What Basement Winemaking Teaches us about Doing the Unfamiliar
Rows of empty wine bottles on my kitchen windowsill can only mean one thing…
It’s time to bottle last year’s harvest.
Winemaking. There is something magical and timeless about the whole process- Mother Nature plus chemistry and artistry all intertwined to produce something original.
I wish I could take credit for more than sanitizing and drying the bottles (the white paper towels absorb lingering moisture, in case you’re wondering).
But this has been my husband’s venture and it continues to be a journey of learning for the sake of doing something new and fun.
Plus there’s the benefit of sharing a glass of your own wine with friends and family.
These empty bottles are a reminder to step into the unknown from time to time and figure it out as you go along.
Just get started.
“I’m going to make wine,” he announced one evening quite a few years ago. We were two weeks away from our second harvest. Owning a vineyard was still new.
“Whaat?” I said, surprised.
We hadn’t purchased a vineyard to become winemakers. We were small growers. Our crop of Syrah was under contract with a large winery.
“I’ll block off a couple rows in the front and handpick those for our wine. The harvester will get the rest for the winery,” he said.
“How do you know what to do?” I asked.
“I’ll figure it out. It will be fun,” he said.
I saw that spark of eagerness he gets when he’s made up his mind and is ready to get started.
“I went to the wine lab today and talked to the owner. He gave me a reference book for beginners and said to call if I needed help,” he said.
A couple weeks later, on an early Saturday morning, he had our kids and their cousins picking grapes, crushing, and helping him fill small tanks.
The fall sun was shining, the earthy aroma of harvest was in the air. Country music was playing from an outdoor speaker. It was a day without technology, just using your hands to take part in a very old practice.
And just like that, success.
One year later, the wine was ready to drink. We sat on the back patio with a bottle and two glasses, looking at gondolas all lined up in preparation for the next night’s harvest.
We uncorked the bottle and sipped. It wasn’t out of this world but it wasn’t bad either. It was simple, rudimentary.
“You did it! You made wine,” I said.
“Yea, and I enjoyed the experience. I’m definitely going to do it again.”
The learning continues.
He doesn’t make wine every year, but he has done it quite a few times. He’s got a knack for it actually. Who would have thought?
And it’s an ever-evolving process. He’s acquired a few more instruments and pieces of equipment, and he set up a small operation in our basement. Comfortable with the fundamentals, he’s focusing more on the quality of the wine, making changes and trying new techniques each time.
Simple benefits of trying something new.
When was the last time you embarked on something unfamiliar, not because you had to but because you wanted to? What are you interested in trying that you’ve talked yourself out of?
If you need some motivation, here are 3 benefits to feeding your interests and seeing a project all the way through to completion:
1. Authenticity. You put something of yourself into the work. Often, you end up using or developing a skill, artistry, or ability you didn’t realize you had. It’s like moving beyond a personal limitation.
2. Helps you break out of a rut. Taking a detour from a mundane routine can be challenging at first, but it builds confidence, enlivens your outlook on life, and makes you more comfortable with change.
3. Allows you to see value in the project or craft. There’s a tendency to focus on the end result- a bottle of wine, an outdoor chair, a garden full of ripe tomatoes. But until you do the steps it takes to reach that final outcome, you often can’t fully appreciate the process.
So…
Start the garden, build the Adirondack chair, make homemade sausage, research your heritage...
You get the gist.
Happy discovery!
