The Woman Winemaking Duo of Guardian Cellars
“She’s got a lot of knowledge and she’s a fabulous teacher. Being twice her age, I bring a different kind of experience and a different perspective to the table. And between the two of us, it comes out great. There’s just a little bit of magic there that’s hard to explain, but we have so much fun together and it’s fabulous.”
Katie O’Brien on working with Lauryn
“She’s really fun to work with. She’s really positive. She’s a go getter and she’s been great to have in the back of the house. She gets things done and she loves it. And we make a good little duo back there.”
Lauryn Ness on working with Katie
What brought you to the wine industry?
Katie
Katie has always loved wine, however when she was at Washington State University, they didn’t offer the fabulous wine program that they do now. Katie took local classes in Seattle and had her own wine tasting company.
“I would focus on one style of wine from one region and do side by side tastings with the goal being to help people find what their palate liked. I wanted to empower them to be able to go to a restaurant and say, ‘I like the wine that tastes like this’ or to help them define characteristics of wine. That was really fun – loved that. I would travel in Oregon and Washington and California just to taste wine.”
Katie then went on to have four kids with her husband who sadly passed away 13 years ago – she spent all her time raising her family.
“I recently thought, oh, I need to get back into my life now that the kids are quite a bit older. I started by calling a friend of mine who had worked in a tasting room. She said to call Jerry and Jennifer, the owners of Guardian Cellars. She said, ‘they’re the nicest people in all of Woodinville.’ I sent them an email and said, ‘Hey, my friend says you’re the nicest people in all of Woodinville.’ I ended up starting in their tasting room and then moved to production – and I’ve had a ball.
Lauryn
Lauryn’s mom had an appreciation for wine, and she had always worked in the restaurant industry which gave her the ability to learn about wine from a distance at a young age. “The way that they were speaking about the wine was like poetry. And it was just a cool experience to see that an alcoholic beverage like that would bring so many people together.”
She attended WSU and joined the wine and beverage business management program as well as the viticulture and enology program.
“I had to go work at a winery and I didn’t think much of it. I thought maybe I’d be on the front of house, tasting, doing stuff like that. But when I got hired on, they said, you’ll be in the back, you’ll be in production. I showed up the first day and it was me and two other girls. I had the best time I’ve ever had in my entire life.
It was so much fun. I learned a lot. And that’s where I fell in love and I knew that I would want to be on that side of things from here on out.”
Lauryn is grateful to have been on the Guardian Cellars production team for four years now.
What is your favorite memory from working together?
When asked if a favorite memory came to mind, Lauryn and Katie both recalled the same one – when they racked 16 wines – 360 barrels – together over the course of two weeks.
Katie
“We celebrated with a great bottle of champagne and Lauryn brought in her champagne saber”
Lauryn
“We definitely popped champagne after that.”
What advice do you have for women wanting to get started in the wine industry?
Katie
“Since I have come to this at a later age, I want to emphasize the importance of saying yes. Always keep your mind open. The world takes you to amazing places, and if your mind is open and you’re willing to say yes and try something different and take that risk, the places you go are beyond your wildest dreams.”
Lauryn
“The biggest thing is to be yourself and don’t be afraid to ask questions. The cool thing about this industry is you never know everything. And there’s so many different techniques that people use. Be ready to work hard and have that team mentality because it kind of takes a village to do what we all do.
And it’s nice to lean on people just like how I can lean on Katie to get stuff done together.”
Working in production at a winery isn’t the most glamorous job – you’re operating forklifts and getting your hands dirty. You need to be strong. But with the right teammate, it can be not only rewarding – but a great deal of fun.
Visit Guardian Cellars at one of their three tasting rooms in Woodinville, Maltby, or Walla Walla.
Editor
Natalie is co-founder and editor of The Grapevine Magazine where she helps winemakers big and small tell their stories. She lives in Manhattan, New York City.
