Branden Hamby, Owner & Winemaker, Hamby Cellars and Assistant Winemaker, Seabold Cellars (USA)

Years In Industry:
2019 is my fifth harvest. Originally planning on attending medical school, I became a Winemaking and Lab intern at Owl Ridge Wine Services, a custom crush in Sebastopol in 2015 where fell in love with winemaking. My wife and I moved back to our hometown in the Central Valley after my internship ended, where I worked as a Chemist until being promoted to an Assistant Winemaker at Bronco Wine Company. After deciding to return to Sonoma County, I became the Lab Manager for Owl Ridge for two harvests until we recently moved to Monterey, and am now Assistant Winemaker at Seabold Cellars. I started my own brand in 2018, Hamby Cellars, while in Sonoma County and have moved it with us to Monterey. I truly love both wine regions and will be growing our brand with grapes from Sonoma, Mendocino, and the Central Coast.

My Biggest Challenge To Wellness:
My biggest challenges is time and stress management. The wine industry, on the production side, is very cyclical. Most of the year is spent planning and worrying about the next bottling, or the wines in barrel. During harvest, chaos erupts in the winery and you have to think on your feet while managing the day to day tasks that need to be done. It is a highly stressful and time-consuming job from August to November, as we all know. Managing everything successfully while making creative winemaking decisions tends to take a toll on your mental health. Your spouse and/or family time also suffers, so it is hard to prioritize everything at once. Being in this industry is definitely a balancing act.

How I Keep It Together To Stay Well:
A couple of things I like to do to manage stress are taking quality time to spend with my wife and working out. On weekdays, I can usually be found at the gym before work. Getting some physical activity in before the days stresses start to kick in really allows me to focus and be in a productive mindset. I also started acupuncture this harvest and have found it incredibly helpful for managing stress. I wasn't particularly interested Eastern medicine before, but acupuncture has really allowed me to let go of the stress of that day/week and reset my mind and body.
Making it a point to spend time with my wife and dog are also crucial to keeping my sanity, as well as not bringing work home. Even something as simple as watching a movie or cooking dinner together really helps me appreciate her and the time we have together. Family should, and always will, remain a top priority for my happiness.

You can connect with Branden on Instagram at @brandenhamby and @hambycellars, or online at www.hambycellars.com