Driving the tractor through the vineyard last night, watching the rows of vines pass by alongside the headlights, I wanted to take a picture to somehow distill that scene. I was mowing the tall cover in preparation for budbreak, and the smell of the fresh cut mustard, oats, and peas was overpowering. The uncut swaths, silver-gray under the moonlight, were almost vibrating with nocturnal spring life. I’ve tried to capture these scenes in a digital image, and I’m just not good enough with a camera to record the richness of the moment.
Farming and winemaking are all about these moments. While there may be an elegance and a master plan to the whole process, the work of it is a whole succession of individual tasks, each critical to the outcome, and each equal parts mundane and profound. I write these seasonal notes as an attempt to share the emotional/spiritual/reflective experience that pervades the flow of tasks that comprises “winemaking.” Words don’t do justice either, but I’m at least better with words than with pictures.
Everyone that I know that is involved in farming or winemaking is doing it, at some level, for one reason, and that reason is the access to the moments of clarity and meaning that arise, or perhaps descend is a better word, during the “doing” of one of the annual jobs. And the jobs are annual. I can’t think of anything more fundamental than the progression of summer, fall, winter, and spring. There is a tremendous sense of meaning that comes with operating within the natural cycles.
Biodynamic farming is becoming very popular in the world of winegrowing, and it is a very natural fit, as the philosophy of Biodynamics is centered around a profound reverence for the rhythms of nature. A couple of my consulting clients are practicing Biodynamics, and I am learning as much about it as I can. They are, by nature, incredibly focused on the details of every task, and I believe that this predisposes them to the search for deeper meaning and guidance in the practice of their craft. I’m fascinated with Biodynamic farming and the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. He seems to have had tremendous awareness of the meaning within each moment of the agricultural cycle. Part of the basis of Biodynamics is that the appreciation of the depth within the rythyms of nature isn’t just part of the pleasure—it is the whole point of the endeavor.
Winemaking is somewhat paradoxical. It is at the same time a transformative process and a distillation of both a season and a moment in time. All wine lovers can point to a certain wine that spoke to them in a fleeting but indelible moment. A moment of awareness where they realized that the glass of wine in front of them is deeper than they will ever know, and that for the rest of their lives they will delve into that mystery. The wine lovers among you reading this know that it really is a quest. This is why it becomes less about the “best” wine, and more about the “truest” wine.
I honestly believe that doing the work with our own hands somehow translates into greater “trueness” in the wine, and the wines I love are made by involved people. The meaning we derive from the mundane, momentary experiences of winemaking, such as fixing the tractor, moving the sheep from one portion of the vineyard to the other, tightening the hoops on the barrels, or topping the wine, is tremendous, and I thank you for joining and supporting us in this rich process.