My whole career as a Chicago videographer has focused on telling stories. For some time I have wanted to do a corporate video project that showcased another craftsman and their love for their life’s passion. This is that story.
Chilean born Winemaker Andres Basso shares what gets him out of bed every morning in a four minute documentary short about the wine making process at Lynfred Winery in Roselle, Illinois.
I love helping my clients connect with their audiences through my work and I hope many more afford me the opportunity to create more projects like this.
Business Partner and fellow director Akin Girav and myself shot this project over the course of two mornings. We we’re like kids in the candy store watching the grapes with their brilliant purple flesh cascade out of boxes amongst a river of maroon juice. By the end of the first day of shooting, we had specs of grape juice on every piece of equipment we used and we both loved it!
Special thanks for Lynfred winery’s Christina Anderson-Heller who helped us coordinate the shoots and thanks for course to Andres and his dedicated crew for being part of this film.
The Winemaker – Lynfred Winery’s Andres Basso from John Gress on Vimeo.
Technical Information:
Shot in RAW Video via Magic Lantern on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Zeiss ZE 50mm f1.4
EF 16-35mm f2.8L USM
Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM Lens
Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens
Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II USM Lens
EF 135mm f2L USM
Kino Flo 4Bank Fixture (2′)
Colored with DaVinci Resolve
Transcript:
I’m always thinking, wine is not a product that you can make and stays there you have to think about what you are going to do with the wine. I mean the wine is different, every single one is different so you have to take your product and then you go different ways depending on what you are trying to acquire for that particular vintage.
My name is Andres Basso and I was born and raised in Chile. Chilean culture is absolutely a culture, a wine culture. I grew up in a family that gets together on Sunday’s and they all share a bottle of wine.
I actually married a person from Chicago a long time ago. So we had the opportunity to move to Chicago and I ran into Lynfred winery, the Fred Kohler was making the wines at the time, the owner, and he was looking for a winemaker.
Its a small little boutique type of winery where you can make wines, a variety of wines for different pallets.
It’s a long process because you start you know talking to your growers all the way throughout the season and when you receive the grapes, and you are seeing this bin or wood crate coming with half a ton each you’re wondering, you know, is this the product that I really want to see. Then so you start by tasting the grapes, processing, removing any material that you, unwanted material, enjoying the taste of the seeds, the pulp, you know the flesh, the skins analyzing the colors, checking the sugar levels I mean there is a whole lot of different things that we do, its a fascinating time. I am anxious because I want to see that finish, I’m excited about what we can do with this new product. Every event is a new challenge. I am wondering if this is going to be as good as the previous year or maybe better or if I can do something, some process, that can create even a bigger and better wine.
So it is a wide range of feelings and sensations in the life of the winemaker.
Last night I had a dream with what we’re gonna do with a peach wine that is fermenting in the tank number 12. I was dreaming about the alcohol content that I measuring the alcohol content that is approaching to the level that the wine needs to be transferred from one container into a new container. So that’s almost finishing the wine fermentation part.
I think the satisfaction of any winemaker is when someone is able to taste your product and you see these people enjoying he wines, you know, then you, you feel absolutely wonderful. Mission accomplish. You did all this carryover, this process for 2, 3 years of aging and winemaking and finally to be able to enjoy with someone is just a fantastic experience