What could possibly be more fun than making wine with Clark Smith and the WineSmith Team?
As one of California’s most innovative and respected winemakers, Clark has honed his craft over 45 vintages, made wine on every continent, and taught thousands of winemakers the ins and outs. He’s also a master storyteller, musician, and an acclaimed chef. Ask anybody — spending time around Clark involves a lot of laughing and a lot of learning.
YOUR WINEMAKING GUIDE
Clark Smith is an MIT dropout who worked wine retail in the 70s. He has been making wine since 1976. After two degrees from Davis and a decade of modern winemaking at R.H. Phillips, he realized that he made very tasty modern whites and terrible reds. He spent the 90s exploring French winemaking under Pascal Ribereau Gayon and Patrick Ducournau while also introducing winemaking innovations such as reverse osmosis, micro-oxygenation and barrel alternatives, and represented the U.S. in Paris at the O.I.V’s Groupe d’Experts Sur la Technologie du Vin.
He has taught winemaking at six universities and judges in several competitions. Since 1984, his Fundamental of Modern Winemaking course, which compresses the essentials of an Enology degree into 16 iintensive hours. has graduated over 4,500 winemakers to rave reviews.
In 2008 he sold Vinovation and took over the editorship of AppellationAmerica.com and published Postmodern Winemaking in 2013, Wine and Spirits magazine’s Book of the Year. His Fundamentals of Modern Wine Chemistry, an enology degree in a weekend, has graduated 4,000 winemakers since 1986. His principal interests today are to support the technical and marketing competence of wineries in emerging regions and to heal the bad marriage between winemakers and wine lovers by reestablishing a spirit of openness, authentic dialogue, and mutual respect.
He was named Innovator Of The Year at the 2016 IQ Conference and in the same year was named Barbershopper of the Year. In 2018, Wine Business Monthly named him among the 48 Most Influential People in the Wine Industry.
THE WINES WE CAN MAKE
“Over my many years as a wine industry professional I have worked with innumerable master winemakers, but Clark Smith truly stands above them all. He possesses the most comprehensive understanding of the complexities of wine of anyone I’ve ever known in the business, and his ability to communicate his knowledge to his clients and his students is unparalleled.”
-Dr. Stephen Krebs, Dean, Viticulture and Winery Technology Napa Valley College
"Thank you all so much for your most gracious hospitality this past weekend and alI your efforts to make it a grand success. I had a great time and learned quite a lot from you and the Harvest Partners team.”
– Jon Katz, Salem, New Hampshire
"Clark has been guiding influence in the wine production side of the business, which, as growers, we could never navigate on our own.”
– Jake Stephens, Proprietor, Diamond Ridge Vineyards
"As a consultant, Clark knows the industry from all sides and brings curiosity, intelligence and skill to the cuvee.”
-Dave Noyes, David Noyes Wines
" I am excited to be a harvest partner. I love wine, I love Clark’s wines, and I am excited to get to work with him to create more great wine. Yesterday was an amazing day. Thank you so much for making that happen Clark, that was a real treat. I can’t wait for the next visit! Plus next time we will have more of the new vintage to taste! ” -Chris McClean, Seattle, Washington
I know a lot about wine, enough to know I know so little. Living in Ireland where we produce (& consume) large volumes of drinks, but little or no wine, I had to look elsewhere for my learning. So when I heard of Clark’s Harvest Partners plan, I immediately signed up. Here was a chance to get up close and personal with all the steps from grape to bottle.
It has been a wonderful experience, from seeing the grapes in the vineyards to punching down the cap in fermenting barrels. Then on to tasting the early results – 18 young evolving wines including Californian blockbusters to delicate whites, a rose, a very unusual but delicious sparkler and even a sweet wine. Aside from those there were some very interesting experimental wines being crafted by Clark.
Even though my location in Ireland reduces the number of times I can visit, Clark has kept me in the loop with his regular informative and scientific updates, so whereas I cannot be there as often as I would like, I have never felt left out. So even though Vintage 1 of Harvest Partners has quite a long time run as the wines mature, I will be signing up to Vintage 3 once it opens. –Slainte from the Grafter in Ireland.