Local man nominated for Winemaker of the Year
Wine Enthusiast Magazine last Friday announced that Adam Mettler, director of wine operations for Michael David Winery in Lodi, has been nominated for Winemaker of the Year for the 2018 Wine Star Award.
“A lot of very prestigious people have been nominated for this award in the past, so it’s a great thing not only for me and my team here at Michael David, but for Lodi as well,” Mettler said.
With Michael David’s 2012 Petite Petit placing second on Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Wines in 2015 and being recognized as one of the magazine’s 2016 Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers — a list of distinguished wine industry professionals under 40 years old, Mettler views his recent nomination as further proof of the winery’s continued success.
“All of these accolades wouldn’t be possible without the great team we’ve been able to create here,” Mettler said. “To do all of this, you’ve got to have a good group of people who are dedicated to the mission.”
That mission is creating high-quality wine, Mettler said, and producing it consistently, a mission he accomplishes with a team of 35 full-time employees — 55 at the moment for this year’s harvest season.
“Here at Michael David, one thing we’ve managed to do is to keep our quality at a high standard as we continue to grow at a rapid rate,” Mettler said. “Michael David was a small brand 15 years ago, and we’ve probably grown 10-fold in the time that I’ve worked here.”
As director of wine operations, Mettler manages wine production not just at Michael David’s Lodi ad Sonoma facilities, but 10 other facilities that Michael David contracts for grape crushing and winemaking as well.
“A lot of what I do is being a connection between the production side of the company and the ownership. There are lots of critical control points as far as production and quality standards, certain techniques we’ve perfected,” Mettler said “We’re also doing a lot of construction and growth, so I’ve been doing a lot of facility design and construction planning as well.”
Besides overseeing wine production at Michael David, where he has worked for the past 14 years, Mettler also helps operate Mettler Family Vineyards’ facilities and even works as a grape grower himself, he said.
“My family’s been growing grapes here for going on the sixth generation now,” Mettler said. “I’m the fifth.”