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Profiles
Career Ladder
Career Ladder: Benjamin Eyer
How this chemist used his scientific skills to grow a career in the wine industry
by Laura Howes
June 12, 2022
| A version of this story appeared in
Volume 100, Issue 21
1990s–early 2000s
Planting the vines
When Benjamin Eyer was growing up in Pennsylvania, his grandfather made wine in the basement from a few grapevines in the backyard, he says. “There was always wine floating around,” he recalls. “But I wouldn’t say it was a focal point of the family.” Despite that early exposure, Eyer started as an undergraduate at Allegheny College with a general interest in science but no particular goal of making wine.
Credit: Courtesy of Benjamin Eyer
Benjamin Eyer at his graduation from Allegheny College
2006–13
Training the shoots
At Allegheny, Eyer’s Spanish and chemistry advisers saw his potential in both subjects and nudged him toward a dual major. After various summer internships, Eyer decided to pursue organic chemistry research in graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh with chemistry professor Peter Wipf. “About halfway through the time I spent at Pitt, I started thinking about postgraduation,” Eyer says. He knew he wanted to work somewhere with a more immediate result than the long-term research focus of academia or biotech. So he started looking around.
2013-14
Finding wine
Eyer ran across the Winemaking Certificate program at the University of California, Davis. “I said, ‘I’ll take this class. This sounds interesting,’ ” he recalls. The virtual program introduced Eyer to different aspects of the wine industry, as well as people in the field. And he was hooked. Eyer started out as a harvest intern at wineries in Chile and the US, helping out as the grapes were harvested, crushed, and fermented. The job was a combination of cellar hand and lab tech, analyzing the grape juice and monitoring its fermentation.
2015–21
Blending a career
Credit: Courtesy of Benjamin Eyer
Eyer testing wine in the cellar at Montinore Estate
Getting a full-time job in wine making wasn’t easy. Especially because of his master’s degree, not everyone believed Eyer was willing to do the more physical aspects of the job. But eventually, Eyer convinced A to Z Wineworks in Oregon that he knew what he was getting into. Soon, Eyer was liaising between the cellar, the lab, and the bottling line. Eyer improved the winery’s bottling quality-control standards. He then moved to a position at another winery in Oregon, Montiore, initially helping with protocols and data management. Eventually, he was managing all aspects of wine making. After Eyer had overseen production of five vintages, “I felt like it was time for a change,” he says.
Today
Credit: Courtesy of Benjamin Eyer
In his new job, Eyer helps winemakers who buy analytical equipment.
An analytical taste
And that change brought him back to chemistry. Eyer now works as a product specialist at Admeo, a company that provides analytical equipment to winemakers. It was time to “go back and delve deeper into some of the analytical things,” he says. His job is to help customers who call with questions about the different kits and equipment the company sells. Eyer hopes to one day set up his own wine-making business, but for now, he’s happy helping others create the perfect blend.
Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2023 American Chemical Society
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