E107 Jen Parr - Valli Wine

We chat with Jen Parr, winemaker at Valli Wine in Central Otago, New Zealand.Jen grew up in Oregon, USA and spent nearly a decade in the tech industry before following her passion for wine to New Zealand via a grape-picking trip in southwest France. She shares the story of her winding path - from Stanford University to software sales in London, to cellar hand at Villa Maria, and ultimately to head winemaker at Valli, where she has now crafted 12 harvests across five sub-regions including the Waitaki Valley.Jen talks about what drew her to Central Otago, her mentorship under Grant Taylor, and her philosophy that wine is fundamentally a language - a narrator of place, geology, and time. She also discusses Valli's expanding range of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot Gris, the winery's charity wine series that supports local causes, and her passion for community, mentoring the next generation of winemakers, and championing New Zealand wine as a whole - not just her own label.The episode closes with Jen's personal answer to the final question: who she'd share a glass of wine with, what, where and why.www.valliwine.comwww.nzwinepodcast.comwww.instagram.com/nzwinepodcastMusic track featured on this podcast: ‘Here He Was’ – courtesy of Brent Page. Dog Squad Music