The weeping of the grapes
Winemaking in Guatemala’s climate and volcanic soil makes for a challenge and art form.
The vineyard’s castle is the first thing to greet tourists as they arrive at Château Defay for a tour and tasting. Behind the building sit the acres of grape crops, as well as coffee and avocado fields. | Photo by Clark Frederickson
By Makenzi Johnson
The vines slowly bleed, drip by drip, as they are cut into. The grapes cry out, weeping as they are plucked from the vine.
The tendrils that once stretched up to the sun, full of fruit, are now bare — the harvest is done.
Alváro Guillermo Andrade, winemaker, doesn’t just cut the vines to watch them bleed or pick the grapes to make them weep for the purpose of making wine — he says he has a relationship with the vines and fruit.
“People from the Middle East have told me that I have to talk to [the grapes], tell them that you share their pain, that you feel their suffering,” Andrade said. “You hug [the vines] because it is in part that they respond better.”
Château Defay represents a rare success – Guatemala has a unique harvest schedule, a climate that supports only a few grape varieties and little interest in wine from its population.
This harvest happens twice a year at Château Defay in Santa María de Jesus, Guatemala – in June and December. Vineyards in Europe and the United States only get one harvest per year due to the grapes going dormant in the colder months. A vineyard in Guatemala doesn’t have to worry about dormancy or winter.
Even the 300 microclimates and average temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit do not guarantee a winery and vineyard will be successful in “the land of eternal spring.” Château Defay owner and founder Jacque Defay bought land in 2000 and started a vineyard in Guatemala for a challenge.
“I thought it would be difficult… to make wine in a place where nobody knew what wine was about,” Defay said. “The idea was to make wine no matter what.”
The winemaking process isn’t just about making a profit and proving agriculturists wrong, claims Defay. It’s about creating a space on someone’s dinner table for a bottle of wine, along with the coveted rum, whiskey and tequila bottles that Guatemalan society has held in its hands for centuries. Only 2% of the Guatemalan population drinks wine, while beer is at 56% and spirits at 42%, according to a 2018 study done by the World Health Organization. In the U.S, 18% of the population drinks wine, 47% drink beer and 35% drink spirits.
Château Defay owner Jacque Defay looks at his harvested vines Jan. 13, 2022. “I love making the impossible possible,” Defay said while the agriculturists worked the soil for the next harvest. | Photo by Javier Anleu
Winemaker Alváro Guillermo Andrade is passionate about the story of Château Defay. “My goal here is to teach the consumers about wine and I’m also constantly learning,” he said. | Photo by Davis McElmurry
Andrade also argues that winemaking and drinking wine are spiritual experiences. He likes to remind vineyard visitors that Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine and that one of His last moments on Earth was giving His blood as wine.
The grape vines, grown where the volcanic ash mixes into the soil and the bougainvillea flowers hang down from balconies, have wept.
“It’s not just about the wine,” Andrade said. “What you are doing here with a glass of wine, [that] is poetry.”
(Additional reporting by Javier Anleu and Clark Frederickson.)