WineSpirit

I have now brought back over 50 tons of grapes to our winery this season.  I drive most of them myself over from the vineyards and I have time to listen to NPR’s local stations and reflect.  Over the course of this harvest I have been reminded once more of the extraordinary miracle of fermentation…the absolute and total transformation of sticky sweet squashed watery orbs to heady new wine.

As I drive over the mountain pass that separates Eastern from Western Washington I have come to wonder if the grapes I’m hauling have any clue what lies ahead for them.  If I were to tell them they will be tortured with a stemming and crushing and they will be made into wine, would any of them willingly come with me?  “Wine” is not a part of what they know and it may not even be a part of their vocabulary (if they have one).  The grape’s reason for being is to be a raisin!  “Wine… what’s that?” my grapes might say to me as I transport them far from their vineyard homes.

Yesterday, was the twelfth anniversary of my mother’s death from early-onset Alzheimer’s.  “Resurrection” of the body as some Creeds ask to believe, is something she would hardly want.  She was a walking pathology textbook for most of her life. 

I think, perhaps, a new wine awaits us that is beyond our mortal abilities to even conceive.  We are grapes without a conception of what wine is.  As I get older with each vintage I am going to try and not become an old raisin and remember that my raison for being lies somewhere in a new wine to come that I cannot begin to fathom.

By Don Corson, WineSpirit Member in Washington State

Founder of Camaraderie Winery

One of the earliest adherents of “sustainability”—recycling as much of the harvest of nature as possible—was the wine industry of New Zealand, inspired by the pristine beauty of its unique and relatively isolated island nation. Since 1994, New Zealand wineries have moved in the direction of ecological balance in the interplay of working the soil and growing their wine grapes. Most New Zealand wine land is subject to sustainability regulations. The industry also encourages its members to keep such balance in the running of their businesses and in their financials.

You could also apply sustainability in personal and interpersonal ways: not only commitment to recycling, but also to time taken to regain your balance. It manifests in stopping for a moment, or a day, or a week: to relax, unwind, and be yourself, the self you would like to be, among those who share your journey. In stopping to relax and reflect, you allow yourself to consider all that you do: How much of it is important? Do you make time for what and whom you value? Such questions could help you examine and appreciate your life balance, or what you would need to do, to address wellbeing: physically, spiritually and emotionally. 

A glass of wine, raised in a toast, provides an opportunity to regain your balance and connect good people, good times, and life’s manifold blessings. Raising your glass invites you to notice and appreciate more: where you are, with whom, and all that is special and precious.

With a lot happening in your life, it can be difficult to practice personal and interpersonal sustainability. Under too much pressure, you can lose your balance. Toasting helps you savor a moment, and, in so doing, regain a measure of balance.

Sustainability is not just for wineries and vineyards; it’s for everyone.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS FOR SIPPIN':

1. What connection do you make between sustainability of the land and in your life?
2. How might people who practice sustainability gain in productivity and success?
3. What impact could commitment to sustainability have on your work?

Wine and people are a lot alike in benefiting from tender loving care. Making wine involves attention to grapes’ and wine’s delicacy at every step of the way: planting, growing, harvesting, crushing, storing, bottling, and cellaring. If you are not careful with every facet, you risk diminishing its quality, since wine is a product of both the genetics of the grape and the environment in which it is grown, made, and protected.

People also benefit from tender loving care. Parents and teachers help children develop value and self worth in the ways they give them encouragement to do and be their best. Adults accomplish more when they work in an environment of mutual respect and cooperation, with sensitivity for each other’s particular quirks and characteristics.

How wonderful it is when the loving care that goes into making wine culminates in toasts celebrating life’s wonderful relationships. This delicate fruit of a carefully tended vine comes alive through words and sips, as people treat each other with the kind of care and attention that produced the wine.

Sincere toasts and good wishes contribute to the quality of life: moments to savor in seeking blessings and well-being for those near and dear ... here and now.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS FOR SIPPIN':

1. What analogy could you make between the caring process of turning grapes into wine and its application in your life?

What parallels could you draw between how people treat plants and other forms of life and their fellow humans?

Over 30 years ago, Robert Parker created a quality ranking system that made wine increasingly accessible to more people. His numbering system, now broadly applied, gives some consumers the confidence to make their choices. Parker’s 100-point scale opened up the world of wine to those who, without that guidance, shied away from wine altogether.

Yet the scale reflects Parker’s palate, not everyone—or anyone—else’s. The apparent precision of the measurements, and the impact of Parker’s judgments on consumers' choices, tempt winemakers to aim toward such standards, but his ratings can contradict the elusive, individual quality of wine. What is most important in a wine is whether you enjoy it.

Educators and executives seek effective and accurate ways to measure people and their abilities, achievements, and character. The 100-point grading system, used in many schools, is but one of many flawed assessment alternatives attempting to distinguish one person or group from another. What makes it challenging is that people are unique. Precise measurement is not easy—if it is possible at all.

Wines, like humanity, are multi-nuanced and difficult to define. Each wine, like each person, is unique, subject to change over a span of time. With so many to choose from, it is no wonder that we turn to measurements and standards to help make the selection process more tenable.

The human desire for a rating scale—and the reality that such scales are flawed— accentuate the human-like characteristics inherent in wine, reflecting life in all its complexity. Beyond generalities and numbers is the reality that what you have in your glass is unique: a combination of a particular moment, a friend with whom you share it, and the taste of the wine in that context.

Wine is not math. One person’s grade of 83 may be another person’s grade of 92, whether evaluating the same person or the same wine. That is what makes life, and enjoying it with a glass of wine, so special. You are right about what you are drinking, and Robert Parker is right, too. Yet, your scores may be very different.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS FOR SIPPIN':

1. How much do you rely on expert input in selecting books, movies, wine, and other things?
2. How do you allow for human factors, variations, and flaws in choices you make?
3. What ways do you find most useful or rewarding to help you discover wines you love, and how does it compare to ways you evaluate people?