Finding a Sense of Place
With wine, a sense of place is important. We talk a lot about ‘terroir’ and if the wine reflects the land it's from. We pay a lot of attention to the soils, climate, and unique features that make specific wines distinct. We even have governing bodies for ‘appellations’ or ‘denominaciones de origen’ to ensure the wines are consistent representations of their respective regions. Place matters.
It’s something I have been thinking a lot about, because I don’t have one specific ‘place’. I am currently juggling a winemaking project that spans two continents. And before I started indoVINO I hopped around from Napa Valley to New Zealand, Chile, France, and then ended up in Spain. This gave me incredible exposure to many different winemaking regions and styles. But now, based between Gredos and Colorado, and not sure if I will make wine in either long term, I am curious where I will decide to grow this project.
In a world that has gone remote and embraced a ‘work from home’ mentality, winemaking is very much a location dependent job. It’s also something that cannot be done everywhere, it requires nearby vineyards and a suitable climate. Fortunately, most areas with vineyards are beautiful with great weather. Some days I feel ready to choose where I am going to settle down and grow my wine. Other days I am envious of my friends who have remote jobs, or work as teachers and nurses, that they don’t need to literally plant roots and could change location if they wanted.
About a year ago I spoke with a winemaker with a very cool project in California making natural wines. I was excited to get her advice. She gave me a great perspective as a business owner and winemaker, and some very practical knowledge. She also gave me some personal advice that was valid, but hard to hear. From her perspective, it would be difficult to get a real wine company running and successful without committing to living somewhere permanently and going all in.
On the one hand, it makes sense. To grow a wine brand you need to make a lot of connections in a community, between other wineries, grape growers, restaurants, and customers. You also need to invest in space and equipment and lease or buy vineyards. All things that take time, money, effort, and therefore are not temporary. It’s confusing because on a professional level, I feel ready and excited to do this.
But on a personal level, I am still exploring where my ‘place’ is. I have only spent three years in Spain. And while I love it, I am still gaining my confidence in navigating life here. I am working on all of the complicated paperwork, trying to get my driver’s license and more. I also want to make sure I can spend time with friends and family in the U.S.. To add to the puzzle, it’s also important for me to find somewhere that is close enough to vineyards while not being too remote to see friends on a regular basis. I joke about starting a vineyard commune with my friends, but every year I become a bit more serious…
Even though there is a lack of stability at times, trying to find a sense of place has been a rewarding experience. By not having arrived to my ‘destination’ so quickly I have been able to live and work in incredible places and collect dear friends, mentors, and experiences. I’ve learned to follow my intuition, how to make hard decisions, and enjoy what’s right in the moment even if it's not forever. From this, I have also learned that while logically speaking of course I do need to choose a place to plant roots at some point, it’s not the most essential aspect of this business. For me indoVINO is about building community and making wine accessible, approachable, and fun. And I can do that from a lot of places.