Life Among the Vines
Welcome to the new year! Yes, we’re already two weeks in. Shhhhh. My handle on the passing of time is shaky at the best of times, and this is most certainly not the best of times. Videos of protest marches and armed government agents attacking citizens flash on the news and it’s not immediately evident whether they’re happening in Tehran or Minneapolis. I read and listened to parts of the interview of Sascha Barros (Riley), and haven’t slept well or felt my stomach settle since; it is important to know their story, but the story is inexpressibly horrifying. The Epstein Files remain closed, and the Pedophile in Chief is doing his best to distract us by attacking and occupying Venezuela and trying to acquire Greenland, either by purchase or conquest. Relative to the state of the country, my personal life feels like a silly thing to be worried about, but that’s been one punch in the gut after another too, lately. The collective stress of it all makes me want to crawl into bed and stay there, but if I did I’d just lie there with my brain endlessly spinning.
The only thing all this has to do with wine is that it’s driving me to drink.
But look how beautiful the vineyard is! We’re in pruning season, so the vines are being cut back to the basic structure they want to maintain for the next growing season. These are fifty-one year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines, in an arrangement called “head training,” in which the shoots simply come off a central head like Medusa hair, and no trellis is necessary, although these older vines do have a stake for support. We have ground cover plants during the winter, mostly mustard and daikon radish. In the midst of so many tragedies, tensions, and difficulties, I’ll take whatever tiny slice of beauty and growth I can find.
The Grape News
I haven’t tried much Idaho wine, but it has come up often lately, as in this article, and I’m curious. Have any of you had the opportunity to try a selection of wines from Idaho? What did you think? I’m putting it on my radar for future explorations.
Tim Atkin wrote a piece about the curse of low and no alcohol wine, and while slamming NoLos is so common in the wine world as to be boring, I did find his point that they are “anonymous products with no link to any particular place or culture” interesting - and not entirely true. It is usually the larger corporations that have the money to experiment with new products that require expensive equipment, but more producers are making only non-alcoholic wines, growing grapes and creating processes that make a more place-specific, artisan product. They’re still hard to find, but I’m slowly working toward a review of some of the best. In the meantime, check out this series from Dave Baxter on Vintertainment, who beat me to it!
Wine Spectator on vintage, non-vintage, and multi-vintage Champagnes, and what you might expect from each.
Nebbiolo! Olivia Wallach says we’re all about to be obsessed, and I’m here for it.
A few interesting podcasts featuring winemakers with very different scopes and approaches: The Wine Makers with Grand Scheme Wines, Inside Winemaking with Andrea Card from Francis Ford Coppola Winery, and Eat Sleep Wine Repeat with Lara Oskwarek of Silver Oak.
The (economic, not just environmental/ethical) case for regenerative farming:
Vineyard Maintenance
Now that I’ve survived the holidays, I’m gearing up to continue the Wine Fundamentals series, and compiling a list of other topics that I hope will be of interest. Thanks for hanging in there with me; it’s been a bit skin-of-the-teeth for me lately, which has made my writing sporadic. I’m grateful for all of you who support my work through engaging with these newsletters in various ways, especially those who subscribe. If you are inspired to help out with a paid subscription or a one-time tip, the Kaiser Permanente billing department and America’s Best Tires will owe you a debt of gratitude (as will I, obviously). Cheers!
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.