My Second Career as a Winemaker

By Lisa Dinsmore

Well, not MY second career. When we were trying to come up with a seminar topic that was unique to our Festival this idea just jumped out. I mean, both of our co-founders make their own wine and have had success in completely different arenas (acting and the music business) which certainly introduced them to wine on a personal level, but not as a future business endeavor or labor of love. It seems once wine captures your heart there’s a sizable, and ever-growing, group of wine lovers who get bit by the wineMAKING bug as well. The Garagiste Festival is proof of that.

Sure the basics are pretty simple, grape juice WILL ferment without much help. Hell, during Prohibition you could buy a “wine brick” that came with the warning - “After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine” - so it’s clearly not exactly hard letting fermentation take its’ course, but turning it into something extraordinary, well, that’s a whole different ball of wax.

People assume because you work in the wine business and are deeply in love with the subject that becoming a winemaker is the next logical step. I’m asked that ALL the time. I can assure you I’m not going down that road. I don’t have the patience and I’m not into physical labor. I’ve seen behind the “glamorous curtain” of wine dinners and festivals. I’ve woken up before dawn to pick grapes, helped press, bottle and clean. God the amount of cleaning - that just never ends - is just not for me. My wine quest is of a different nature, but I sure am impressed by those who decide to take the plunge.

Over the last few years running the Festival, I have met hundreds of winemakers and every one of them shares that same undeniable drive and dedication to get dirty and make a wine they can call their own. Garagistes are a special breed because almost 95% have no family connection to the land or the wine business.

For most of them, this is a second career and / or a passion they are doing on the side while still working in a completely unrelated industry. While around 25% of the participants pouring in Paso started in the wine business in some way or went to school to specifically become winemakers, the bulk have pretty much come to this “second career” the old-fashioned way…by drinking and falling in love with the grape. Some put their calling on hold until they retired, but most have just jumped right in, unable to ignore the siren’s call. Doing it while holding down another full time job…that’s Garagiste.

Owning a winery used to be more prohibitive when having your own vineyard was almost essential to the process, but now there seems to be plenty of grapes to go around. In CA the last 20 years has seen a 44% upswing in vineyard acreage. The number of actual wineries has tripled in the same amount of time. There were 845 in 1992 and as of 2012 over 3700. Everyone seems to be jumping on the winemaking bandwagon. Ninety percent of our Garagiste wineries are under 10 years old, 50% of those had their first vintage between 2009-2013. America has clearly embraced the wine culture in a very big way, not only on the consumption side - which we are now #1 per total gallons consumed (not per capita, which may be a good thing) - but also on the production side with wineries operating in every state of the Union.

While making wine seems to be becoming an easier proposition each year (though it’s certainly an expensive endeavor), growing grapes and farming the land is a bit more of a dangerous game. Sure, you won’t have to find grapes to buy and you have total control of the product from start to finish; however, having to rely on Mother Nature for your future happiness is not for the feint of heart. As Steve Matthiasson so recently quipped after the Napa earthquake: “Mother Nature always bats last.” Though we have plenty of sunshine here, there IS vintage variation, and owning land just adds to the potential complications. However, it is the core of the dream for many of us, the beauty and soul of the venture. You can’t have one without the other.

While I may not aspire to BE a winemaker, I have, like my partners, jumped into the business and partnered with an established winery. Being a winery owner is a full-time job like no other, as there are no days off when running a small business. The “lifestyle” aspect may seem glamorous from the tasting side of the table, but it’s a LOT more work than I ever imagined. It is also very satisfying to meet and taste with people who have fell in love with your wine. The people you meet along the wine road are what make this journey so amazing and fun.

We are still working our day jobs and hope this becomes our full-time gigs in the future, however, I would still say, that right now, we are living the dream.