{"id":7016,"date":"2026-08-17T04:37:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T04:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7016"},"modified":"2026-08-17T04:37:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T04:37:47","slug":"fruits-of-her-labor-katie-husher-learned-winemaking-from-the-ground-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7016","title":{"rendered":"Fruits of her labor: Katie Husher learned winemaking from the ground up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Just three years ago, Katie Husher was writing software to control autonomous vehicles at Cruise in San Francisco. As office jobs go it wasn\u2019t bad, but she\u2019s an outdoorsy type and didn\u2019t find the work fulfilling.<\/p>\n

Read more Golden State Valkyries remain on verge of clinching WNBA playoff spot<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t feeding my soul,\u201d says Husher, a Los Gatos resident.<\/p>\n

She began dreaming of working in the wine industry and dropped an email to several area winemakers, hoping to get some insights. Only one of them, winemaker Nathan Kandler at Woodside\u2019s Fogarty Winery, took the time to reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was looking for a life change, and wanted to know about the industry challenges and opportunities,\u201d says Kandler. \u201cI gave her a real assessment of what this might look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned her it would involve a massive pay cut, and she\u2019d also get wet cleaning out tanks. It would not be pretty.\u00a0 Husher was undeterred.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe came on board in the summer of 2023 and is thriving,\u201d Kandler says. \u201cShe\u2019s become a hugely important part of our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Husher embraced the challenge and it has reaped its rewards. \u201cI love that it\u2019s such a super lean team. I get to do so many different things in the cellar and vineyards,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Giving up a well-paying job with benefits and security certainly had its risks. \u201cMy parents asked me, \u2018Are you sure?\u2019 It meant giving up a lot of tangible and intangible stuff, but they were super supportive,\u201d says Husher. \u201cI put a lot of thought into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

When Kandler was promoted to general manager, he appreciated even more Husher\u2019s take-charge attitude and willingness to tackle the day-to-day winemaking tasks he no longer had bandwidth to handle. So, he promoted her to cellar master, a position she relishes.<\/p>\n

In her new role, Husher uses her high-tech background in data management to manage quality control, including measuring wine chemistry and keeping barrels topped off. Her great palate and organizational skills make her ideally suited to winemaking, which involves a relentless application of sanitation and hygiene.<\/p>\n

Read more SF Giants lose season series to Rockies after parade of mishaps<\/a><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for her friends to notice she was a different person. \u201cThey said I got my sparkle back!\u201d Husher says.<\/p>\n

As good as she is at cellar work, she\u2019s also interested in the vineyard side. \u201cBrad (assistant winemaker Brad Friedman) and I cover every vineyard together, walking all the blocks, taking petiole samples, and looking for pests and signs of mildew. We are spraying compost tea to add nutrients where vines are struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great seeing her getting involved in the vineyard part of it,\u201d says Kandler. \u201cLearning about tractors and spraying and fertilizing is key. Here at Fogarty, we tend to start interns out in the winery, but they tend to naturally become engrossed in the various vineyards we farm. They quickly learn that wine really happens in the vineyard.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the spring, Husher will take part in the major replant of Damiana, the original chardonnay vineyard at the Fogarty estate, as well as a replant of pinot noir in the Rapley Trail Vineyard. She\u2019ll be part of establishing the next generation of Fogarty vines.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take Husher long to realize that not only did she love making wine, she wanted to make her own. \u201cI came up with the idea for the Driftwood Cottage label because of my fond memories of making elaborate forts out of driftwood with my best friend at Pajaro Dunes as a little girl,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was a reflection of what makes me happy, but it also builds on the idea that the ocean brings what it brings each year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her production is tiny, with only two wines on offer right now\u2014a 2025 aligot\u00e9 from Calleri Vineyard in San Benito and a 2024 sangiovese from Ascona Vineyard\u2014but it feeds her soul and enables her to keep practicing her craft. She plans to make four or five wines max, including a gamay from Gemelli this harvest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a creative outlet, and it supplements my income,\u201d says Husher. \u201cPeople with lots of money tend to buy a vineyard and hire other people to do the work. My values are to be humble and learn the craft, walking vineyards, cleaning tanks. I don\u2019t want a tasting room or a vineyard. It\u2019s essential to have a day job to pursue this, and how lucky I am that mine is wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Epernay Champagne Bar brings a taste of France to downtown Los Gatos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Los Gatos resident rises to cellar master at Woodside’s Fogarty Winery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nFruits of her labor: Katie Husher learned winemaking from the ground up - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fruits of her labor: Katie Husher learned winemaking from the ground up - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Los Gatos resident rises to cellar master at Woodside's Fogarty Winery.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T04:37:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7016#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7016\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Fruits of her labor: Katie Husher learned winemaking from the ground up\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T04:37:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7016\"},\"wordCount\":786,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7016#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/ed94e1445c84ef65bf4f0c7e2a5006b6-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7016#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7016\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7016\",\"name\":\"Fruits of her labor: Katie Husher learned winemaking from the ground up - 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