Ep. 033 Anthony Weytjens, Edge Hill Estate - a podcast by Jim Duane: Winemaker, Grape-grower, and Wine Educator

After an education that
spanned the Canary Islands, Barcelona, and Bordeaux, Anthony
Weytjens has set roots in Napa as the Winemaker and Estate Manager
at Edge Hill Estate.  It wasn't until Anthony left Tenerife,
the main island of the Canaries, and went to law school in Spain
that he found an interest in vineyards and winemaking.  In the
podcast Anthony weaves through the trials that were a part of his
viticulture and enology education at the University of Bordeaux,
including his having to learn French from scratch.  After
interning at some of the top Chateaux within the Christian Moueix
group in Bordeaux, Anthony took the opportunity to work in Dominus
Estate in Napa and thus began his career in California.  Now
at Edge Hill Estate in the St Helena district of Napa Valley,
Anthony oversees the grapes and rebuilding of one of the valley's
most history wineries.  We recorded our podcast in the old
distillery that was initially built in 1869 and was painstakingly
re-constructed o that every stone was set in its original
orientation.  We discuss the efforts Anthony is heading at
Edge Hill to convert the vineyard to dry farming and
 biodynamics.  

And the podcast would not
be complete without some insight into the vineyards  and wines
of the Canary Islands.  Although he has yet to make any wine
on the Canaries, Anthony describes some of the cool aspects of
growing grapes in volcanoes, cliffs, and wind-swept slopes.
 There are spots with vines that are 200 years old, others
that drape off of cliffs such that people have to wear harnesses to
pick the grapes and use donkeys to pack them out.
 Fortunately, some of these wines are being exported, so don't
miss Anthony's recommendations.

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