Shane Finley says he was probably the only guy at Bloomington Jefferson (class of '94) who couldn't skate. He got an English degree from a military college, then worked three years in Manhattan as an insurance underwriter.
So naturally, eight years later, he's one of the hottest young winemakers in California, running two wineries of his own and helping produce highly coveted wines for another. His odyssey covered three continents and a few superb mentors; most of all, it embodied a good old-fashioned Midwestern work ethic.
"I was the first one there and the last one to leave. I loved it," he said earlier this month, when his Shane and Spell brands landed in his hometown. "I worked some 21-hour days."
He also worked harvest for three vintages in as many countries in a year's time: in 2001 at Sonoma's Copain winery and in '02 at Torbreck in Australia ("I was Grunt No. 4") and Domaine Pierre Gaillard in France's Rhône region. In between, he braced himself for the steep French slopes in the Twin Cities.
"I would load a backpack full of books and hike around the Hyland Hills Ski Area for as long as I could stand it," he said. "I ended up with some pretty strong thighs."
All the while, Finley was fulfilling a three-page mission statement on how to make it in the wine business that he worked up in 2001 upon deciding that he "didn't see a long-term future in insurance."
Central to that mission was working at smaller wineries where he could learn from the best. "I hate science and I'm not a math guy, so I decided to go the apprenticeship route," he said, majoring in syrah. "I think it's the most dynamic varietal out there. I love the spectrum of flavors of syrah. When done well, it beats the pants off anything."
Starting at Copain, and landing back there in 2003 after his transcontinental travels, enabled Finley to soak in knowledge from a master, Wells Guthrie.