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Vina Moda Winery
Nathan Vader, owner and winemaker
We were fortunate to catch Nathan Vader and his wife Kirsten on a rare day off. They were just heading out to go hiking when we called them, so they met us at their winery—Vina Moda Winery. We got there first, and when the Vaders pulled in, their two dogs—a floppy-eared Doberman by the name of Shaolin and Dali Lala, a dachshund with Doberman markings—came bounding out of their small truck. Nathan and Kirsten followed; after a quick introduction, they unlocked the winery and we moved inside for a tour and chat.
What is striking about the Vaders is their age. They’re young enough to be Ken’s kids! But to them, age seems relevant. They appear both grateful and humble for what they have, but Nathan did point out during his interview that he has put in his time, working his way up from a “cellar rat.” It goes to show you that hard work does have its rewards.
They’re also a cute couple. For someone going hiking, Kirsten looked as if she was meeting friends for lunch instead. She was quick to smile and her gregarious personality, definitely Italian. But the most fun was watching the chemistry between the two, especially when Nathan—our primary interviewee—was interrupted by Kirsten, who was adding her two cent’s worth.
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How did you become involved in the wine business?
When I got my first job in winemaking my title was
“cellar rat.” My first real title was cellar master, but when you’re
starting out you’re a cellar rat. I was a cellar rat for about six
months then moved up to cellar master. I did that for about a year then
went to UC Davis to take the enology courses and learn the chemistry
behind winemaking. I was one of those kids in high school who never paid
attention in chemistry. I mean, when am I ever going to use chemistry
with beakers and bubbling things? So I had to go back and get my
chemistry background. I really enjoyed it and made great contacts there.
How did it happen that you got involved in winemaking before
taking classes?
My wife’s family is Italian and they drink two bottles a day, every day. I got together with my wife when we were about 18 or 19. From that age on, I drank wine with her family.
So it was cheaper to make it?
Than to buy it? Yeah. Her dad started me on the
lower stuff, then he’d bring out the good stuff for holidays and I
really started to enjoy it. When I turned 20, I got my first wine job
and after that I learned I loved it.
What did you do after graduation?
When I was done at Davis, I came back to the same
winery I had first worked at, and I was a winemaker from then on. The
winemaker I studied with there was a 30-year veteran. I left and went to
work at a second winery where I studied under another 30-year veteran,
but they went bankrupt. Everybody else around here had winemakers. I was
either going to have to move out of the county or get out of the wine
business.
Obviously, you did neither.
The third option was to start our own winery.
Do you own your own vineyard?
No, we purchase our grapes. We were going to start
out doing primarily Italian varietals, but up here there aren’t enough
Italian varietals of high quality to be strictly Italian. So we’ve taken
on a lot of the French varietals. I’ve had really good luck and success
with them. Luckily up in this area you don’t have these gigantic
vineyards where you just get what you get. Most of the vineyards I deal
with are smaller vineyards, and we can tell them
exactly how we want it done,
like how we want the leaf pulling or the cluster thinning. It’s kind of
like our own vineyard in how we manage it.
Don’t take this wrong, but you seem very young to be a
winemaker.
I get carded all the time. My customers card me.
Most of the winemakers we’ve talked with are in their 50s or 60s
or older.
Nathan: I’m definitely the new kid on the block.
Kirsten (laughing): We went to the [California]
State Fair to accept medals for our Viognier—we were one of the region
awards—and we got up and had our picture taken with the VIPs. We were 20
or 30 years younger than everyone else!
So you are definitely one of the youngest winemakers in the
county?
Yes, for sure in Calaveras County. And for sure the
youngest owner-winemaker.
Can you tell us about the harmonica playing?
Well, the harmonica playing started out—all my buddies back in Colorado all played different instruments and played in a band. It was fun to go hang out with them, but I was the guy that just sat there and did nothing. So I needed to come up with some instrument to play. Harmonica was easy; we played a lot of blues with rock. So I said, “I’ve got a Blues Traveler CD, so I’ll listen to John Popper and see how he plays.”
Kristen (rolling her eyes and chiding her hubby): He was terrible when he first started!
Nathan (looking down and shaking his head): Three years of the worst noises you could ever imagine.
Kristen: He’s amazing now, fantastic and he plays in a couple of bands.
Nathan: So, for about two or three years I played outside or in the basement away from people.
Did your bad harmonica playing damage your wine?
No, by that time I was good. I started playing in
high school. I’ve been at it about 15 years now.
What made you play harmonica to your wine?
I feel the energy in wine. You can feel this new energy during fermentation, during the harvest. You bring in the grapes and it’s totally different. I’m in the winery all year. When I go in my back cellar when there’s no fruit in there, it feels like a regular empty room. When you walk in and it’s full of wine you can feel an energy about it. And it makes me happy to play harmonica, so it makes me happy to play my harmonica to the wine. We’ve had nothing but great success ever since I’ve been doing that. Our first year we were top 10 in the state, best of region, best white. I’ve played almost every day to the wine. In the barrel room, if I’m gone for a week, I can come in and feel a touch of a lonely feeling when I walk in. I rub every barrel, I talk to every barrel, I play my harp to every barrel. I just feel that it keeps that vibrant energy going in the wine.
Why don’t you a harmonica on one of your wine labels?
We’re still working that one out.
You said that you whisper to the wine. Is that how you got the
nickname “wine whisperer?”
Kristen: Most Davis winemakers, at least in Nate’s experience, they’re all by the book and strict. So he’ll go out to the vineyards and take some of his testing tools, but usually he’ll just kind of walk and pace and feel the leaves and kind of feel how the wine is feeling and he’ll make his decision on that. Other winemakers will call and ask him about his measurements and tests, and he’ll say, “Well, I’ll test it when I get back, but it’s ready.” He’s the same way with the fermentation. He’ll test it, but he just knows it’s ready, it’s time. Then he’ll talk to a barrel and say, “This one is actually going to stay in the barrel 12 months.” And I’ll say, “But last year’s [varietal] we bottled after two years.” He touches the barrels. He’s really sensitive to the energy.
Nathan: I started out in the field before I went to Davis so I learned a lot more of the old style. The winemaker I studied under was a very old-time winemaker, old methods, old world style, wasn’t really big on the chemistry aspect of everything. So in the beginning, it was more trying to learn how to feel the wine rather than just straight by the book.
Are there differences in the feelings you get from the different
wines?
Each wine is different. Zinfandel is the furthest extreme of different. It’s a spoiled, rotten brat the whole way through. It’s a baby; it gets molds and rots in the vineyard. It has more problems in the vineyard than most any other grape that we do. Then when we bring it in for fermentation, it’s the one that I can only fill each bin part way. If I fill it to the normal level, it foams up and blows up out of the bins, makes a mess. When it’s done fermenting and we put it in barrels, it shoots bungs to the ceiling, blows up. By the time it finally grows up, it becomes mature. It’s the longest in-bottle shock of any wine I’ve ever worked with. It takes a full year to open up and really mature. Zinfandel is totally different from Petite Sirah or Cabernet.
What does Vina Moda mean?
Vina Moda is Italian and it means “vine style.” We took that from my wife’s heritage.
Kristen (with a huge smile): I’m Italian, so I got to pick the name!