Remarkable Moments in My Sparkling Wine Journey - #3

Kathleen Inman Tending Wine Barrels

Owner & winemaker Kathleen Inman shares remarkable moments from her journey - mentors, successes and what she hopes her daughters learned from her work.

Why Kathleen?

You might say she has an endless crush on sparkling wine. She made her first Rose, Endless Crush, as an impromptu anniversary gift for her husband. At the time, she already knew she wanted to make a sparkling version. She launched Inman Family Wines in 2002 and has been making sparkling wines since 2009.

What I Learned from My Mentors

Vicky

You came to winemaking as a third career after accounting and executive search. Did you have any mentors who helped you learn about making wine?

Kathleen

Yes. One of my mentors was Kevin Hamel a winemaker from a winery in Dry Creek Valley. I called him the day I decided to make my first rosé, Endless Crush, the special wine I promised to make for my husband when I forgot to get him an anniversary gift. Kevin had made a rosé of Sangiovese that I loved so I asked him to help me with my rosé of pinot noir.

He is also the one that taught me the basic things you need to know about making wine that you don’t learn in formal winemaking classes. He taught me how to tie down a load [of grape bins], how to do trucker's knots, how to hook up a pump. I did all the classes at Davis to get a certificate in wine making but it was Kevin who taught me these useful things.

My other mentor was Penny [Gadd-Coster, Executive Director of Winemaking at Rack & Riddle]. She taught me how to taste the high acid base wines for sparkling. There's a difference between tasting finished sparkling wines and the base wines. You perceive the tannins much more once the sparkling wine is finished.

Balance - Raising Daughters and Making Wine

Vicky

That’s one thing I love about being in a wine community. People are so willing to help each other. At the time you were learning to make wine and launching your wine business, you were raising two young daughters. What was that like?

Kathleen

On the one hand, I missed out on some things, especially their first days of school because that coincided with harvest. My husband always did that. On the other hand, I held back growing my brand in the early years when my girls were growing up. They are both musicians and I didn't want to miss their performances. And one of my daughters was an athlete who ran at state level.

There was one time when I was at a wine tasting event and had to step outside to listen to my husband on the cell phone tell me how she was doing in the race. I decided at that moment not do those kinds of events until my girls went off to college. Family comes first.

I remember another time when my daughter was in 4th grade, and she had a back-to-school night. I was in the middle of harvest, and I had pinot juice all over me and grapes in my hair when my daughter called and said, “mommy, you’re coming tonight, right?” I said, “no honey, I don’t think I’ll make it; I’m covered in pinot juice and won’t have time to get cleaned up.” She said, “Just put on some lipstick and those cute Prada shoes and no one will notice.”

Vicky

On my goodness! Did you go?

Kathleen

Yes. I made it. I washed my face and put on some lipstick but didn’t wear the Prada shoes. I just kept on the boots because they went better with the grapes in my hair.

Two Wonderful Moments in my Life as a Winemaker

Vicky

That was a memorable moment! What was the most wonderful moment in your winemaking career?

Kathleen

In 2014 Lettie Teague [wine columnist for the Wall Street Journal] wrote an article about rosés. She said my wine was one of the top imported or domestic rosés. My very favorite rosé is Domaine Tempier's Bandol Rosé and the photo in the Wall Street Journal showed my wine next to the Bandol. I couldn’t believe my wine was next to theirs. That was pretty amazing!

That is quickly followed by both of my daughters being able to have wine that I made at their weddings. It took extra effort to get the wines to D.C. in one case, and to England in the other and it was very special.

What I Hope My Daughters Learned from My Work

Vicky

Speaking of your daughters, what do you hope they learned from the way you approach your work?

“Balance is important in wine and it’s important in life.”

Kathleen

They manage to focus on their families while still making time for themselves, in their careers and personally. They both seem very balanced, and balance is important. It’s important in wine and it’s important in life. I hope that’s what I taught them.

Kathleen Inman and Her Daughters

Early in my career I used to think I could do it all. But you can’t do it all; you have to make choices. Hopefully over time you get to do it all, but you can’t do it all at the same time. They both are doing things they love and are such good parents.

In fact, there are a lot of aspects in winemaking that mirror motherhood. I feel that in the vineyard and in the cellar. I often think of the personalities of my wine as sisters. Each wine has its own personality because I let it be what it wants to be.

For me, winemaking is also like childbirth. If you haven’t made a wine, you’re very excited to make your first wine. When it’s just about done, you can’t wait for it to be over. When it’s finished, you say ‘I’m never doing this again.’ I’ve said that so many times and this is my 20th harvest. But then the grapes come ripe, and I smell them and I’m back doing it again.

All images courtesy of Inman Family Wines

Check out all my conversations with Kathleen