Being a vineyard manager checked all the boxes for Mary: collaboration of ideas, working with the soil, the interface of farming and nature, and the intersections of science and farming. Working over 30 years now in vineyards has been a great gift, and she has been fortunate to work with people who valued farming practices that respected the people and the soils.

Mary has been managing vineyards for Bill Harlan since 2002, and she currently oversees farming and vineyard development for Harlan and Promontory. The team there continues to work with evolving farming practices that benefit the soils and vines. Mary has found the most gratifying (and maybe unexpected) aspects of her field to be the evolution of vineyard workers, and a recognition of how their work is paramount to the quality of the wines being made in this valley. You can follow her on Instagram at @m3rrymar.

Emily Goodell is the viticulturist and part owner of a family business, Amoritas Vineyards, in northern Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula. She works with her brother, father and tasting room manager in every area of the business, but specializes in maintaining the vineyard. With a BS in Plant Science from Cornell University (2006) and a MS in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis (2011) she combines strong theoretical knowledge of growing and planting with the hard-won experience of starting a vineyard and winery from scratch in Northern Michigan. She enjoys the challenges of every year’s weather in a location that sits on the line between cool and cold climate viticulture, and is always thinking creatively about how to farm sustainably, affordably and produce great wine. Because of the small size of the business, she regularly gets to enjoy the retail side of the business in the tasting room, and would be happy to share the sales skills she’s picked up over the years.

Brooke Delmas Robertson is the Director of Winegrowing for Delmas | SJR Vineyard in The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Oregon. Brooke serves the greater Oregon wine industry as a board member of the Oregon Winegrowers Association, and also runs a Viticulture Technical Group for the Walla Walla Valley. She began her career in the Napa Valley working for vineyard management companies such as Barbour, Piña, and The Napa Valley Reserve. Brooke has a degree in Philosophy from Oregon State University, an AAAS degree in Enology and Viticulture from Walla Walla Community College; studied for a Masters degree in Viticulture at Cal Poly in SLO and completed the Winemaking Certificate program from UC Davis. Brooke is also working towards her Vine Master Pruner certification through Simonit & Sirch.

Photo credit: Richard Duval

Keen on all things green, viticulturist, vintner and plant enthusiast Annie Favia-Erickson has surrounded herself in a framework of plants — from the vineyards she works with as a part of Favia Wines, to the all-season vegetable garden that keeps her homestead, family, friends and local restaurants well-stocked; and now, to her whole flower and whole leaf herbal tisanes ERDA Tea. At the forefront of all viticulture and farming decisions is her philosophy that balance falls within the order of nature. Working carefully with each chosen site is an exercise in learning how to achieve a natural, balanced, and unique expression of the land. Though always paying strict attention to detail, ultimately Annie recognizes that Mother Nature reigns supreme. She finds her deepest sense of self while elbow deep in dirt.

Ria finished her undergraduate degree in Botany and began her career working with plants at the New York Botanical Garden. The 2008 economic crisis forced her to take a sabbatical, in which she turned it around and traveled to Tuscany to study pastry. She then found work at a small vineyard and winery in Piemonte in Northern Italy. She went to graduate school at UC Davis, where she saw the beauty of the west and wine by visiting beautiful vineyards throughout the state of California. Since then, Ria has worked at Broc Cellars in Berkeley, Tenuta Tignanello in Chianti, Treasury Wine Estates in Sonoma, McEvoy Ranch in Petaluma, Constellation Brands in Napa and now at Hermann J Wiemer in the Finger Lakes. Organic, deliberate farming is pivotal to Ria’s grape growing and she continues her love for thoughtful, fresh wines through her own small wine brand.

Julia van der Vink is a Vineyard Manager at Harlan Estate who specializes in regenerative winegrowing practices on hillsides. Julia began her career in the wine industry at age 18, while she was completing her degree in Government and Economics from Harvard. She spent her free time during college studying for her WSET diploma, (passing 5/6 units with distinction), and stocking shelves at Ball Square Fine Wines in exchange for the opportunity to taste weekly with the buying team. Julia has experience working with multiple winemakers and winegrowers around the world, including Forlorn Hope, Mayacamas, MacDonald, Jasud Estate, and Enterprise Vineyard Management in California; Mac Forbes in Australia; Burn Cottage in New Zealand; and Mullineux Wines in South Africa. You can follow her on Instagram at @jvandervink.

From studying pomology at UC Davis and working on the family orange groves, Ann earned her ‘viticulture’ stripes managing vineyards for Domaine Chandon and Swanson. She eventually moved into consulting with both wineries and vineyards, such as Ancien, Cain, Calera, Paul Hobbs, Stagecoach and Shafer, as well as clients in Oregon and Chile. With over 20 years of experience in the premium wine industry, Ann and her extended family developed Shake Ridge Vineyards from its inception. By custom-farming small vineyard blocks, Ann is able to provide Yorba and the other Shake Ridge winemakers the highest quality fruit.