Winery News

2008 Harvest Interns

We talk quite a bit about hands-on wine making, and hand-made wines.  Did you ever wonder where we get all the hands?  Each year we cast our net far and wide to find a dozen souls eager to work our grapes into wine.  Some come from enology programs at universities in Davis, Bordeaux, or Adelaide, and some of them are just eno-curious and want to ditch the cube to work a harvest.  They arrive with all levels of experience.  We get young people who grew up in winemaking families as well as those who seek the romance of wine country, only to find out what 72 hours a week of digging, shoveling, bucketing, punching down caps, pulling hoses, and tossing barrels really feels like. This year we have talent from the exotic locales of Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Columbia, Colorado, Idaho and Louisiana.  Though they’re just passing through, they’ve deeply touched the 2008 wines, they’ve enriched us all with their kindred spirits, and they’ve imprinted a new vintage of memories upon our historic estate.  --Kevin Morrisey

Chloe Scott

  • Where are you from? Anchorage, Alaska and I did not go to Davis.
  • Any funny stories from your time here? I was oddly comforted by the small, tight space while digging out my first tank. I know it’s weird, but I didn’t want to come out.
  • What do you do when you’re not doing this? When is that? In November?
  • What was your first glass of wine? In France when I was eight years old. We were in Provence in a house that we rented, sitting around the table with my grandfather. It was red wine. I felt like a grown up.
  • What’s next? I’m going to do a harvest in Australia. I really want to learn as much as I can. After Australia, Europe and then South America. Wine marketing or sales is the goal.


Ben Kinnaird

  • Where are you from? Adelaide, Australia
  • Why are you here? Experience. I work at Rosemount winery and wanted a different perspective on things. I knew about Stags’ Leap from Mick. It all sounded pretty exciting, he told me about the Napa Valley and Las Vegas.
  • What’s your impression of the estate? The cave is spectacular and the historic presence is really neat.
  • What was your first glass of wine? Australian Shiraz, better make that Rosemount.
  • What’s next? Head back home, meet up with family and enjoy Christmas.


Renée Dale

 
  • Where are you from? Auckland, New Zealand
  • Why are you here? Work experience. I studied wine science in New Zealand.
  • What was your first impression of the estate? I was blown away; it has a romantic feel about it.
  • Any funny stories from your time here? I’m part of the pumpover crew. We have tally marks for every time we’ve seen or done something stupid. I’m leading right now.
  • What’s next? I’m going to do a vintage in Australia, hopefully at Coldstream Hills. From there I want to go to Thailand and India for a holiday. I have a friend in the wine industry in India. Then I want to go to Scotland and chase grouse, basically they pay you to walk into the Scottish Highlands and scare birds. That would be really cool.


Paulina Flores

 
  • Where are you from? Santiago, Chile
  • Why are you here? I’m here on a student exchange program with UC Davis, I attend Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. I asked my advisor about California and she recommended Stags’ Leap. I didn’t know anything about it; California wines are nothing in Chile.
  • Any funny stories from your time here? I got soaked with wine while trying to tighten the valve after a pumpover. I was purple from head to toe.
  • What was your first glass of wine? Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon.
  • What’s next? I’m trying to decide if I want to stay here, go back to Chile or go to Australia. Either way I’m going to be making wine


Katia Bechara (Grape Sampler)

 
  • Where are you from? I was born in Miami and raised in Colombia. My mom is Lebanese and my dad is Colombian.
  • What’s your impression of the estate? It’s a beautiful setting with a lot of terroir. It has a lot of character and you can taste that in the wine.
  • Any funny stories from your time here? I was working in Block 23 and found a rattlesnake. It was scary at first, then kind of funny.
  • What was your first glass of wine? In my mom’s belly I guess. It was probably French or Lebanese.
  • What’s next? I want to buy a vineyard in Oregon and become a farmer.


Shauna Sullivan

 
  • Where are you from? Emmett, Idaho
  • Why are you here?  I wanted a career change and thought wine would be interesting. I was director of a child development program.
  • Any funny stories from your time here? Sending people on errands that don’t exist is a really fun activity.
  • What do you do when you’re not doing this? I coach high school and college lacrosse. I like to paint, write and read.
  • What was your first glass of wine? I think it was a Merlot, college, freshman year…probably jug wine.


Brittany Grant

 
  • Where are you from? Fort Collins, Colorado
  • Why are you here?  I’m here because I worked a desk job for 2½ years, and I wanted to get down and dirty and be outside. I worked at a law firm, same hours, but a little different.
  • What’s your impression of the estate? I love the history, it’s full of substance, energy and it’s everything the winemaking process should be.
  • What do you do when you’re not doing this? I am a big college football fan, the University of Florida Gators are my team.
  • What was your first glass of wine? Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, I didn’t like it. I was twelve and snuck a sip out of my mom’s glass. Now I love red wine.


Lindsay Mate

 
  • Where are you from? Hammond, Louisiana. But, I moved here from Florida
  • Why are you here?  I wanted to work in the wine industry. I wanted a job where I could travel and create something with my hands.
  • What was your first impression of the estate? Everyone is so laid back and approachable. Nobody here is small-minded.
  • What was your first glass of wine? I think it was Grgich Hills, I used to work at a wine bar in college. I wish I remembered more about it. I was only 19 and shouldn’t have even been drinking.
  • What’s next? I’m going to try to find an internship in the Southern Hemisphere. I don’t have any major bills so I can afford to live on $15/hour for awhile.


Mick Anderson

 
  • Where are you from? Adelaide, Australia
  • Why are you here?  Adventure. I was here last year and it was too enjoyable to refuse the offer to come back. It was really more persuasion than an offer; they actually couldn’t be without me.
  • What’s your impression of the estate? Magical
  • What do you do when you’re not doing this? I’m just having a bloody good time.
  • What’s next? I suppose the next thing is to get me married off so I can stay in the country.


Lachlan Macdonald

 
  • Where are you from? Perth, Australia
  • Why are you here?  I just finished my winemaking degree last year and wanted to check out Napa.
  • What’s your impression of the estate? This is my fourth winery job, and this will be one of my best vintages.
  • What was your first glass of wine? It was with my parents, that’s how I got into wine.
  • What’s next? Working back in McLaren Vale and maybe going to France, but I could be back here….


James Brown

 
  • Where are you from? Sydney,Australia
  • Why are you here?  I work at Oatley Wines in Mudgee, Australia. My boss worked two vintages at Stags’ Leap.
  • What do you do when you’re not doing this? Surfing and rugby.
  • What’s next? I’ve got another year of Marine Science to finish at home. I took a year off to earn some money.


Kendrick Coakley (Viticulture Crew)

 
  • Where are you from? Napa
  • Any funny stories from your time here? Can we omit that question?
  • What do you do when you’re not doing this? Downhill biking, surfing, climbing, and hiking.
  • What was your first glass of wine? It was probably straight from the bottle….
  • What’s next? Who knows, how about South Africa? That’s next.