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Notes From the
Vintner
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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. 07/1/04
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To the
Vineyard, to the Vineyard, To the
Vineyard…there
is so much work to do. And with all the rain in Arkansas,
the vines are a growing. So we spend all of our time working
with the vines. BUT, this is wrong. There must be balance in
the growing of the fruit and the making of the wine. Being a
complete wine maker who grows the fruit, makes the wine, and
drinks it, well that takes balance of time, energy and
knowledge. Kinda like life. If you spend too much time on
one thing, and neglect the others, you will have a problem
that may lead to sadness, and loss of joy. So where are we
going with these notes…
Well, my
friend…I
wish to ask you if you have your cellar ready to receive the
fruit for making wine this season. Are the vats clean, does
the crusher work, and is your supply of additives good? Did
you every fix the THINGS that you were going to fix last
season? Do you have enough storage for the wine you wish to
make? Do you need to bottle wine and inventory your wine
cellar? Where is all the equipment you need? Is it still
over at a friend's house? You know that 30 minutes of
planning will save a long night of looking for items when
you should be crushing fruit. I speak from first hand
knowledge. Do not be a slow learner; start now to get the
act together. The vineyard is important, but so also is the
cellar.
Now that we are going to check the cellar, and perhaps pour
up a glass of wine….lets speak of another subject. It
is easy to make some very great wine, and bottle it up for
later. A lot of people lay back bottles of wine for years to
be enjoyed later. This is fine and good if the wine ages
well. But not all wine will age well. Fruit and whites will
not age for many years. After a bit they slowly go down
hill. So sample your inventory, and do not lose it...
Something good that goes bad is a very sad thing as we all
know. Now
enjoy your glass of wine, and God bless
you.
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