Oct 6, 2022
Josh McDaniels is the CEO and Director of Winemaking at Bledsoe Wine Estates. He was born and raised in Walla Walla, where he fell in love with the wine industry at an early age.
Josh started his own winery during high school and pursued this passion by obtaining formal education from the Institute of Enology and Viticulture. He also took extension courses through Washington State University and UC Davis and interned in Argentina at Paul Hobbs’ Vina Cobos Winery to further his education.
Josh has been named a "Game Changer of Washington Wine," a "Washington Prodigy," and a "Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers of America" from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
In this episode with Josh McDaniels
Creating one wine brand from scratch and growing it takes a lot of time, effort, and money. But running multiple brands across different locations is so much tougher. So, how do you successfully build and manage multiple wine brands?
According to Josh McDaniels, the key is to leverage synergies and economies of scale. At Bledsoe Wine Estates, only one core team handles all three brands. One of the main benefits of this setup is having a fixed set of people Josh and his partner can trust. There’s an established trust, understanding, and synergy between different personalities — which helps the brands run smoothly.
In this episode of the Legends Behind the Craft podcast, Drew Thomas Hendricks and Bianca Harmon sit down with Josh McDaniels, the CEO and Director of Winemaking at Bledsoe Wine Estates. Josh shares how he got started in the wine business as early as high school, how he met NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe, and how they ended up as business partners. He also talks about the process of creating three wine brands and the challenges of managing and growing them.