An Internship Unlike Any Other: An Interview with Liberty Wines Apprentice Ceren Eroglu

By Ian Consoli

If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you’re aware that each year, we host three harvest interns here at Tablas Creek. Getting to know these interns is always a treat, and knowing that, three months later, they leave steeped in Tablas Creek’s practices and with experience in all aspects of harvest is great. It’s one of the ways that we pay it forward. But this year, an additional opportunity dropped into our laps. In February, we received an email from Liberty Wines, our agent in the UK, about their Apprentice Scheme.  Liberty Wines’ Head of Education, Clare Whitehead, summarized the program:

We have now been running the Liberty Wines Apprentice scheme since 2007 and have had one (or two) apprentices every year since! Unique in the industry, our 2-year programme offers candidates a detailed and wide-ranging experience of many departments within the organisation. They are also supported through the WSET Diploma Level 4 and undertake two vintages in the northern and southern hemispheres.

It has given Liberty an excellent way to grow talent and provides opportunities to people who might not have otherwise chosen wine as a career. We are proud to send our apprentices to our producers, as ambassadors of Liberty Wines and look forward to their return a newfound intimate knowledge of not just winemaking, but also the producer!

We were asked by Liberty Wines if we’d be interested in hosting one of their apprentices for their northern hemisphere harvest. Our response: “of course”! Ceren Eroglu joined the harvest team in early October, making her their first Apprentice to do so in California. She proved to be an immediate asset to the team. Winemaker Neil Collins commented on her engaging nature, intellect, and strong work ethic as valuable components to this harvest's success. "We wish she could have stayed longer!"

Alas, Ceren concluded her one-month harvest this week and will continue her internship back in the United Kingdom. But before she left, I sat down with her to find out why she did this apprenticeship, learn about her wine journey, and hear about her time at Tablas Creek. We can't wait for you to meet her.

Who are you?

My name is Ceren Eroglu. I am an Apprentice at Liberty Wines and have been here for about a month, helping with the harvest at Tablas Creek.

What is Liberty Wines?

Liberty Wines is one of the UK's leading wine importers and distributors.

Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself? Where did you grow up?

I'm from Turkey but moved around a lot growing up. We lived in Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Austria before I moved to Canada for college. I live in London now and have been in the UK for the last eight and a half years or so.

How did you get into wine?

I did my master's in the UK and started working at a financial services research company immediately after. During the lockdowns in 2020, I was going stir-crazy working from home and decided to take a few wine courses. I really enjoyed them, so I spoke to a few friends in the wine industry and decided to switch to wine in October of last year. So it's been exactly a year.

What wine classes were you taking?

I lived around the corner from the WSET school in London, and I just walked by and thought, "I like wine. This is something I could learn more about." It was just purely by chance. I did levels two and three while working in finance, and now I'm completing my WSET Diploma.

Can you explain what that means regarding working with Liberty, completing the diploma, and what that connection is to Tablas Creek?

Sure. I am in Liberty Wines' two-year Apprenticeship program, working with different teams across the company every month to two months. That gives me exposure to and an understanding of how every single team works, the company, the industry, how we fit within it, and how we can be the best company within it. From my view, the goal of the Apprenticeship is to get a holistic understanding of the wine industry and Liberty wines more generally. Part of that includes two harvests abroad: one in the northern hemisphere, which I'm completing here now, and one in the southern hemisphere, which I will hopefully take part in around February or March next year. It also includes the WSET diploma. I'm about halfway through the second semester of the diploma.

How long do you work the harvests?

It depends. Northern Hemisphere is typically a month, so I'm doing five weeks here at Tablas. Southern Hemisphere is typically about two months just because you're going further away, but I guess I've come a pretty long way anyway.

Is it common for apprentices to come to the US?

It is typically Europe. It's sometimes based on language requirements, sometimes based on producers. I speak a bit of French, so it was between France and the US. The Brand Manager who covers our producers in the US works with Tablas Creek, and she highly recommended coming here.

Does it have to be a company that Liberty distributes?

Yes, it's typically a producer we have a really good relationship with who will take the time to teach the apprentice how to make wine and show them around the area.

How's it going?

Really good. I'm having the best time. It's totally different to my day-to-day job. I had to write an email the other day and realized I'd forgotten my laptop password [laughs]. The team is welcoming, and there's a strong sense of community here that I'm really going to miss. This has been a great place for my first harvest because of how understanding and happy to answer questions everyone is.

Do you feel like this harvest has helped you understand your WSET courses and diploma?

A hundred percent. Seeing everything has been amazing. I understood the theory behind winemaking, viticulture, vinification, all that stuff, but it was just theory. I had never seen everything in action, and seeing it solidified everything in my mind. It is interesting to see how the team works with different grapes, especially red grapes. Different types of cap management, days of fermentation, how they process the fruit, whether whole cluster or not, which choices they may or may not make, what kind of barrels to use. All of that. Seeing those decisions made in real-time has been super helpful for the rest of my studies.

What are your plans at the conclusion of this internship?

I'll spend a few days in Sonoma and Napa with my partner, then travel along the coast. We'll spend a few more days in Paso so I can show him Tablas before we head back to London. I'll be going straight back to work. I will likely work with Customer Services over Christmas, then prepare for the Southern Hemisphere harvest.

What's the best bottle of wine you've ever had?

The best bottle of Tablas Creek was the 2015 Roussanne. I think it's fantastic, so much depth and complexity and so much potential to age further. We tried the 2003 Vermentino with lunch a few weeks ago. That was fantastic too. It's aged beautifully, was quite refreshing, and really vibrant.

Is there anything else you want to share with the Tablas Creek audience?

I think Tablas makes great wines, and I'm so excited to keep enjoying them!