Winemakers
This series follows 12 men and women from all walks of life as they vie for a chance to create and launch their own wine label. Set in California's wine country, it takes viewers inside the making of one of the world's most storied beverages. The contestants plunge head-first into one of the most challenging yet rewarding (and often romanticized) professions to experience every aspect of wine making -from viticulture and enology to sales and marketing. A seasoned panel of top winemakers, educators, columnists and culinary celebrities oversee the true-to-life challenges the prospective wine-makers would face in the real world.
Winemakers Previous Broadcasts
Marketing and Label Design (Episode #105)
KQED Life: Sun, Nov 15, 2009 -- 12:30 PM
The four remaining contestants are getting close to the final round. In this challenge they must establish a wine style and also come up with a label design, branding image and business plan for that wine. They will be given access to a team of marketing experts, label designers and advertising agencies to help them, but they have only one week to get it done. In the end only the top three "brands" will make it into the final challenge.
Food and Wine Pairing Challenge (Episode #104)
KQED Life: Sun, Nov 8, 2009 -- 12:30 PM
Understanding wine's relationship to food is essential if you want to become a good wine maker. The contestants work in three teams of two and are given a challenging three course menu, a budget of only $150 dollars and an hour to find the right wines to pair with the meal. Their guests are wine buyers for some of the country's largest restaurants and retail chains, the executive wine editor for Food & Wine Magazine and top sommeliers who grill them on their choices.
Can You Sell It? (Episode #103)
KQED Life: Sun, Nov 1, 2009 -- 12:30 PM
Small winemakers, like the ones the winner will become, wear many hats. And one of the most important hats is sales person. The contestants must work as three teams of three at a popular wine tasting bar during one of the busiest weekends in wine country. They are given 15 minutes to learn about the wines they're pouring and each team has only one hour behind the bar to sell the wines. But the customers are no ordinary tourists; the deck has been stacked with wine makers and a sommelier-turn-mole who secretly tests their ability to sell and their knowledge of wine.









