Q&A with Fintan du Fresne, Winemaker at Chamisal Vineyards
As the son of well-known New Zealand wine journalist Fintan du Fresne grew up with an appreciation for the wine industry. Originally from the southern end of New Zealand’s North Island, he graduated from Victoria University with a degree in geology and set about exploring the relationship between geology and how it affects terroir in wines. He became winemaker at the historic Chamisal property (the first vineyard planted in the Edna Valley, located in San Luis Obispo County) in 2006, where the focus is on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Describe your winemaking philosophy. My philosophy is that there is no right way or wrong way to make wine. I’ve worked for enough different wineries in different parts of the world to have seen the same thing done in totally different ways. One winemaker will tell you “you can’t do it that way” while another winemaker is having complete success doing it “that way.” My job is not to make MY favorite wines or wines in the style that I like. My job is to make wines that our consumers love. Too many winemakers are making wine for other winemakers. However, I do believe in the concept of Terroir. A vineyard is going to produce a certain style of wine and that is not something I can change. I can help steer it in a certain direction, but that is all I can do. If Mother Nature is a raging river, a wine is like a kayak on that river. All I can do is steer it through the rapids.
