As we head into 2023, WIA asked winemakers from across the country to share their hopes for the coming year — and delineate what challenges lie ahead. Due to an overwhelming number of responses, comments will be split into two articles. The next installment will appear on the WIA site on Wednesday, January 4.
Question: What do you see having the biggest impact on your job in 2023?
Richie Allen, Rombauer Vineyards
Just as I am sure many winemakers will say, we expect the biggest impact in 2023 to be the weather. We saw extreme heat and a deep frost in 2022, which was interesting (to say the least).
Wayne Bailey, Youngberg Hill Vineyards
I think the biggest challenge for us next year will be the utilization of technology — expanded use of drones for spray protocols and remote-control low-profile mowers in the vineyard (we’re a no-till grower) — to offset the lack of and increased cost of labor, improve health of the vines and keep our costs manageable.
Dan Fishman, The Donum Estate
At the moment, I am most closely watching the drought situation, as water stress has such a big impact in the vineyard. We’re fortunate to have adequate irrigation water at three of our four properties, but water is a major limiting factor at our Bodega vineyard. We really need the winter rains to come through to fill that reservoir. Of course, we would much prefer to limit irrigation and rely exclusively or primarily on natural rainfall. So far, we’re off to a decent start to the rainy season, but we really need the storms to continue through the next 3 to 4 months.
Todd Graff, Frank Family Vineyards
Sustainability continues to be at the forefront of vineyard management and our winery. We’re continuously looking for new ways to reduce our footprint and carefully consider the impact our winery and business operations have on the land and the community.
This year, Frank Family Vineyards enrolled in Marin Clean Energy’s (MCE) Deep Green Program. This program is extremely impactful, as it lets the winery source 100% renewable energy from locally produced wind and solar power. Consumers are continuously interested in companies that are transparent about their environmental impact, and we want to continue to have open conversations about our practices and to increase our sustainability as a whole.
Maya Hood White, Early Mountain Vineyards
Since 2020, we’ve been expecting supply and packaging challenges. Towards the end of 2022, we really began to see these delays or obstacles in supplies and I expect them to extend through 2023. We’re lucky that we’ve had the ability to plan for needs significantly in advance, but we also recognize the need for adaptability.
More broadly, as with every vintage in Virginia, the weather always has the biggest impact on both my day-to-day decisions and the overall growing season. I am superstitious and therefore hesitate to mention that we’ve consistently had notable vintages in odd years (though this makes me hopeful for the year to come — naturally, with fingers crossed).
Aaron Lieberman, Chalice Vineyards, LLC (dba Iris Vineyards)
The biggest impact for our business this coming year will be the consumer trend toward super premium wines in the $15 to $30 range. Almost all of our distributed products are in that price range. I also expect continued growth of sparkling wine, with sales growing by up to 20% versus 2022. We’re considering a big investment in new processing equipment for 2023, which would have an impact on efficiency and labor needs, particularly during harvest.
Joy Merrilees, Shannon Family of Wines
The Lake County Pruning School, provided by the Lake County Winegrape Commission, is training our vineyard workers to give us a leg up at producing quality fruit and vine balance. Pruning to prevent desiccation will help our vineyards bounce back from the compounding effects of climate change.
Adam Popp, Harken Chardonnay
As a winemaker, I believe 2023 will be a time to focus on meeting our consumers’ demands of style, sustainability, transparency and overall value in their wine. If consumers need to make every dollar count, we also need to make sure we’re over-delivering on each of these elements.
I’ve also been focusing on ingredient transparency. Consumers are looking for more information about (and deserve to know) how their food and wine is farmed, what goes into it and its impact on the environment. We recently added ingredient labeling to our 2021 Harken Chardonnay and a QR code that leads to our website. Eventually, we will have a full description of the winemaking process, every ingredient, our sustainability certifications (CCSW, B-Corp, Zero Waste) and each processing aide that touches the wine. I believe winemakers have to lead this charge — and the time to get started is now.
Dave Specter, Bells Up Winery
For me, economic uncertainty is likely to have the biggest impact. I’m more than just the winemaker at Bells Up; my wife and I are, literally, a staff of two. I make the wine and host all the private tasting experiences exclusively for one group at a time, so I’ve personally met nearly every customer who’s ever bought our wine. We’re pretty close to our max production capacity and, since we opened our doors back in early 2015, we’ve built up a reputation for both great wine at reasonable prices and memorable, customer-centric interactions. We have an incredibly loyal customer base, which is humbling.
That said, what happens with our business is highly dependent on what happens in the overall economy. Hopefully in 2023, people will continue to travel. But if people scale back their discretionary purchases in 2023, it will certainly have an impact on our business and, therefore, on my job.
Rebekah Wineburg, Quintessa
The biggest impact on my job is climate change, the increased severity of drought and extreme heat events.
Question: What are you most looking forward to in 2023?
Richie Allen, Rombauer Vineyards
In 2023, I am most looking forward to a great harvest and making even more beautiful wines that our customers find irresistible.
Wayne Bailey, Youngberg Hill Vineyards
In 2023, I’m most excited to work with the 2022 vintage wines. I loved the growing season — which was similar to 2005 and 2010 — and how the wines are showing, with great balance, elegance and complexity coming out of fermentation.
Dan Fishman, The Donum Estate
I’m very excited about the wines we made in 2022. I always try to be patient about letting them develop, so I’m most looking forward to tasting through all the lots and barrels in the new year once they’ve had some time to develop. My early feeling is that this will be Donum’s strongest vintage to-date.
Todd Graff, Frank Family Vineyards
We have estate vineyards in some of Napa Valley’s greatest AVAs, including Carneros, Rutherford and Capell Valley. We also have a series of long-term vineyard partners with whom we’ve worked for many years. We’re currently working on developing a new vineyard in Carneros and are expanding our family of vineyard partners. As we do so, sustainability is top of mind. Heading into the new year, the long-term health of the land, community and industry will continue to guide our initiatives. This, along with the continued access to high-quality fruit, is extremely exciting.
Maya Hood White, Early Mountain Vineyards
The 2022 harvest was, in many ways, one of the most rewarding. We had hired a largely green team that we were able to solidify at year’s end. I’m excited to watch this team grow along with our longtime Vineyard Manager Dustin Wade and newly appointed Assistant Winemaker Jeremy Mersch.
Aaron Lieberman, Chalice Vineyards, LLC (dba Iris Vineyards)
I’m looking forward to adding back some of our small production wines this year. When the pandemic began, we closed our tasting room which reduced demand for our club- and tasting room-only wines. Now that we’ve reopened to the public in the form of an urban wine bar, we will offer more variety again. While Pinot Noir is the variety I most enjoy working with, it’s fun to have other varieties of grapes to work with and, ultimately, to offer our loyal customers.
Joy Merrilees, Shannon Family of Wines
We’re looking forward to working with winemakers new to Lake County grapes by providing crush space and access to rare varieties grown in our organically farmed vineyards.
Adam Popp, Harken Chardonnay
I’m most excited about tasting and blending the 2021 Harken Chardonnay, which is currently in barrel. Yes, I said my favorite thing is tasting and blending wine — it’s still one of the best parts of my job and the most rewarding.
Having the privilege to taste the evolution of these wines over 6 to 8 months in fusion barrels (French & American oak in one) is very cool. I look forward to a wide variety of different fruit and oak flavors, acid and sweetness levels, and wines with both structured and soft mouthfeel. The fun is in taking these different elements and creating the ideal balance by consistently tasting and blending throughout the year until the perfect harmony exists. It’s why I became a winemaker.
Dave Specter, Bells Up Winery
In 2022, 100% of the Pinot Noir we harvested came from our own estate vineyard, which we started planting in 2014. We have seven different clones of Pinot (Pommard, Wadenswil and Dijon 113, 115, 667, 777 and 943) and, while I’ve worked with all of them before, this is the first time everything in the barrel is completely homegrown. As a winemaker, that’s really exciting. While I think I know what to expect from each, I also expect the unexpected — because that’s part of the fun of making wine. I’m looking forward to seeing how our estate fruit develops in the barrel and plays together in the blending process.
Rebekah Wineburg, Quintessa
I’m most looking forward to sharing our 2020 vintage release later in 2023. It’s a beautiful wine made from a challenging year that illustrates the resilience of our organic and biodynamic estate and the dedication of our team.
Read more responses to this survey on January 4, 2023.
