Get help from an expert like Brad
From Vines to Wines: Q&A With Winemaker Dave Breeden of Sheldrake Point Winery
- Aug 9, 2023
Interview originally published in the KosherWine.com Insider Issue #7
At KosherWine.com, we're excited to offer the exclusive Kosher runs of wines from Sheldrake Point Winery. Take a peek behind the scenes with this interview with winemaker, Dave Breeden, where we explore how these wines make their way from the vineyard to your glass.
What inspired you to become a winemaker?
I moved to this region for non-wine reasons, fell in love with it, and wanted to stay. I loved wine, and was pursuing a Ph.D. in philosophy but had an M.S. in chemistry, so I was able to translate that into a ‘cellar rat’ job.
Please share some of your favorite wine-related experiences in your career.
Almost all of my favorite experiences in the industry are people-related: finishing harvest and celebrating with any of the great crews I’ve gotten to work with; sharing a particular moment of camaraderie with friends old and new at a wine dinner; tasting works in progress with colleagues from across the Finger Lakes. My favorite specifically WINE-related moment has to be tasting the 2008 (off-dry) Riesling and realizing that even though the fermentation wouldn’t finish at the sugar level I had thought I wanted, the wine was glorious as it was. That was my “AHA!” moment where I learned to stop trusting MY plans and start trusting the wines instead.
What makes the Finger Lakes and Sheldrake Point special?
Two things: 1. The geography/weather. Those allow us to produce the cool climate wines that we’re so (justifiably) proud of. And 2., the winemaking community. That’s something really special here, and incredibly valuable. We all work together, rely on each other, and help each other. It makes the Finger Lakes a great place to work.
What were your first thoughts when Ari [the négocient] approached you about making kosher wine at Sheldrake point?
I was excited by the prospect of it, but worried about the small volumes involved, and whether we’d be able to work with those tiny volumes and the Rabbi to make wines of high quality. We were.
What were some of the challenges of producing kosher wine?
The scheduling. It’s also often a challenge to not be able to check on a fermenting wine without getting a visit from the Rabbi, but we’ve made it work pretty seamlessly.
What was something you have learned from the experience?
I got to learn very little about Kashrut and a little (but way less than I would like) about Jewish culture.
Which is your favorite wine of the 5 we have produced at Sheldrake point?
I dunno. Which of your kids is your favorite? :) Seriously, though, I think probably the Kosher Gewurztraminer Ice Wine. It’s a really beautiful wine and such a rarity (a Gewurztraminer ice wine that is, even less a KOSHER Gewurztraminer ice wine).
Please talk us through any highlights or challenges you faced in producing the first kosher Ice Wine from the Finger Lakes!
The primary challenge is not unique to it being a kosher wine, and that’s just getting the right weather before the deer eat the grapes. Beyond that, it’s just the question of getting enough Kosher workers here on short notice to be able to harvest and process the grapes.
What Sheldrake Point wines would you like to make a kosher run of in the future?
That’s easy: all of them!
