What are the obvious advantages of being able to oversee the entire vintage of wine production?
MT: The main advantage is knowing those different vineyard blocks throughout the season, and seeing the stresses that they go through during the year, and how they react to different things. There is a different relationship, I think, with fermenting those wines, and how you approach them via winemaking. It’s no longer just a generic, block for block recipe. There’s a much more personal relationship with each block. TR: The benefits of being the vineyard manager and the winemaker seem intuitive, but is there anything that would present a challenge? MT: Well, you’ve got to work a hell of a lot more. It’s February to December, not just August to December. But it’s nice. And with BioDynamics, that means getting your feet out into those vineyards and getting to know those blocks. TR: As you mention BioDynamics, I’m endlessly fascinated by this subject. It remains somewhat esoteric for me, although I have worked at a BioDynamic winery and I have read some of the books by Nicholas Joly. What
