Winemakers On Fire, Issue #51

Hello, fellow wine lovers!

Thomas Holt's meandering path as a winemaker, from New Zealand to Canada to Somontano, Spain, and now Shrewsbury, England, has earned him the title of "flying winemaker." This week on Winemakers On Fire, we delve into Holt's one-of-a-kind journey, exploring the hurdles he’s surmounted and the opportunities he’s embraced to craft his boutique wine business, Paso-Primero.

Uncover the fascinating tale of Thomas Holt's globetrotting winemaking journey and discover his insights on creativity, sustainability, and the power of collaboration. Don’t miss this exclusive story of a “flying winemakers” unique path to success!"

Let’s dive in.

The Paso-Primero Collaboration: A Winemaking Partnership Capturing the Essence of Spain

For winemakers, the quest to craft exceptional wine is an ongoing pursuit filled with challenges and opportunities. From navigating logistical complexities to staying ahead of industry trends, those in this field must continually adapt their approach. The journey of Thomas Holt, owner and winemaker of Paso-Primero, offers insights into overcoming obstacles and forging a unique winemaking path.  

This candid interview with Holt provides a window into the experiences that have shaped his philosophy, from his beginnings in New Zealand and Canada to his move to Spain's Somontano region. By exploring Holt's distinctive perspective, formed through a diverse blend of successes and setbacks, wine professionals and enthusiasts can gain valuable insights. Holt shares strategies for cultivating creativity, embracing sustainability practices, and leveraging the power of collaboration. His vision for elevating the craft of winemaking offers thought-provoking perspectives that readers can apply to their own pursuits.

It seems that your experiences in New Zealand and Canada have significantly influenced your winemaking philosophy. Could you share how those early years shaped your approach to winemaking and what key lessons you took away from those experiences?

They were very different experiences, but both definitely shaped me as a winemaker. New Zealand was my first job out of university and my first professional role in a cellar, so it was more about giving me the confidence that I could become a winemaker than developing a style. They had an incredible array of wines, though, which helped hone my early palate and gave me a better understanding of making commercially viable wines instead of just making them for myself.

Canada was a much more profound experience. Not because of any great step up in quality, but I was the assistant winemaker rather than a cellar hand and at a much smaller winery. I went from being part of a cellar team with daily work orders to being responsible for nearly all the wine processing and directly involved in every winemaking decision. Thankfully, this was all done with a brilliant winemaker who became a mentor.

I got to learn his approach, pick his brains, and start to think about how I’d like to shape wines rather than simply fulfilling cellar tasks and clocking out. He taught me the importance of vineyard focused winemaking, to be responsive in the cellar rather than stuck in previous vintages, to never rest on past successes, to taste constantly (in and out of the cellar), and to always check the bottling filters are clean when the contract bottlers turn up.

After working in the "new world" wine regions of New Zealand and Canada, what motivated your decision to transition to the "old world" of winemaking in Spain? What specifically drew you to the Somontano region?

We didn’t really want to leave Canada but we felt that it wasn’t quite the right place for us to launch our own business. As we’re from the UK, the idea of making wine in Europe seemed like an obvious and achievable route (this was before Brexit in 2016). We’d always loved the wines of Spain and, at that point, had only worked in first-generation regions so we wanted to explore legacy vineyards and tap into centuries of knowledge rather than decades.

It sounds mad now, but we had never been to Somontano and had only tried a couple of their wines. At the time, we felt like the more famous regions would be closed shops and wanted to find somewhere that was open to outsiders coming in and making wines in their own style. As Somontano was the youngest D.O. ("Denominación de Origen") with a pretty wide rule book for varieties and a progressive approach to styles, we felt like it was going to be the most accommodating. I wouldn’t say it lived up to our expectations to start with, but we’re coming up to our ninth harvest, so we found our home in the end.

Please tell us more about your partnership with Batan de Salas. What initially attracted you to them, and how has your collaboration evolved over the past nine years? Could you share some highlights of your work together?

I simply wouldn’t be having this conversation with you if it wasn’t for Batan de Salas. We turned up at their cellar door in early 2015 and hadn’t a clue how we were going to make our first wine. Somehow, we convinced them to let us make Paso-Primero Tinto, which we took back to the UK to sell. They never expected to see us again, but we sold out and kept coming back. We slowly increased the Paso-Primero range with the Blanco and the Rosado, all the while building the relationship. They essentially became an extension of my family and in 2018, we kicked around the idea of making a wine we could sell together. We were already making the wines together anyway; why not work together on a project? 

That started with a 100% barrel fermented red blend of our key varieties, Merlot, Garnacha, Syrah, and Cabernet. We called it Pasotismo. That wine was the catalyst for the Pasotismo Collaboration series, which now includes a white and a single variety, Moristel. I love all my wines, but nothing gives me as much joy as working on this collaboration. There’s a dynamism and energy to the wines that comes from the way they’re made, and I love every minute of it.

Living in the UK while producing wine in Spain must present certain challenges. Can you discuss the logistical hurdles you've encountered and how you've overcome them? How do you balance your time between the two countries?

From a winemaking point of view, life is pretty easy because we have a brilliant parent winery with a phenomenal vineyard team. I don’t make enough wines to need to be on site all year round, can rely on the quality of the cellar and vineyard teams, and can drop in and out for key moments. Harvest can require being away for a couple of months; blending usually takes a week or two, but outside of that, I’m able to manage it with short trips throughout the year.

It’s tough being away from my young family, though, especially when harvesting. But thanks to a very supportive wife, we make it work. The biggest logistic issues have all been external. COVID made travelling extremely difficult and Brexit has changed things, but when we’re left to our own bubble, it works remarkably well. Emma might have a different story to tell.

The UK wine industry is relatively young compared to other regions. Drawing on your experience, what potential do you see for growth and development in the UK wine industry in the coming years?

The UK is in an incredibly fortunate position to have a very strong internal market that has boundless enthusiasm for local produce. This means UK wines will always find sales and the industry will always be attractive to new investors, but for it to continue to grow, I think there needs to be an increased focus on making wines that justify their price tag on quality alone. The initial boom of the last few years has given us an extraordinary range of price points, varieties, and styles, but it’s also given us a lot of wines that won’t cut it beyond their immediate market. As knowledge and experience increase, I think there will be an upswing in quality, which will ensure there’s no glass ceiling on growth.

You mentioned that you and Emma have a "rare perspective on wine and what makes a great wine." Could you elaborate on this perspective and how it impacts your approach to winemaking?

I think we fall between the cracks in the wine industry. We haven’t inherited the family business; we weren’t born into wine, and we’re not here after a career in the city and a ‘mic-drop’ bottle that changed everything. We had to create our own path, starting at the very bottom, without any shortcuts. From stacking shelves and sweeping floors in the local wine merchant right through to travelling the world to make wine with incredible producers in amazing cellars, we’ve done it all.

We’ve had to work incredibly hard to build a life in wine but because of where we’ve come from, we also had no boundaries. We had no preconceived notions about what we should be making or where we should be making it. We had no limits on what we drank or what we liked. By having no direction, we had no restrictions and were able to go out into the world of wine and find exactly what was right for us. And every wine we make is for us first. For our table. The rest of the business comes after.

Sustainability and organic practices appear to be a focus for both you and Batan de Salas. Could you discuss the importance of these practices in your winemaking and share any specific initiatives you've implemented to promote sustainability?

I think it’s fair to say sustainability and organic farming were not key drivers for us initially. We didn’t start the business with idealistic dreams of immediately creating a vineyard utopia. It was a nice thought for the distant future, but to get going, we had to be commercial. We had no money, so we had to sell what we made, and to begin with, we had no customers. 

So, farming international varieties conventionally, with machines, from vineyards with a standard spray programme, and using manufactured yeast strains in the cellar meant we could hit the ground running with a cost-effective, easily recognisable product. But that was always just the first step (hence the name). We always wanted to get better each year in whatever way we could. Over the course of eight years, we’ve realised that to get better in Somontano, the future is not those big commercial wines that require more and more help to come to fruition. It’s in understanding your region, farming respectfully, producing lower yields from indigenous varieties that make naturally fresher, lighter wines, working slower in the cellar, and hopefully building a lasting legacy in the vineyards where soil structure is improving rather than depleting.  

We recently replanted sizable portions of our vineyards, which we left under cover crops for a year without disturbing them with heavy machinery after planting the new vines. We planted within the cover crops. The idea is that instead of working against the existing plant life, we’re utilising it to improve our water retention, improve our vine health, and ultimately improve our wines.

Reflecting on your journey thus far, what have been some of the most significant challenges you've faced, and how have you overcome them? What advice would you offer to aspiring winemakers at the beginning of their careers?

Because of the way we work, our biggest challenges have always been connected to sales. Nothing in our cellar or vineyards can’t be overcome because we have the protective umbrella of our parent winery. But with sales, we’re on our own. And sales are hard. The obvious issues like Brexit, duty increases, price inflation, etc, are not unique to us but since starting the business, we’ve had to change our sales strategy at least three times. The early days of shipping and selling our own wines became untenable after Brexit. We had to rely solely on web sales when COVID hit.

After that, we chased international trade accounts only to be dropped once prices increased and we got gazumped by bigger companies that could mitigate their losses. It’s been a constant dance. Just when we find our feet, something else seems to come along and force us to rethink everything we’re doing. It’s why we’re focusing so much on our newsletter and personally pouring our wines at every opportunity. We have to build a connection between ourselves and our customers. We have to use what is unique to us and engage with people beyond their glass.

Which kind of leads me on to my advice to anyone at the beginning of their career. Make yourself available. Get out there as much as you possibly can to taste, talk, and experience wine. I didn’t do it enough and now regret every opportunity I missed to put myself in the room with wine people. The industry is a global village, and every connection is vital. You never know who might be (or know) the person you need next. Whether that’s simply looking for a cellar job or you’re trying to sell your first wine. I’m 8 years into this business and I’m still trying to build connections. But now I have a family to think about and time is an issue. If you can get out early, you never know how valuable that time will be. And if nothing else, you’ll have tried a load of amazing wines.

From the Vineyards of Spain to Shrewsbury, England: 3 Insights from Thomas Holt’s Journey:

Finding Your Path in Winemaking

Thomas Holt's journey highlights the importance of being open-minded and carving your own unique path in the world of winemaking. From his diverse experiences in New Zealand, Canada, and eventually Spain, he learned to shed preconceived notions and find an approach that aligned with his values and vision. His willingness to explore different regions and styles allowed him to discover his true winemaking passion.

The Power of Collaboration

Holt's partnership with Batan de Salas is a testament to the value of collaboration in the wine industry. Their joint venture, the Pasotismo Collaboration series, has fostered a dynamic energy and creativity in the wines they produce together. This collaborative spirit has not only yielded remarkable vintages but also underscores the importance of building strong relationships and leveraging collective expertise.

Embracing Sustainability and Organic Practices

While not an initial driving force, sustainability and organic farming have become integral to Holt's winemaking philosophy over time. His commitment to improving soil structure, utilising cover crops, and adopting eco-friendly practices demonstrates a long-term vision for creating a lasting legacy in the vineyards. This insight emphasises the growing importance of environmentally conscious practices in the wine industry.

Tom, thank you for sharing your journey with us. Your passion and insights were intoxicating! Cheers to you and Emma and to your continued success.

Until next Tuesday, keep your glass full and your taste buds curious.

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