A Blooming Hill Vineyard

Not that we are hurrying the wine….far from it.  Jim is babying his wine, which means it will take as long as it needs to develop.  I’m writing about wine in a hurry before I head off to a conference in San Francisco for a few days.  Before I go, however, Charlie-my-computer-literate-son fixed the photo upload function on this blog so I added a picture of the fabulous hitching post I talked about in the last one.  It’s in the last one so please go take a look.

And while I am at it, I’ll just stick up a few pictures here.

These are pictures of us watching the inauguration, including Gemini.  We are all wearing “official” inauguration tee-shirts we got in DC the week before the BIG EVENT.  The city was pulsing even then and it was fabulous to be there.  We drank Jim’s wine to celebrate this spectacular moment in American history.

Not exactly, of course, because it is DARNED cold and we’re supposed to have 45 mph  winds believe it or not, but there are crocii putting up their diminutive green necks in front of the rock near the peonies.   The real sure sign that spring is approaching, of course, is that Jim is out in the vineyard pruning.  The other day he came in and told me it would take about 27,000 minutes.  What? He measured it in minutes because he had a pretty good idea of how much time each plant would take.    Actually, I forget the number of minutes he said but he’ll be pruning through February.  And that’s with the assistance of David, who works for Jim.  David is a terrific person who has a real feel for the grapes and the rest of the work on the farm.   We’ve come to have great affection for David.  He and his wife Georgia made us the most amazing Christmas presents:  David is part Seminole so they created two tomahawks and a gorgeous carved post Jim is going to use as a hitching post.

RIGHT HERE I NEED TO NOTE THAT THE IMAGE UPLOAD FUNCTION SEEMS NOT TO BE WORKING SO THE LOVELY PHOTO OF THE HITCHING POST, ETC. WON’T BE HERE UNTIL MY SON HELPS ME FIGURE THIS OUT.  (HE GAVE ME A MONTH’S SUBSCRIPTION TO DIALAGEEK FOR CHRISTMAS BUT I HAVEN’T ACTIVATED IT YET…WAITING FOR A LONG MONTH IN WHICH I WILL BE HOME EVERY DAY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE.)

Jim's New Hitching Post, Carved by David Kendall

Jim frets over every aspect of the grapes and wine, which is definitely a big part of why his wine is so good.  His  touch with each vine allows him to know what is happening at any moment in the vineyard.  If there is the hint of a change, he knows it.   It’s some extra sense he has for growing things.  He told me that fox, in the winter, can hear the sound of mice under the deep snow and know where to pounce.  I think he hears the language of the vines.

This phase of pruning goes faster than it does later on.  He is done with the lopping – removing what he doesn’t want -  and is now in the final stage of creating the shape of the vine for this year.  It is way easier now than it will be in a few months when little buds have to be flicked off and, later, when the plants begin to be lush with growth; but, it will be warmer as spring develops.  At this moment, the earth is cold, the air is cold, Jim’s fingers and toes are cold.

The vines, so far, look great.  There is such a beautiful order to them and I know it is very satisfying to Jim to see them take shape the way he wants them to.  So, tonight we are drinking his 2007 Pinot Noir with dinner and, since impressions of wine can be very suggestible, I’m sure we’ll taste the early breaths of spring in every mouthful.

A long time ago, back when I lived in New York, in one miserable and cold winter when we all slogged around in puffed out coats, there was an ad campaign on the sides of buses that I just loved.  It had a beautiful woman in the midst of a beautiful entry arc underwater in a toasty tropical setting.  “Why Be Cold and Wet….” the tag line read, “when you can be warm and wet.” Very sane advice for the winter months.

On the other hand, our grapevines have just emerged from their puffy jackets of a rare and abundant snowstorm and are currently spending most of their time being cold and wet.  They are dormant and Jim says the snow actually carries nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil where it will stay until needed for spring nourishment.

It’s New Year’s Day.  What was uncovered once the snows melted away was the miracle that inside those winter limbs and branches, at the ends of them, fat buds of Magnolia and Rhodedendron were waiting to show off  and remind us that soon we will almost hear them pop open as the days continue to lengthen and spring dances in from around the corner.

We brought in the New Year with bouillabaisse and Jim’s lovely Chardonnay and tonight we will have some interestingly shaped pasta with red clam sauce made with canned tomatoes from our garden, some added fireworks from our own jalapenos, and all the flavors swirled together with a little bit of Jim’s Pinot Noir; the rest of which we will finish off as the evening passes into night and the beautifu entry arc of the New Year takes us under its spell.