Wine Label-
12-Time Olympic Medalist Natalie Coughlin dives into the business of wine.
12-time Olympic Medalist Natalie Coughlin’s approach to her wine label is hands-on.
THE FOLLOWING WRITTEN CONTENT BY EMMA BACCELLIERI
Natalie Coughlin’s approach to her wine label is hands-on. The former Olympic swimmer does everything from sampling grapes to designing imagery for the bottles. But “hands-on” is literal, too: Now in her fourth year of harvesting and production, Coughlin has learned that her favorite part of winemaking involves physically diving in.
It’s called punching down. While Pinot noir grapes are fermenting in bins, they must be vigorously stirred down, or “punched,” two or three times a day. It’s common for wineries to do this with some form of equipment—both because it’s strenuous (at least twice a day every day) and because it’s physically challenging (not everyone is able to stir through four feet of grapes without assistance). For Coughlin, however, it’s simply a joy.
“You’re kind of swimming through the wine just with your arms,” Coughlin says. “And as a swimmer, of course, I have really long arms. It’s perfect.”
It’s like a swimming drill, she says, with the extra step of sanitizing her arms from shoulders to fingertips before she dives in. And it’s just one way that her second career has felt as natural to her as her first.
Coughlin—whose 12 Olympic medals, earned from 2004 to 2012, have her tied for the most decorated female swimmer of all-time—grew up around wine. Her family lived close to Napa Valley, and her parents loved going to wine tastings, a habit that Coughlin picked up herself after she turned 21. As often as possible, she planned for a nightly glass of wine, even with the demanding requirements of life as a professional swimmer.
‘I just loved the process of it,” she says. “I loved the entire ritual of drinking wine—similar to coffee, just like I love the ritual of making my coffee every morning, I love having a glass of wine with dinner, and so I saw it as something I could do in moderation while training.” Read more from Sports Illustrated.
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