It would appear that each of these new wineries all babysit their wine with tender loving hands and rock each barrel to sleep at night.
For some unknown reason, I’ve taken to reading back labels on the multitude of new wines popping up like mushrooms after a warm October rain. It seems winemakers must take a course in writing words that don’t really say much—I suppose just like doctors take a course in writing so no one can read it (except maybe the local pharmacist). It would appear that each of these new wineries all babysit their wine with tender loving hands and rock each barrel to sleep at night. The fun part is, it sounds as though they’re raising children rather than making wine.
While reading all of this back label prose about the love in the product, I wonder first, if I’m supposed to have the same taste as the winemaker, and second, if all this tender loving care all comes from the careful babysitting done at home under the 24-hour watchful eye of the winemaker.
Glancing through a recent edition of The Healdsburg Tribune, I was drawn to the Fictitious Names lists for new businesses. A couple were quite lengthy, so I wondered what they were referring to and, lo and behold, it was a local custom crush winery facility. For those of you unfamiliar with custom crush facilities, they basically boil down to making your own wine without a winery. Services provided range from pick and crush to a completely bottled finish product or anything in between, perhaps even just storage. They generally don’t provide barrels but do rent space to store them. A grower/winemaker can give input into the winemaking process, or at least the basic things he or she wants done.
There are several custom crush facilities all over the state. Those that deal with smaller batches are quite popular here on the North Coast. Also, many local wineries provide custom crush services for local growers. Custom crushing for an existing winery is a cash cow, even though it can be a pain to the winemaker. Small custom crush customers (frequently wannabe winemakers) are almost worse than little league parents, if that’s possible. But the additional income seems to make up for some of the headaches. On the other side of the fence, there are many good reasons to go the custom crush route when you’re getting started as a fledgling winery operation. You do learn three things very quickly. First, harvest is a pain in the butt between the growers, labor and other coordination (and the grapes are never perfect from the winemaker’s standpoint and are always great according to the grower). By the way, lets pick at night—somebody (not sure who) said it improves quality and it sounds like fun. Second, winemakers have their own way of doing things, especially in their own facility and there are more ways than you ever imagined to play games when winemaking. Third, your hardest lesson doesn’t come until the end—marketing is a bitch no matter how many of your friends said they’d be happy to buy a couple cases. When the first pallet (about 50 cases) is gone, so are most of your friends. Now your real work begins.
I guess the big question is whether it’s really any cheaper going the custom crush route versus building your own facility. Certainly there’s a lot less money up front when using somebody else’s facility, and we all can testify that, between permits and costs of building, a new facility almost isn’t worth it. Trying to build a new winery is a topic for another day. I should point out, however, that wine can be made in the garage, if big enough, and it doesn’t take a monument to one’s ego to produce great wine.
But who am I to judge? Wine is a very subjective product and only the banker or dad knows if the business is really successful. The one thing I do know is that it’s easier to get into the business, custom crush or otherwise, by being a millionaire already or having rich parents. How come I was born under the wrong rock? Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a winemaker.
Oh, go do your homework—and be sure it has a screw top!
