Winemaker, Winemaker, Make Me a Wine
Whenever it’s come up in conversation– as with tasting room customers or random people at parties–I’ve always answered no to the question, “Do do you want to make wine one day?” The answer usually comes quickly, sometimes accompanied by a laugh.
But why not? I mean, why ignore the possibilty or at least that urge, that need to create something beautiful… The thing is, I love to cook: to turn a stack of ingredients into a delicious meal. And I love to garden: to watch seeds slowly sprout and become tall, strong plants–preferrably herbs that I can use in my cooking. Everything, then, is connected, as it is with soil and wind and vines and barrels. I love to drink wine, to talk about it, to write about it. Why not make it?
Maybe I hesitate due to the scientific nature of winemaking, as I found when checking out the coursework at UC Davis. Or because every once in a while, I make a meal that’s rather mediocre. And this summer, despite past successes, I tried to grow basil in my kitchen five different times, with never any luck.
Yet the other night I was over at the cellar rat’s apartment, where there was wine in the bathroom and barrels under the carport (and at his friends’ houses, as well, they said). I had made a Bonfire Vineyards sign out of a barrel stave for his birthday. As I was making it and also as I was admiring the barrels stenciled with the same brand, tiny voices started to whisper in my head, what are you so scared of ?
I also realized as I talked to The Winemaker’s Wife about her blog and plans to write about the hardships of his job, that I was a little jealous. Whereas when I first got out here, the envy might have stemmed from my own desire to settle down with a winemaker, this time it was from wanting to make some myself. One day.
Future plans might include subscribing to this magazine (but only after I finally order Food and Wine) or joining forces with Crushpad, especially since it’s so close….
making your own wine, winemaking, Crushpad, Bonfire Vineyards
…..Farley Walker
January 30th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I also love to dream about becoming a winemaker. Crushpad looks like a good compromise, though. Wish we had one up here in Vancouver!
January 30th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Farley, you echo a viewpoint that I’ve held for quite a while. But the bug finally bit me recently. I’ll even be meeting the Cellar Rat next Sunday at CrushPad - we’re on the Basic Juice Crew. My first exposure to making wine has the team preparing to concoct a Rhone blend with maybe a touch of Petite Sirah, maybe a little Mourvedre. We’ll see when we convene! I must admit, I’m rather excited (scared, too, maybe?) about the whole proposition because I expect to learn some valuable lessons - lessons I can blog about!
January 30th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Hey Farley,
I thought about making my own beer, but I’m totally afraid that whatever kind of drink that I’d make would blind me.
January 31st, 2007 at 7:52 am
Yes, I want to do it, but what if it’s bad (or blinds me like paul’s beer)? I guess I’ll never know til I try.
Russ, the Basic Juice Crew does sound like fun. Reading Beau’s blog was how I knew about Crushpad.
And Kelly, here’s to Canadian wine (which I’ve yet to have, but one day)homemade or otherwise.
January 31st, 2007 at 11:36 am
Farley, great post. The Boy is looking into crushpad at the moment too. We’d like to start making a profit on his hobby. There is a store on San Antonio called Fermentation Frenzy, they sell kits, and equipment if you wanted to start smaller then a project at crushpad. Need anyone to go to the chronicle tasting at fort mason on feb. 24? ^_-
January 31st, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Paul–you’re thinking of the wrong kind of alcohol! Fermenting wheat, hops and barley produce mainly Ethanol. Ethanol is um… relatively safe to consume in moderate quantities.
Methanol on the other hand (the stuff that makes people blind) comes from distilling wood, and is the stuff that they put in anti-freeze and cleaning compounds. Unless you are only fermenting wood chips and perhaps the barrel itself, you don’t have to worry much about producing Methanol when you make beer. A small small amount is created, but it is just a trace. A normal glass of beer might be 6 percent Ethanol and 0.01 percent Methanol. There are lots of good stores, like Fermentation Frenzy in Los Altos, CA, that can sell you a basic brewing kit to get started. Go on! Give it a try! And don’t be afraid to ask them questions. That’s how you learn and have fun. Cheers!
February 1st, 2007 at 10:41 am
That’s why my brain messed up drinking anti-freeze bad!