Notes From the Vintner Welcome to our column. We hope that you will return to learn interesting notes on wine, and related subjects. Wine is a great gift from God to be used for the enjoyment of man. It is a food, and should be treated as such. It is meant to lift up the body and lighten the soul. 12/1/00 Blessings come when we least expect… Life is like a river. As it flows sometimes it is deep and fast, and sometime it is slow and wide--not deep at all. You never know what it may flow over, and if it is good or bad…blessed, or not. Winemakers are no different than anyone else. We need to enjoy life, and live it …counting our blessing daily. So, with that all say, I am happy to report to you that one of our wines received national recognition this last month. There was a blind tasting in Denver, Colorado. This tasting was by wine importers, wine writers, and restaurant people. We were advised that our Robert’s Port (named for the father of my children) was picked as one of the best five wines. And that we would be “written up” in the Bloomberg Personal Finance magazine. The writer, Bruce Schoenfeld, was impressed that an Arkansas wine did so well. He e-mailed me, “ I never would have thought I’d be rhapsodizing about a dessert wine from Paris, Arkansas, but there you are.” So, when the notice was received, it was time to think of the blessings in life. You work hard to produce good wine, and out of the blue you receive a blessing. But you know there is another way of looking at this. Blessings are the smiles of life. And we all smile. It is a blessing that yeast is smart enough to work hard enough to make wine. It is a blessing that grapes grow, and that some years are super great for wine. It is a blessing that the wine is very good. And it is a blessing that there are people to share wine with.  So, it may be well to call to mind in these last Vintner Notes of the year, the blessing we have. And thank our good God for them all…God bless us all.  Robert G Cowie Wine Maker   Email The Vintner Vintner Notes Archive - 11/01/00 Vintner Notes Archive - 10/01/00 Vintner Notes Archive - 9/01/00 Vintner Notes Archive - 8/01/00 Vintner Notes Archive - 7/01/00 Vintner Notes Archive - 6/01/00 Vintner Notes Archive - 5/01/00 Vintner Notes Archive - 4/01/00