". I know many people will disagree, but in my opinion, the fruit represents 75% of the quality of the wine, and sometimes the winemakers job is not to screw it up. Wine making in many ways is an art and good winemakers deserve the accolades, but if the fruit they start with is not good...good luck!

The grape grower nurtures his vines all year, worrying about water in a drought year, mildew and bunch rot in a wet year. And then there are pests - birds, bees, gophers, squirrels, raccoons, grasshoppers.....and a few exotic ones that can wipe out a vineyard. Then the grower has to prune each year, fertilize, spray for mildew and other diseases, thin leaves, then worry about birds eating his fruit, and finally finding someone to pick...and oh yes, hopefully he has found someone too buy the fruit.

So I salute the grower.
In politics, the favorite saying is "It's the economy stupid".
In wine making it should be, "It's the fruit stupid"