Meet Juan Muñoz-Oca, the Chief Winemaker for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates creating distinctive and unique award-winning wines in the Pacific Northwest.
Raised in Mendoza, Argentina, Juan embraced wine at an early age, crediting his South American roots. Juan even began picking his first grapes at the young age of eight. Ever since, he’s been on the pathway to becoming a world-class winemaker.
See also: Gent’s Eat: Introducing Montreal’s Yoko Luna
ADVERTISEMENT  |
Inspiration
Juan holds dual degrees in agricultural engineering and enology and viticulture from the National University of Cuyo. He is also a graduate of the Columbia Business School at Columbia University in New York. He spent time working abroad doing international harvests in Australia, France and Spain and loves to travel.
At one point, he found himself with six weeks to travel and decided to explore Thailand. “My experience in Bangkok was amazingly freeing. The experience exposed me to amazing people and things I never thought I would see. Not speaking the language helped me see people differently and in a less transactional way. I still use those learnings in my day to day when interacting with people around me.”
Influence
Washington State wines are hand-crafted by ambitious, talented winemakers who bring out the purest of terroir. Juan believes that wineries have the ability to influence geography, communities, and social environments. He understands that that every industry needs disruptors to evolve, change and become better. “We need more disruptors, that’s the only way the industry will evolve to deliver the wines the consumer wants”
ADVERTISEMENT |
Creativity
Describing himself as “stupidly obsessed with wine”, Juan has a passion not only for making great wine, but influencing the way people experience it. He joined Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in 2001 as a viticulturist. Talented, eager and curious, he quickly rose through the winemaking ranks at Columbia Crest Winery. Most recently, he was the creative force behind Borne of Fire and Intrinsic – some of the most daring wines ever made in Washington state.
“Borne of Fire and Intrinsic are very different wines, yet the two share a genesis. the two wines are an expression of the uniqueness of our terroir. They also are designed to be interesting and captivating to the end consumer.”
Borne of Fire comes from ‘The Burn of the Columbia Valley’ one of the newest Washington State American Viticultural Areas. Intrinsic is a hyper-extended skin contact wine that stays on skins for nine months after fermentation. Consumers have taken a significant liking to these wines and Juan’s creativity shines through them both.
ADVERTISEMENT |
Sustainable By Nature
The pacific northwest is rich in volcanic history, making the region, landscape and wines extremely special. Washington vineyards are sustainable by nature giving vineyards a perfect place to grow. The arid temperatures along with low humidity and disease pressure help to control fungal diseases reducing the need for chemical sprays. With ancient and lean soils, and plenty of sunlight, this region is exceptionally suited for growing world-class grapes. Washington State will also be launching an exciting sustainability code for wineries. These are set to be launched in the coming months.
PAIRINGS
I asked Juan what his favourite food and wine pairing is to which he stated he loves to drink champagne (or a subtle Washington sparkling wine) with a bowl of salted popcorn. When it comes to hobbies, Juan travels north to Canada every winter in search for poutine, friendly locals and great powder.
Feature image by Thomas Thompson
ADVERTISEMENT |
