Through the glamour of the glass

Words by Sam Healy.

‘People can forget that winemaking is agricultural. We get swept up in the glamour of the glasses and forget that there’s a grower behind the scenes,’ says Corrina Wright, award-winning winemaker from Oliver’s Taranga. Fox Creek winemaker Steven Soper, also experiences the sometimes illusory nature of the wine industry’s glamour. ‘As people and as consumers, we all love a happy story,’ he says. Paradoxically, this can create pressure for labels to add a certain romanticism to their visitor’s experience. What we don’t see in the curated cellar doors is the physical work, the chaos and struggle.

Originally a McLaren Vale Local, Rebecca Hopkins is an expert in this field. She now provides wellbeing support and education to those in the wine industry through her inspiring US-based business, A Balanced Glass. ‘I think what’s unique about this industry is the frequency and volume of the access to alcohol,’ she says empathetically. ‘In order to have a long and successful career, you need to have a lot of self-awareness and discipline around the core product that you work with.’

Adding to this, Rebecca continues, ‘The production of wine has a singular, high-impact part of the year, which is harvest. Sleep interruptions from night work, family interruptions from the long hours and the immense physical work can really impact people in the industry.’ Steven agrees, ‘You basically block out a handful of the best months of the year, I don’t even know what autumn feels like anymore!’

The challenges around this high-impact time are not new to the industry, but they’re now experienced against the background of a huge cultural shift. Thanks to our ever-present technology, our brains now take in 200 times the amount of information every day as they did in 1986. And we simply haven’t (and can’t) evolve quickly enough to deal with the influx of data. This causes and normalises mental fatigue, deeply affecting our ability to be self-aware and disciplined. With these abilities further compromised, the already ‘high-impact’ time of vintage becomes even more fraught.

‘There’s positives and negatives in all lines of work. I love what we do and what we create,’ says Steven. Knowing I would deeply struggle with the challenge of the all-consuming vintage, I ask him how he navigates it. ‘I engulf myself,’ he replies simply. ‘I surround myself with the love of what I do, the things I love to do, and I make the most of them when I can.’ While the ‘business’ can be exhausting, Steven still finds the love for it. This is self-awareness and discipline in action. There’s an increasing narrative that being ‘busy’ is not good for our mental health and wellbeing. But busy is not always bad. Steven masterfully models how being busy with purpose can lead to a thriving life. For Corrina, this also comes naturally. ‘Being a woman in the industry can mean you’re working against conscious and unconscious bias,’ she says. ‘Standing up for your purpose is the only way forward.’

I await her purpose like an eager student. ‘I’m sixth generation. So, I’m thinking about the generations after me. Everything we do ensures the next generation has the best platform to lead from. We make products that celebrate our produce, not products that cater to demand. Make sure everything you’re doing fits with your long-term vision,’ she explains.

We all face unique struggles within our respective careers. For those of us touched by alcoholism, anxiety and exhaustion, we understand the stakes of our beloved wine industry. What is blindingly obvious, however, is that our wine region is so successful because of people like Rebecca, Steven and Corrina – people who love their job, and support each other and their consumers. People who are connected to their purpose and are always building their selfawareness and discipline.

So, do wellness and wine go together? Absolutely. But not through the glamour of the glasses. They go together through the purpose of the people.

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