FOUNDER H WILLIAM HARLAN had floated the idea to Cory Empting (pictured above) in 2013 to recognise the vocation of vineyard workers who were in touch with the soil and vines. It would be imperative to keep alive their intangible heritage across the generations to realise Harlan’s 200-year plan to establish a California First Growth. By the end of 2015, the programme was in place, and seven years on, the vine masters inhabit the slightly more than one-hectare blocks for which they are responsible.
“They always had the curiosity, but now it was so personal they couldn’t not know what happened to that year’s vintage,” Empting says. “This was my hope in the beginning, but I had no idea how quickly it would change. The programme was designed to get a sense of ownership for the people, but also to acknowledge the nobility of the skills that they had learnt. To some,
