{"id":27742,"date":"2016-03-16T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T14:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=27742"},"modified":"2021-04-23T16:52:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T20:52:52","slug":"ep12-winemakers-pleasure-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/ep12-winemakers-pleasure-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Ep.12: A Winemaker&#8217;s Pleasure and Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"player_container player-27742\" ><div class=\"spp_player_textabove\"><b>Listen to the Episode  <\/b><\/div><div id=\"sm2-27742\" class=\"sm2-27742 playercontent sm2-bar-ui compact flat full-width full-width-player\"><div class=\"bd sm2-main-controls\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-inline-element sm2-button-element\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sm2-button-bd\" style=\"background: transparent url(https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/app\/uploads\/2021\/05\/podcast_channel_artwork.jpg) repeat scroll 0% 0% \/ cover 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decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27740\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/23004723\/TSE_CO_DeliaV_Viader_Family_950.jpg\" alt=\"Delia Viader, Viader Winery. Photo credit: Cathy O\u2019hagain\" width=\"980\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/23004723\/TSE_CO_DeliaV_Viader_Family_950.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/23004723\/TSE_CO_DeliaV_Viader_Family_950-525x268.jpg 525w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/23004723\/TSE_CO_DeliaV_Viader_Family_950-768x392.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/23004723\/TSE_CO_DeliaV_Viader_Family_950-100x51.jpg 100w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/23004723\/TSE_CO_DeliaV_Viader_Family_950-862x440.jpg 862w, https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/23004723\/TSE_CO_DeliaV_Viader_Family_950-846x432.jpg 846w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27740\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Delia Viader, Viader Winery. Photo credit: Cathy O\u2019hagain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Delia Viader calls her signature wine \u201cliquid cashmere,\u201d but it took more than a love of winemaking and the land to revive her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.viader.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Napa Valley, California winery<\/a> after one of the biggest setbacks you could possibly imagine.<\/p>\n<p>Watch related video: Delia Viader: <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/delia-viader-disaster-winery-starts-anew\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">After a Disaster, a Winery Starts Anew<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"transcript-box\" style=\"float:none !important;\">\r\n<div class=\"accordion-container\">\r\n\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"accordion-toggle\">Read Full Transcript<span class=\"toggle-icon\"><i class=\"fa fa-angle-double-down\"><\/i><\/span><\/a>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"accordion-accordion_content\">\r\n\t\t\t<p><p>DELIA VIADER (DV): Making great wine takes a lot of nurturing. You\u2019re really nurturing the grapes from the vine to the bottle.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: (as music plays lightly in background) Welcome to The Story Exchange, featuring the stories and strategies of entrepreneurial women around the world. I\u2019m Colleen DeBaise, host of The Story Exchange podcast, and we\u2019ll be joined later by our co-founder, Sue Williams.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s not everyone\u2019s romantic dream to start their own winery. But I have to say, for myself -- I love wine, I love beautiful countryside -- the thought of planting grapes in Napa Valley and creating a delicious wine that people enjoy would be pretty much at the top of my bucket list. And I suspect a few of our listeners might agree.<br \/>\nToday, we\u2019re speaking to a woman who has done just that: Delia Viader, an Argentina native who started Viader winery in 1986.<\/p>\n<p>SOT:\t. . . That freshness is--<br \/>\n-- That freshness comes from the fruit, yeah. It\u2019s really pretty.<\/p>\n<p>DV: Well the types of wines that I will like to make are definitely wines of pleasure...a complement to a good time between two friends that get lost in conversation. And all of a sudden, they realize, oops, the bottle is empty. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Now, really, does that sound like work? But let me assure you, it is. In fact, after hearing Delia\u2019s story, I\u2019m realizing that my romantic dream might be just that: a romantic dream. Building a winery from scratch takes a lot of hard work, a lot of money and a lot of patience. <\/p>\n<p>DV: Definitely it is a business. And we do it for the love of the land but also because we have bills to pay at the end of the month. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: And as any winemaker can tell you, there are any number of things that can go wrong: too much rain, not enough rain, a pest that invades your entire crop. Delia had to overcome one of the biggest setbacks you could possibly imagine\u2026<\/p>\n<p>DV: October 12, 2005, an arsonist set on fire the warehouse where all of my 2003 was stored \u2014 and literally my entire 2003 vintage went up in smoke.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: But Delia is a survivor -- and today, Viader winery is known for its blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc that she calls \u201cliquid cashmere.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>SOT:\tIt has some very subtle, subtle blossom . . .<br \/>\n\t-- Yeah, and a subtle cherry . . .<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR:\tWe headed to Napa Valley, to the rolling hills and spectacular views of Howell Mountain, to talk with Delia about how she started -- and how she started over after a major disaster. If you go to our website, TheStoryExchange.org, you can watch a picturesque video we produced, telling Delia\u2019s complete story. Today, we\u2019re going to share snippets of that conversation. If you\u2019re so inclined, and it\u2019s 5 o\u2019clock (at least somewhere), grab a glass of wine, and keep listening. <\/p>\n<p>*Musical Interlude*<\/p>\n<p>DV: The site was absolutely astonishing. Beautiful. But a very big challenge in terms of how would you lay out a vineyard in such a rocky piece of mountain? <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: That is Delia, recounting the first time she paid a visit to what would become her California vineyard. It was 30 years ago...before Napa Valley -- or the U.S. wine industry, for that matter -- was on the map. <\/p>\n<p>DV: It wasn't the trendy thing that it became later. People in the 90s jump because all of a sudden, Robert Parker was talking about wines made in the Napa Valley that were comparable to those of Bordeaux. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: So, standing on this undeveloped property way back in 1986, Delia saw an opportunity. While she was born in Buenos Aires, she had grown up around the world, mostly in France\u2026.known, of course, for its wine culture.  <\/p>\n<p>DV: My father was a diplomat. That gave me throughout my childhood a lot of exposure to different languages, different cultures. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Delia had just taken business courses at MIT\u2019s Sloane School of Management -- and she was looking for a way to stay in America. A young single mom, she already had three children, including one with special needs.<\/p>\n<p>DV: It took me not very long to figure out that this very young industry in the United States, winemaking, could give me an opportunity to raise my children in a fantastic, idyllic place and also make a living. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: She and her father checked out the rocky, hilly property on Howell Mountain, which Europeans had been drawn to since the 1800s.<\/p>\n<p>DV: Well, it was a \u2014 at the beginning, a fantastic \u2014 for my father, a fantastic real estate opportunity, and he fell in love with the view.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Her father loaned her the money to buy the property. Next, she had to figure out a way to plant vines on a steep hillside with 30-degree slopes. She used traditional French techniques, something most growers in the US weren\u2019t doing\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>DV: I planted them closer to the ground like they do in Burgundy, for the reasons that \u2014 this very rocky terrain, volcanic rock, will trap heat, and will maintain the ripening effect hours after the sun comes down.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Delia also took classes at UC-Davis\u2019s famous winemaking program, plus she used a lot of consultants. But it was all an expensive gamble.<\/p>\n<p>DV: It would have to have a certain output, an economic, financially viable output. Because I need to make a living out of this. And pay back my dad. <\/p>\n<p>*Musical Interlude*<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: We\u2019ve been sharing the story of Delia Viader, who 30 years ago built a winery on a rocky piece of land in California.<br \/>\nI\u2019m being joined now, as I often am, by Sue Williams, our resident filmmaker, who headed to Napa Valley to make our video profile of Delia.<\/p>\n<p>SUE WILLIAMS: It\u2019s a tough job but someone\u2019s got to do it. (laughs)<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: By the way, if you\u2019ve never checked out our site, please do so -- it\u2019s TheStoryExchange.org. We\u2019re a nonprofit media company and we produce articles and videos about women business owners. Welcome, Sue.<\/p>\n<p>SUE: Great to be here.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: So I spoke with Delia as part of our research...and I was really struck by how challenging it is to start your own winery.<\/p>\n<p>SUE: It really is, especially if you\u2019re planting your own vines, which really need to be nurtured over time. There\u2019s a lot of waiting involved. And then, as we know, the wine itself needs to age. Delia started in 1986, harvested her first crop in 1989, and then finally sold her first commercial wine in 1991. Let\u2019s listen to what she has to say. <\/p>\n<p>DV: It takes a while. In many instances, they say it's about seven years. Then you get to see the first penny out of your investment. It's a very capital-intensive industry, and definitely this was no exception. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Yeah, that\u2019s a long time to go without revenue. And back then, California wines were a tough sell. <\/p>\n<p>SUE: Yeah, Europeans in particular really looked down their noses at American wines\u2026<\/p>\n<p>DV: 30 years ago, they vaguely knew in Europe where Napa Valley is located. I would present to top restaurants or to top people in the trade in France, in Paris, and they would be astonished that we produced such fantastic wines.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Yeah, that was a time when White Zinfandel was really, really popular in the U.S., and that didn\u2019t exactly help our international reputation...<\/p>\n<p>SUE: (laughs) No, not at all. But Delia didn\u2019t let that stop her. And this is where her international background really helped. She\u2019s fluent in five or six languages, and she studied at the Sorbonne back when her father was ambassador to France. She comes from a sophisticated, ambitious family \u2013 and that\u2019s a huge advantage if you want to make it in the wine industry. <\/p>\n<p>DV: I was presenting it in Europe. I spoke the language, I knew the people, and I've always felt that I was making wine of international quality, so to speak. So I had no problem showing it all over the world. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: It also helps that she studied business at MIT and also Berkeley\u2026<\/p>\n<p>SUE: Yeah. It took her a while to get Viader started out but once she did, her sales were really impressive. In 1997, she produced 10,000 bottles of wine, which she sold to restaurants, distributors and exporters. And she paid her father back. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: So you got a tour of the winery -- what\u2019s it like?<\/p>\n<p>SUE: Oh, it\u2019s just amazingly beautiful. It\u2019s high up on Howell Mountain and it\u2019s surrounded by eucalyptus and evergreen trees and it smells just wonderful. And Delia lives on the property in a beautiful house that overlooks the vines and has endless views of the mountains and the Bell Canyon reservoir. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Wow.<\/p>\n<p>SUE: Yeah, yeah. Delia\u2019s son took me through the vineyard and he really impressed me with how they\u2019re using technology, which I\u2019d never particularly associated with growing grapes. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Hm. In what way?<\/p>\n<p>SUE: Well, one of the biggest challenges any farmer in this area faces, of course, is water.<\/p>\n<p>SOT:\t. . . On this amount of property with this amount of rock and this amount of sun exposure we really need to be as efficient as possible with our water . . .<\/p>\n<p>SUE: The area is so dry every drop is precious. So they\u2019ve installed thin plastic tubes next to each vine and these go down into the soil and water the roots directly -- so they don\u2019t lose any water to evaporation -- and these tubes also allow them to monitor each plant\u2019s condition on computer and decide, for example, which one need how much water when.<\/p>\n<p>SOT:\tFifty percent of our water usage is quite significant, so.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Wow, fascinating. And now, her children are involved. <\/p>\n<p>SUE: Yeah, yeah, and Delia\u2019s really pleased about that...her son Alan actually grew up working in the vineyard with the other farm hands, and he\u2019s now is Viader\u2019s winemaker. And her daughter Janet helps with sales and marketing.  <\/p>\n<p>DV: When I see them arguing about a release or arguing about when to set up a wine and, you know, here is my son the artist defending the wine and here is my daughter the salesperson saying, \"I absolutely need it now.\" They make mom proud (laughs) in many ways. <\/p>\n<p>SUE: It\u2019s truly a family business.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: That\u2019s wonderful. Thanks for joining us, Sue.<\/p>\n<p>SUE: It\u2019s a pleasure.<\/p>\n<p>*Musical Interlude*<\/p>\n<p>DV: There was a significant, uh, blow in October 2005. My wine \u2014 my entire vintage was \u2014 up in flames, so to speak. Arson fire. So I had no wine to sell.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: We\u2019ve been telling the story of Delia Viader, who plunged into the wine business in the 1980s and set out to create a world-class wine estate. By the early 2000s, she had successfully done so -- and while not exactly sitting on her laurels, she was enjoying the fruits of her labor. And then...<\/p>\n<p>SOT\t(Alarms wailing) The man who torched the Vallejo Wine Warehouse has been sentenced to 27 years in prison\u2026<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: That\u2019s KCRA News in Sacramento...this was a big story in California. An arsonist set fire to a warehouse where Delia -- and nearly 100 other vintners -- stored their wine. In one day, Delia lost 84,000 bottles, which she had already promised to restaurants and distributors. She had been just about to make $4.5 million dollars. <\/p>\n<p>DV: I had absolutely nothing. So I had all the bills of making the wine, but no wine to sell. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: When I spoke to Delia about the fire, she actually had trouble talking about it\u2026.it was that traumatic.<\/p>\n<p>DV: Things were very difficult. And it just forced me to scale back and start all over again. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: You may be thinking -- well, she probably had insurance. She did -- but it took years of fighting to get paid less than 10% of her claim. Meanwhile, she had a winery to run, and 28 employees who needed paychecks. She got a $1 million bridge loan from the bank, and sold assets. But that still wasn\u2019t enough. She lost her customers.  <\/p>\n<p>DV: I had, uh, many accounts, many placements, many restaurants all over the world that could not continue to have my wine because they couldn't supply it. And \u2014 that's why I had to basically start anew. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Nineteen years after starting up, Delia changed her business model. <\/p>\n<p>DV: I do a lot less distribution than I used to do and I do a lot less exporting. I'm making less wine and I'm also, uh, selling more direct, meaning people that come here and buy direct at full retail price.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Delia basically made another gamble: She bet that the wine lovers who now tour Napa Valley would stop by her winery, and pay $150 a bottle for Viader\u2019s signature Cabernet blend. She converted her guesthouse into a tasting room.<\/p>\n<p>SOT\tThere\u2019s a lot of chocolate.<br \/>\n\t-- Yeah?<br \/>\n\t-- Um, but you know, and a little bit of . . .<\/p>\n<p>DV: My tasting room became a little bit more populated, and people come here as a destination. And I'm selling out the door most of the production. <\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Life is good again. Delia is once again making about $4.5 million in annual revenue...she credits her children with helping her get through the fire.<br \/>\nDV: I've always believed that there is the silver lining that when one door closes another one opens. And yes, it was financially devastating, but it was \u2014 in the sense of the family, a call to arms, a call to \u2014 really go together and work together towards a common goal.<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: And while I\u2019m not sure I have the chops to start my own winery, Delia certainly makes it sound appealing\u2026<\/p>\n<p>DV: I remember being here on top of the mountain. It was really my refuge. And today, it's like I'm in the middle of things. (laughs)<br \/>\nI'm doing fantastically well and definitely I consider myself privileged.<\/p>\n<p>*Musical Interlude*<\/p>\n<p>NARRATOR: Join us next time to hear more stories about innovative and inspirational women doing the things you\u2019d never dream of. Or\u2026.maybe you would. This has been The Story Exchange. If you liked this podcast, please post a review on iTunes. It helps other people find the show. And visit our website at TheStoryExchange.org, where you\u2019ll find news, videos and tips for women entrepreneurs. I\u2019m Colleen DeBaise. Sound editing provided by Nusha Balyan. Production coordinator is Michelle Ciotta. Interview recorded by Sam Shinn. Executive producers are Sue Williams and Victoria Wang.<br \/>\n##<\/p>\n<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<!--\/.accordion-accordion_content-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Delia Viader may make \u201cliquid cashmere,\u201d but it took more than fine wine to restore her winery after a devastating setback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":27739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187,1,147],"tags":[19627,20178,19731],"class_list":["post-27742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-topics","category-podcast","tag-resilience","tag-winemaking","tag-women-entrepreneurs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - 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