The Vine Cycle

A person is a person no matter how small.
Horton Hears a Who. Dr. Seuss.

Paraphrasing Dr. Seuss, a person is a person no matter how young, no matter how old.

Shoots emerge from dormant buds. The shoots elongate and the vine flowers. Tiny berries begin to grow but remain green and hard until veraison. Veraison is the onset of ripening. A few weeks later you are ready to Harvest.

Vines are perennials. Perennials are plans that last or are active through many years. What that means is that the vine cycle repeats itself. A cycle also brings to mind the passing of time. Time is a peculiar concept. If you are young, time does not seem to pass. When you ask a child how old is she or he , the reply will be ten going on eleven as the case may be. A good friend of mind that is 75 years old, when confronted with that question, will always answer seventy "mumble, mumble". It is actually a joke because he will always tell his age. But no, we do not want to be reminded of our mortality.

In our society we consider old age a problem. Perhaps it is because we (the so called people of the third age) think our contribution to our love ones and to society in general is not up to par. However, we can still make valuable inputs. Julia Child, Mother Teresa and Rick and Diane duNah (more about the DuNah's in the next chapter) are examples of what a person can achieve after fifty. Maybe it is because we do not measure anymore to the concept of beauty that we are conditioned to. But mature age can have a patina of attractiveness. If you doubt it just take a look at Catherine Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Sir Alexander Fleming.

Even the English language denotes a certain derogatory connotation: Your are 75 years "old". In any of the romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian Portuguese, Romanian) you are seventy five. The adjective "old" is omitted as is not necessary.

In Asian cultures, old age is revered as a symbol of wisdom. In our environment we consider old people a quandary, a dilemma.

In reality the elderly are some what responsible for these perceptions. We are our own victims of the so called Pygmalion or Rosenthal Syndrome. This is the "self fulfilling prophesy". That is if you believe something about yourself, you tend to fulfill it.

As time passes you become more aware of your mortality. It is true that eventually we will pass into a different dimension. You might agree or not with this assertion. Nonetheless, nobody has any assurance that that he or she will be alive the next second. What is really important is what we do with the time we are given. This is true at 15, 75 or any age.

Shoots emerge from dormant buds

From time to time my wife and I invite our children (two from Elvira's first marriage and two from mine), their wives and our grandchildren to eat with us. We cook. In fact, we love to cook. Part of the fun of it is the so called "wine paring". Wine paring consists of picking up a wine that will go with the main dish. The idea here is to consider wine as another ingredient. Then you eat and drink.

I confess that I am not good at paring wines. What I do is that I rely on my favorite wine dealer. One Saturday afternoon I was at Wolfe' Wine Shoppe picking up a couple of bottles for one of our dinners. When I was on my way out Jeffrey Wolfe (the proprietor) asked me, "Did you get my e-mail about the wine appreciation classes that I am going to be teaching at the University of Miami?" In fact i have forgotten to check my mail," I toll him, "I am going to check with my wife".

We registered for the course the next day. The lessons were a lot of fun: general ideas about grapes, wine making, wine regions and lots of tasting of very good wines. We passed the course with flying colors and register for the next course right away. Six months later we got our diplomas for the Master Wine Appreciation Program.

These two courses reignited the on going flame of the past. The question was now: How am I going to learn more about wines? I knew about the Master Sommelier Program. The course gives you a fantastic knowledge of wine regions, taste, wine paring. It is very difficult, very demanding. After your take it and if you pass the exam you will become a "Master Sommelier".

No, this is not what I wanted. I wanted to know more. Then UC Davis came back into my mind.

Note:

The pictures included in these articles were taken during the 2008 (Pinot noir) Harvest at the DuNah Vineyard and Winery in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley near the small town of Sevastopol. http://wwwdunahwienery.com/ . The vineyards are sustainable farmed. The proprietors of this beautiful vineyards are Rick and Diane DuNah. My family and I are indebted to them for their gracious hospitality. I also like to thank Greg La Follete for making it happened. Greg La Follet, Enologist, Winemaker of Tandem Winery, http://www.tandemwinery.com/ . Mr. La Follete UC Davis trained for "speaking the language of the vine and wine".

Next: The Vine Cycle Continues

Planting the Appropriate Rootstock

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. "

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. Dylan Thomas [1952]

It takes a minimum of five years for a vine to be optimally productive. How long does it take a person to achieve something that she or he wants to accomplish?

Some years ago a person that I know and admire asked me three very stimulating questions:

• What are shoes good for? - For walking, I answered.
• What is a house good for?- For shelter, I replied.
• What is a human being good for? - Well, let me see.

Many definitions, many more questions come to mind. Challenging is it not?

This blog is about my answer to the last question. As you will see is a very personal one since it involves a number of decisions that I have taken in order to achieve something that I dreamed of 46 years ago but did not have the courage to do.

From the beginning I like to state very clearly that I am not motivated by the purpose of philosophical, psychological or religious discussions. Neither do I claim expertise or knowledge in any of these fields. These are only personal observations.

Now, a little bit of history: One of the jobs that I had when I was attending the University of Illinois back in 1963 was stacks clerk at the main library. If you were a stacks clerk, your job was to look for the books that students asked for and when the books are returned you put them back where they belong; you come and you go, you come and you go. In one of these comings and goings, I came across a book that intrigued me a lot. It was actually a technical publication called "Hilgardia". I checked the book out. That night, I read the entire book. There were a number of technical articles about vine cultivation and wine making in California. There was one that really called my attention: "Composition and quality of must (grape juice) and wines of California grapes" by professors M.A. Amerine and A.J. Winkler from the University of California, Davis. What they did was to study the relationship that exists between the type of grapes and the annual temperature changes (Heat-Summation Method) in Napa Valley.

I was fascinated. I'd found my calling. I was going to go to UC Davis. I was going to get a degree in Wine Making and be a part of that exciting field.

I checked out more books about the wine industry in California. At present most of us know about California wines, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, etc. But in 1963 very few people knew anything about it. The ones that knew something discouraged me. There were no jobs available. Nobody was going to replace or compete with France in wine making. They told me I was crazy. I caved in. I got my degree in Accounting and Economics and went along to make a living. I did not do that bad. All alone I kept on learning bits of information about vine cultivation and wines in general. It was an interest, maybe it was a nostalgic memory of my youth.

Then, in 2003, my wife Elvira gave a copy of the book "Judgment of Paris: California vs. France" by George M. Taber. In this excellent book Mr. Taber narrates the antecedents and the actual event that happened in 1976 in which completely unknown wines from California defeated, in blind tests, the best wines of France. More remarkable was the fact that the wine testing was held in Paris and the Judges were the foremost wine critics of France. I finished the book in four days and I could not but help to think I could have being in California at that time. I could have being part of that pioneer effort.

The past is gone. The present matters because that is what makes up the future.
I made up my mind. This time I am going to do it.


Note:
The pictures included in these articles were taken during the 2008 (Pinot noir) Harvest at the DuNah Vineyard and Winery in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley near the small country town of Sevastopol. http://www.dunahwinery.com/The vineyards are sustainable farmed. The propietors of this beeautiful vineyard are Rick and Diane DuNah. My family and I are indebted to them for their gracious hospitality. I also like to thank Greg La Follete for making it happend. Greg La Follete , Enologist, Winemaker of Tanden Winery, http://www.tandemwinery.com/ . Greg La Follete UC Davis trained for "speaking the language of the vine and wine".


Next: The Vine Cycle

It is Never too Late