The Four Factors

I'm doing a lot of research, and it looks like preparing for the vineyard will take some time. No surprise there. I'm blessed with an abundance of resources, such is the age in which I live, so getting my feet wet doesn't necessarily mean steeping into quicksand. At my disposal is a world wide web of possibilities for knowing exactly what I need to do from a technical standpoint, so I can get past that and get to the creative aspect of developing good wines. So I've found a few important documents from the University of Kentucky, talking about preparation of the fields for the vines. I've also watched part of a video, and will probably watch many more that talk about the grape rowing process from the point of view of master winemakers.

That brought me to this video, which discusses briefly, but I think it to be extremely important to root in my mind, the four factors of successful wine making, namely exposure (to sunlight), soil (nutrient content, type of soil - clay vs sandy - provides different character), age of the vine (they're talking about the average age being 30 years....eek) and climate.

Cool video!

The great wine experiment. Get ready... get set...

Wining, as my wife will tell you, comes quite naturally to me.

Well, whining at least. So, what a natural extension of that pension but to blog of the passion of learning to make wine? From scratch. That means no kits, no getting grapes from others, but pure wine making from literally the ground up.

Ok, so I have no experience in this. But guess what? Neither did anyone else who ever made wine until they actually made wine. Some had it bread in them from the day they could first crawl to the window and look out over the vast hillside of the family vineyard filled with rows of growing vines. Others, like myself, will learn as we go. I will try to surround myself with people who know what they're doing, including the owner of Jewel Town Vineyards right up the street. I will succeed and I will fail, and it's all ok. It'll be hard work, but it will also (hopefully) be fruitful in the end. Pun intended.

I know this will be a long process. I know I have a ton to learn. So here we go. I'll share it all with you, so that as I learn, you too can hopefully learn something from me, not the expert, but the simple student. Perhaps you will even offer me some advice! Please feel free to leave comments, I will read any and all that come my way.

Wish me luck, pray for me, and if you're ever in Northern Massachusetts and see a sign for Inverness Farm, stop by. I'll show you the crop. Maybe we can even share some wine!

Psalm 16:11  

You make known to me cthe path of life;

in your presence there is dfullness of joy;

at your right hand are epleasures forevermore.

Psalm 1:3  

He is like ia tree

planted by jstreams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its kleaf does not wither. 

lIn all that he does, he prospers.