Here’s something I get asked a lot: “Are you guys busy growing grapes and making wine all year or do you have an off-season?”
Good question.
Generally, we’re swamped all year. In the Spring we’re mostly pruning the vines and racking/blending in the Cellar. The arrival of Summer necessitates all sorts of care for the vines in the vineyard and for the wines in the cellar, as well as a heck of a lotta bottling. Fall, of course, is Harvest. Then there’s Winter…
December is clean-up time. And when all the year’s wine is tucked away in barrel and all the Crush equipment is scrubbed and put away then, much like the bare vines in the vineyard, we get to go sorta dormant for a few weeks. Most of the vineyard crew takes most of the month off, many heading South for a sunny break with family and friends. And the rest of us finally have time to simply hang out and eat and drink and ponder life’s many mysteries. In that very spirit (and because I can’t think of anything else to write at the moment) I offer up my First Annual Top 5 Things to Ponder on a Cold Winter’s Night:
1. I hate to be a sore loser but what’s up with Obama’s nomination of “The Satan of Seedsavers”, Tom Vilsack, to the post of Secretary of Agriculture? You may have seen my blog rant several weeks ago condemning his consideration for the job. And you may have seen my much happier post a week or so later when it was announced that Organic-minded folks like you and me pressured the President-elect to drop that silly notion. And you may be reading THIS post where I just heard that Vilsack is, indeed, our new leader of food and farms. Ah, well. Sometimes life is like that…
2. Why is syrah not a lot more popular? Sure, it sells O.K., but not like cabernet. But think about it — It grows great in a lot of places in California (and other states); it is made in different, delicious styles; it goes with food better than most other red varietals; and, overall, it’s a better value than cab or pinot. Syrah worship – Is it wrong?
3. Recent studies show that, like humans, some honeybees are downright lazy. It’s true. Most individual honeybee foragers make numerous trips to collect pollen or nectar during their short, busy lives. But some “foraging” bees venture out only once or twice a day, and appear to just kinda hang out in the hive most of the time while their sisters do most of the work. For some reason I find that very comforting…
4. What’s up with the 49ers? Are they really, actually, truly getting better after all these years or are the past few games a fluke? I gotta say, I really like Singletary and that Hill is cool as a frozen cucumber in the pocket. Let’s hope upper management doesn’t screw it all up. Then there’s the Raiders…
5. Why can’t people be more like dogs? I guess maybe a lot of work wouldn’t get done but I guess we wouldn’t care, either. Right? And I think having a tail would be pretty cool…
There you have it. Now you have some food for thought to fire off to break those occasional icy silences while entertaining Aunt Dora for the Holidays. Or, better yet, forget pondering and just pop in “It’s A Wonderful Life” and zone out in dog-like bliss by the fire with a glass of wine.
Happy Happy Holidays!
Tony
p.s. If you have any scintillating revelations about these topics or anything else, let me know…
