From land to glass: The vineyard, winery and beyond. How Hedges wines eventually make it to you!
Have you ever wondered how many people are involved in getting that bottle of wine to you? The many people involved include our owners, accounting staff, vineyard crew, cellar crew, logistics crew, hospitality staff, tasting room staff, sales staff, warehouses, trucking companies, distributors, importers, restaurants, wine shops, grocery stores, and not to mention UPS and FedEx. All of these businesses and their employees help to get our expression of the land into your hands and into your glass.
The owners are the reason why we are all here and the reason why this company, its vineyards and its wines exist. Without them, none of this would have been possible. Blood, sweat and tears is what it took to build this company from nothing and take it to where it is today.
Our accounting staff is really the backbone of the business, they manage to organize all of the ins and outs of the company to make sure we can keep doing our jobs and your wine gets grown, made and distributed.
You may have heard the saying, “great wine is made in the vineyard” and that is very much true. We have so much gratitude for the work our vineyard manager and vineyard crew does. They are out there in the heat, the cold, the wind, and the rain to get what needs to be done to help the vines thrive and create an environment where premium quality is the result. There is no great wine without great land and through biodynamic farming we nurture the land to grow the best wine possible.
The grapes are harvested and that’s when the magic continues. Inside the cellar we have a crew of four people including the winemaker and assistant winemaker. The grapes are carefully watched over as they perform the dance of fermentation. We don’t do much and we are not too hands on here, the goal is to supervise the process of grapes into wine without masking what nature intended. We believe each grape and each wine has a destiny that is revealed throughout the fermentation process and that destiny should not be messed with through additives and manipulation. The wines are then set to rest in barrels and carefully watched over and tasted throughout the aging process until bottling.
What happens after the wine is bottled? It lives in one of our warehouses either on site, in Seattle or down in California. Our logistics team takes over from here. The Tetris games begins of moving wines, creating space for new vintages, organizing library vintages, helping with wax dipping, export labeling, and also harvest and special projects. Our logistics team takes very good care of our bottled wine and deals with our sales team, trucking companies, UPS and FedEx to make sure restaurants, wine shops, distributors and our very own tasting room never run out of your favorite Hedges product.
The Chateau, tasting room, and wine club have a special team to take care of them. From website orders, to wine club requests, greeting folks who visit the tasting room, coordinating lunches, dinners, events, special requests, social media, and connecting the public to our chefs, production team and vineyard crew. There is nothing this team won’t do to make sure our wine club and guests get the full Hedges experience. They bring the Hedges story to life and create an atmosphere to relax, enjoy a tasting or a glass of wine and transport yourself to France for the day whether you are visiting the chateau in person or are enjoying a glass over zoom with them.
Our sales team are the true road warriors of the business. They travel far and wide, pound foot to pavement and spend a lot of time in airports and up in the sky to bring the good word of Red Mountain across the globe. They are the ones dealing with distributors and their sales reps, importers, restaurants, wine shops, grocery stores and also trade shows. This sales and distribution network is really our way of getting that Hedges experience to you. All of our extended family who support and sell Hedges to get that favorite bottle of wine to you is a big part of how our story is told worldwide. Without them we wouldn’t be able to get our wines in your glass and reach as far as we do. They help connect with people in places that we can’t reach, and they are the final step in making sure that our Estate Grown and bottled wine ends up where we want it to, in your hands. Without this network we wouldn’t be able to transport the taste of Red Mountain across the globe for you to enjoy. Thank you and a toast to all! This glass of wine you are or will be enjoying tonight is more than just a beverage, it is a testament that hard work does bring happiness to your door. Cheers!
