It takes a lot of beer to make wine!

July 29, 2017

Written by Ken Wornick

Backed by 20+ vintages and many dozens of wines produced, Ken is a Sonoma-based wine consultant and founder of Sonocaia Estate Vineyeards, Dysfunctional Family Winery and Hydeout Sonoma.
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It’s an old adage in the wine profession, often said with a knowing laugh, that “it takes a lot of beer to make wine.” Why? Because working out in the vineyards in the heat of the day is a really sweaty proposition. And equally, standing on your feet all day and night at the crush pad is equally exhausting and often hot. So growers and vintners drink a lot of beer during the season.

On Wednesday, July 19th, I was at the St Francis Winery in Kenwood with the Sonoma Valley Vintner’s and Growers Association for the annual member’s BBQ (and celebration of life for Christopher Silva, former President of St Francis, who very sadly passed away recently at the very young age of 52).

You’ll see in the image here that it was quite an assembly of famous Sonoma wines, well over 40 wines in total. Many were outstandingly delicious and worth close attention. But I was just coming from a vineyard meeting myself and was more in the mood for beer. So when I snapped this picture, it cracked me up to discover that a bottle of Corona beer was right there in the front! And another Corona and a Sierra Nevada in the background.

As I visited with old friends and new, I noticed that I wasn’t the only one with a beer in my wine glass; a lot of vintners and growers were also drinking a cold beer.

After the sun went down and dinner was served, attention did shift to the wines, happily.

SVVGA BBQ 2017 - It takes a lot of beer to make wine!

Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Association:

http://sonomavalleywine.com

A similar story from ClubW Juice:

http://juice.clubw.com/story/beer-the-drink-winemakers-really-love

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