20 Years with Winemaker Alex Beloz

Let’s start at the beginning, how did you get into winemaking? 

I didn’t grow up with wine.  My parents didn’t drink wine.  It wasn’t really part of their culture. I did love to cook though, mom was a great cook, and when I was older I briefly thought about becoming a chef.  But restaurant life, as I learned quickly, is a grueling one. And my parents wanted me to go to college, so I went to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and studied civil engineering.  

In college, I took an elective class in glass arts and ended up working part-time (mostly for beer money) in a local stained-glass studio. I was born a Catholic school boy.  I spent every single school day from kindergarten to 8th grade in church staring at the amazing painted glass windows. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the church – St. Michael’s Parish in South Chicago – had these incredible windows made in Poland by master craftsmen. So I was fascinated by stained glass since I was a kid. And as I prepared for graduation from UIUC, I applied for and got accepted to an internship program as an apprentice making stained-glass windows in Siena, Italy.  

That was when I was first exposed to wine. I was immediately fascinated by the culture and respect for wine at the dinner table.  The multitude of varieties and styles, the nuances of vintage and site, and the interplay of flavors between wine and food fascinated me. Years later, I worked as a junior engineer, surveying the runways at O’Hare airport on hot summer days and frozen winter nights, wishing I was back in Tuscany.  So I began to moonlight as a wine salesperson in a wine shop in Downtown Chicago. It didn’t take long before I dropped everything, packed my car and headed to California to learn winemaking.  And the rest is history.  

What would you say is different about winemaking today vs 20 years ago? 

Wine was a pretty narrow world when I started in the 90s.  There were a lot of gatekeepers defining right and wrong, good and bad.  European winemaking tradition was the norm.  I quickly felt that there had to be more to winemaking.  That’s what drew me to Obsidian when the opportunity opened up. From the beginning, I was given the opportunity to experiment.  In fact, the team challenged me to do things differently.  

There is so much more diversity in wine today.  It’s really exciting to see the variety of wines being made, and how much more broadly wine is available to people. I’m very proud that we are still pushing ourselves to make wines that are truly interesting and accessible.     

Say more – how are you personally approaching winemaking differently now? 

It is really about keeping it simple, listening to your ingredients, and not being afraid to try new things. As a young winemaker, you try to use all kinds of techniques to make wines in a certain style.  Over time you realize patience and attention are more important than technique. Now that I have spent 20 vintages working with our estate vineyards and barrels, I have a pretty clear understanding of the style and personality of the components. This allows me to focus in on the details that take a wine from delicious to something special. As winemakers we’re lucky if we get a couple dozen shots in our lifetimes to try and hit the bullseye.  

Each vintage is a calming anchor in a chaotic world, the rhythm of the natural cycle of the vine. I am very aware that I have more vintages behind me than ahead, so I want to use them well. I’m spending a lot more time thinking about the next generation—of wines, of winemakers and of wine consumers. As we replant vineyards, create new wines, work with new colleagues and share wines with our club members, I challenge myself to keep improving and being open to change. 

As I told my teenage son Julian the other day, whatever you choose to do, the key is to find a way to express your creativity in life. We don’t find happiness.  We have to make it and share it.  For me, making and sharing these wines brings me joy. 

Join Alex for a Blending Adventure on Saturday April 25, 2025.