Meet The Interns – Guillermo Enrique Whitney

Age: 23

Hailing from: Necochea, Argentina

How did you get into the wine industry? My brother was a ranch leader for a vineyard in the Central Valley of California for a few years before I got into the industry. I realized he was passionate about wine beyond his job.  The interest he had eventually led to me also looking into wine since whenever I’d see him, he would encourage me to look into jobs in the industry. After graduating I eventually started a position not in the vineyard but in the winery where at the beginning my skills were more applicable.

What has been your winemaking experience up until now? This will be my second vintage. I previously worked in the dry creek valley in Sonoma county, California.

How did you hear about Greystone?  One of my coworkers during this last vintage, Megan Hill, had previously worked a vintage at Greystone. During the first few weeks of our internship she helped me realize how traveling for vintages was a great opportunity and put me in contact with Dom.

What do you do for work back home? I graduated college in May 2023 and since then I’ve been working in wine, so at the moment my intentions are to keep gaining winery experience, meaning that would be my “back home work”. But ultimately work for me would be back in Argentina, and if I’d go back now it would be to work in the ranch I live in back there.

What is the most memorable wine you’ve ever tasted?  Memorable for me would be a wine that I didn’t think was objectively great but that I would drink often with friends of which a few are headed to do the 2024 vintage in New Zealand. It was a cheap Sauvignon Blanc that would get shipped from New Zealand all the way to California and get bottled at our winery. I guess in the end it became memorable because of the people I associated that wine with and also the fact that we would be reminded of our upcoming vintage in New Zealand.

What are you most looking forward to this upcoming vintage? To be working in a relatively small scale winery where I get to be exposed to more areas of production and thus gain a better understanding of decision making in the winery. I’m also excited to get busy and get to meet people with similar interests.

What is your favourite task in the winery? Most lab tasks because it’s what I’m most comfortable with but in general anything that involves teamwork tends to be more engaging for me.

What is your favourite Greystone wine? Sadly wasn’t able to find Greystone wine in California but I am a big fan of Sauvignon Blanc and I’m very excited to eventually try the natural fermentation wines of Greystone.

Did you grow up with wine in your family? Wine was not a huge thing in my family growing up, it became more of an interest for everyone only when my brother started working in the industry. But even before that we would always have wine over asados and I would be able to taste it.

What future aspirations do you have – in or out of the wine world?  Short term I want to keep working harvests to decide if ultimately I would like to pursue a master in the wine industry or specialize in some area of winemaking. I studied microbiology in college with an interest in food microbiology and would some day like to apply that to wine or a different food product to take a lead role in a business.