Quick Conversations in Wine Stefanie Dylla Laughing Stock Winery

The Vancouver International Wine Festival is on and we’ve interviewed a few of the attendees. Good Wine Gal’s Barb Wild and I choose some of the women in attendance for this year’s festival and have presented them with a few quick fire questions to get to know them better. Here’s our Q + A with Laughing Stock Winery’s Stefanie Dylla. More on the Wine Festival here.

Proudest moment?

Being asked to stay on as Cellar Assistant after my first harvest at LFNG. There was never a full-time cellar assistant prior and it was the first step to me becoming Assistant Winemaker.

Favorite grape variety?

Riesling, because it is so versatile

Favorite wine you make? Why?

I always enjoy seeing peoples reaction to our Amphora. I’ve had a number of winemakers hesitant of the practice. We are putting whole berries in a clay pot and sealing them up for months without adding any yeast or analyzing fermentations daily. I always enjoy giving them that first taste and seeing a positive reaction.

Favorite food? Meal?

I always have to make a big batch of Bolognese before harvest

Funny thing happened on the way?

Finding a watermelon in my bed after a long day of harvest, which then led to the theme of the harvest party

Yoga? Meditation?

What keeps you going? Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu

Blundstones or Blahnik?

Blundstones

What are you looking forward to this year?

I have a special project for which I am hoping to get the go ahead this year, I won’t divulge anymore.

Organic, biodynamic, vegan, low alcohol wines. What are your thoughts on these?

If you can grow organic and biodynamic I think it’s great, however there can be challenges. As for vegan and low alcohol wines, there certainly is a growing trend toward these wines. Our wines are made as naturally as possible while striving for the best quality.

Advice for women in the industry?

You do you. I know plenty of successful women in the industry, I don’t think being a woman should hold you back.

Bio

While completing her Bachelor of Tourism Management, Stefanie got interested in the wine industry after touring the Okanagan Valley. After graduation, Stefanie moved to Vancouver to pursue her interest in wine, and a year later enrolled in school for winemaking. Having graduated with her BSc Honours in Viticulture and Oenology from Brock University, Stef decided to adventure to New Zealand and work a harvest, adding to the two she had completed while  studying in Ontario.

Having spent several years in BC and falling in love with the Okanagan, Stef quickly found her way back as a harvest hand for Laughing Stock and thereafter given the opportunity to stay on as a full-time Cellar Assistant. She then quickly moved up the ranks to Cellar Master and has now been Assistant Winemaker for the past 2 years. You can now find Stef working in the Laughing Stock cellar with her dog Winston in tow.