Greener on the other side winemakers seek new frontiers beyond Napa

Wines & Vines, June, 2003 by Tina Caputo

Many people think of Northern California's wine country as the Holy Grail for winemakers. We imagine viticulturists in other parts of the country toiling in their frozen (or sweltering) vineyards, dreaming of one day making it to The Big Time: a winery in the Napa Valley. But believe it or not, that isn't always the case. In fact, winemakers who started out in prestigious regions like Napa have been known to abandon their picture-perfect vineyards to make wine in places like Virginia, New York and Southern California. Voluntarily. What gives?

According to Jodi Shepard, vice president, client relations, at Napa's Benchmark Consulting, winemakers sometimes tire of the Northern California wine scene and set off in search of adventure. "Some winemakers get jaded with the industry in Napa because it's hard to move up, and for some wineries there already seems to be a succession in place," Shepard said. "For some winemakers it's fun to be a pioneer in a region that's still making a name for itself." Most often, they move to wineries in states like Oregon and Washington, though they occasionally head for the East Coast or the Midwest.

"We sometimes get calls from winemakers asking for advice like, 'Should I take this job in Ohio?' Our answer depends on the person's goal. If the person is younger and less experienced, they can gain a higher level of experience by going to a lesser-known region where they can be the winemaker instead of an assistant," she said. "But if their goal is to be on top of the Napa wine scene, they're better off staying put."

For the benefit of those who are considering jumping the fence for greener pastures, we asked three transplanted winemakers to share their experiences and talk about the challenges they've faced in their new winemaking homes.

Gilles Martin, Martha Clara Vineyards Long Island, New York

For Gilles Martin, a Frenchman who previously made wine for Roederer Estate in the Anderson Valley and Delas Freres in the Rhone Valley, the reasons for heading east were various. "My first motivation to come to the East Coast as a young winemaker was my curiosity to learn about other people's ways of growing grapes and making wines, as well as to discover their culture, Martin said. He also left France for practical reasons. "I met my wife in France, who is a professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey," he said. "It was hard for her to find a job in France and we were having our first child. I had a good offer on Long Island, where I worked for (Macan Vineyards) and became a consultant." After a winemaking stint in Virginia, Martin is back on Long Island as winemaker for Martha Clara Vineyards, a winery he has consulted for since 2000.

According to Martin, making wine in the eastern United States presented him with an interesting set of challenges. "When I first arrived in Virginia 15 years ago, the first challenge that I faced was to work in a remote area with poor technical local services. By comparison, a small village in a French wine area has at least as many vintners as the whole state of Virginia. Basically, you are facing operation alone, meaning that you have to be involved in every single aspect of production-machinery and mechanical maintenance, winemaking, chemical and sensorial analyses, not to mention the vineyard operation," he said. "I had to rediscover all the aspects of New World winemaking, starting with the basics, without having any prejudgment.

"Another important change for me was to work with native and hybrid varieties that were banished from the French industry. Luckily for me, on the vineyard I was working for the hybrids were from French crossings with good flavor quality. It was a little bit perturbing for me to work with these unknown varieties, banished from the French viticulture school. Of course, the vinifera varieties were quite recently reintroduced in Virginia and the grower, not knowing what varieties were best acclimated for the area, planted a lot of different French varieties. I then had to introduce a lot of winemaking techniques used all over France from Alsace to Bordeaux, passing by Champagne and the Loire regions. It became a big technological challenge to manage all these different wine lots at a small winery."

And then there was the weather. After spending six years in Northern California's "perfect climate," Martin said he had some major adjusting to do. But in time he learned how to deal with the humidity and harvest-time hurricanes, and discovered that it is possible to make great wine on the East Coast.

"Merlot and Cabernet franc are beautifully expressing their complex characters, Viognier and Syrah are reacting particularly well to the climate, as well as Chardonnay, which as always ripens superbly. As in France, it takes a lot of winemaking skills to accomplish what Mother Nature is not always able to provide. But the challenging grape ripening produced premium wines, expressing finesse, complexity and elegance."

Given the performance of these varietals, Martin said he believes that Long Island will eventually take its place among the world's great wine regions. "For the next five to 10 years, Long Island should keep demonstrating its ability to produce top premium wines, becoming a leader as a red wine region of the East Coast and setting new quality standards as high as the Bordeaux area," he said. "Being so close to the largest wine market in the U.S., the Long Island wine industry will profit from this market share to better establish its renown among the world's top producers.