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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. 05/1/03
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What
a time it was…not
an event, but the last few weeks. The Good Lord does not
give us many weeks like they were. They were very hard
weeks, but very good weeks - and this is why.
My eldest
daughter, Anne Marie, gave my wife, Bette Kay, one of her
kidneys. This was done in Little Rock, 120 miles from home.
There were many, many trips for test and more tests. Then
the week in the hospital, and recovery at home along with
trips to Fort Smith, 40 miles in the other direction, every
other day. All this was just before two events at the
winery. There was not much time to sit around. But I am
happy to say that all went well, and they are doing
great.
During this time
was the 19th Cowie International Amateur
Competition. In this event wine is sent to the
winery, two bottles each to be judged. All this wine has to
be logged in and placed in classes. There is a system of
double checks so that each entry can be traced in several
different ways. Then a bottle of wine is given to the
judges. The judges are part of the University of Arkansas
Food Science Department headed by Dr Justin Morris. These
are not first year students, but many PhD's who have been
studying wine for many years. After the judging, the wines
are listed in class high to low, and the certificates are
made. This is all done in house. The night before the
awards, we had a pot luck dinner for all that were in town
early. It was a fun time for fellowship. Then Saturday was
spent listening to a fine presentation by Mr. Luke Clark
from Louisiana, the awards presentation, tasting wine, and
fellowship. It was a supper event. We had 193 wines entered,
with 147 winners from Canada, and 19 states.
One week later, we
hosted the Arkansas Wine Heritage Day. This
event is to promote the wine history of Arkansas. The theme
this year was the time after the Louisiana Purchase. The
speaker spoke on the history of wine from the first
explorers, to present and beyond. The Founders Award was
presented to Rep. Herschel Cleveland, Speaker of the
House, for his service to the museum. This was
followed by wine and fellowship.
In the middle of
this, I was written up in a national magazine with a
circulation of five million copies, in all 48 lower states,
and also on the internet. American Profile did a
story on me as the hometown hero. This gave a big shot in
the arm to get the word out about the winery and museum.
Then Channel 4 TV in Little Rock called to ask if they could
come up and do a story on the museum.
With all the
above, and the normal duties of winery, B & B, vineyard,
and preaching, I can say that I have been in a rainstorm of
blessing. Excuse the brag, but I just felt like telling
someone.
God bless us, and a toast
to us all.
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