As Vincent Van Gough communicated his gratitude to Paul Gauguin through his sunflower paintings, the artisan wine maker does so through the crafting and gifting of their wine. Both hoping that the experience of consuming the art through the senses will communicate the artisan’s deepest feeling of thankfulness.
Making wine is my labor of love and making a wine to celebrate and honor our dear friends makes it that much more wonderful. Here’s to my partner and his lovely wife. Cin Cin. Alla Salute!
What we feed our eyes we feed our souls. Create pockets of inspiration within your line of sight to feed your soul.
“The process of being mentally stimulated to do something, especially something creative…..a sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea.” The times we lack the ability to inspire oneself is perplexing. Daunting at times. How? Why? Where? Oh please when! Frustration, impatience, mystery, doubt, unsurity, hopelessness, and even fear. This lack of inspiration creating foreign feelings of uncertainty instead of energy to pursue purpose. Writing, Painting, Photography, Drawing, Botany, Dance, Cooking, to the making of Wine. All art. All personal styles of expression. Inspiration drives creativity and what to do when one feels as if walls have boxed you away from your art. Perhaps something as simple as a little warmth to reenergize the fermentation in your mind. As in wine, when the the fermentation slows you start by raising the temperature. A few candles, a change in light, a new smell, a new look, a new visual, and the feelings of you are flowing again! Bella Inspirazione!
A wine, like life, is a collection of experiences. An artisan of wine brings together the inventions of many to create an art of her own. Back in the vineyard the vine is shaping grapes through her experience. The warm pleasure of the sun on the vine’s leaves as it dances in tune with the wind in the vineyard. At the bottle factory the musician who brings his artisan spirit into the mechanical warehouse. The tattoo artist who by sharing her art indadvertently aligns to the vibrations created during a gathering of friends. Many experiences collected and put together as the art of a winemaker.
Preferences and cultures impact our choices in wine. We develop favorites along our journey because of what consistently satisfies our senses. Wine develops in a similar diverse way. The vines are influenced by the environments around them and the contributions of nature and the winemaker. All the more reason we should venture across the many producers of wine and experience the beautiful diversity within a wine.
19 years in a bottle. 6,134 mile journey. A special day. Family dinner. The artisan Giovani Gaja. 161 years in the making. So many experiences coming together in an event.
Wine is absolutely fascinating. Like an ancient artifact, wine is history and technique in a bottle just waiting to be discovered. When we look at a bottle of wine it is as if we are looking back in time. Looking beyond the year on the bottle to understand the efforts that came together to create this beautiful wine. So many contributors to be evaluated. The wine maker, the technique, the vineyard, the locality, the country, the people, the packaging, the environment, the history of the moment. Much like the many flavors of a wine stimulate the senses, the infinate number of contributions stimulate the mind. Expanding your knowledge begins with opening a book and speaking with a winemaker. So many avenues to stimulate your mind and experience the love of wine to a greater degree
All too often we are making the mistake of breezing through life’s day to day responsiblities and we end up missing out on the beautiful details around us. We move from one thing to the next and never fully absorb the beauty around us. Allow yourself a few seconds to reflect on life around you. Try and move through life as if you were that concentric ripple that occurs when you drop a pebble in a pool of still water. Taking in life at more than just the point of entry. Take a few seconds to look beyond the experience you are involved in. You’re not just taking a picture of a pretty flower. Let yourself truly experience every detail and allow yourself to be inspired. Inspired to learn about the details in the picture. Inspired to learn about others. A simple sunflower and the complexities of Van Gogh?
Helping this vine grow (Nicola) is something I look forward to every morning. The vine moves continuously with nature and seeing the growth each morning is like receiving a daily gift from a special friend. Sangiovese vines are both graceful and adventurous in their growth and an absolute joy to interact with every morning. Blessed are the grape growers and the winemakers.
The Artisan Wine Society 