Bragging? Maybe. Only a little.

I am so very, irrepressibly pleased with the newest development in my life: a job at a gorgeous winery in McLaren Vale.  For those of you tracking my progress, this means I have two jobs... both fantastic in their own ways... to keep me busy all summer.

The general theme of this blog has been not to name names or specify places (protect the innocent), so I'll follow suit here.  I will however, show off a picture from the winery's website, just to emphasize what I mean when I say 'gorgeous:'

It's such a great feeling to have a position for the right reasons, at an organization where the philosophy jives perfectly with passions I was already developing.  The winery is very keen on sustainable development, organic growth (of the business and the vineyards alike), and honest creation of quality.  And the wine is definitely quality.

The whole place resonates with a lovely purity of spirit and practice.  Sheep and cows graze in pastures alongside the vineyard, cover crops grow freely between rows of grapes, fish swim in the reservoirs that provide irrigation to the property, a pile of natural fertilizer sits in the sun with its earthy rich stink filling the air.  The winery dogs are as adorable and friendly as can be.  The winemaking philosophy is a modernized, hands-off approach: wild-yeast ferments, natural malo, aged oak regimens.  And there's a window in the cool, dark barrel shed that looks out across the vineyard, so it's impossible for workers in the cellar to forget that this product--which demands scientific attention and will be shipped to all points of the globe in glass bottles--this wine actually comes from a real place... right up there, where the sunlight is hitting the crest of the green hill.

Perhaps I'm obsessing a little bit, but perhaps that's as it should be.  I feel incredibly lucky to be included in this business and in this industry, and am thrilled to get to work.  I've been pooling my talents, honing the resources for a good long while now, and finally I'm in the position to use it for a good cause!  And there's more to learn!  Always ways to grow!

Then too, this position finally gets me on track towards a happy future that I've been blueprinting for some time now: working hard to cultivate, sustain, and promote a beautiful little piece of the world... (somewhere!)... hopefully one day adding in the blessing of my own beautiful family to raise, take care of, and proudly send into the world.  Its a profoundly fulfilling and edifying dream.  It's all about living in the now, for the betterment of what is to come.

I don't think it's totally crazy to think of wine as a savior against a robotic and soulless future.  Really now:  What better product than wine--with its hedonic peaks and scholarly valleys, its modern growth and ancient roots--to draw the everyday consumer into its nuances?  A lot of people want to get geeky and proud about wine knowledge, but I think wine lovers revel in yammering on about wine because it's fundamentally a glorious, unanswerable mystery.  Every vintage, every vineyard, every bottle offers a new opportunity to marvel at what nature has produced and man has harnessed for a moment.  How is it possible to drink wine without honoring the grapes, the vines, and the land from which it is born?   Nature--given her own way--never fails to awe those who are still, and quiet, and looking out across the landscape.  There's a beautiful, inexplicable flowing continuity of life bound up in the land, and wine invites us simply to bask in it.  

Or get nerdy about it, or pay too much for it, or share it with friends on the beach, or simply unwind.  What a gorgeous, happy life!

Spring Pushing Through the Clouds

Once again it's pouring outside.  It was so lovely and sunny 30 minutes ago that I suited up for an afternoon jog.  Now here I sit in front of the computer screen, all dressed up and nowhere to go.

It's been a wonderful week in Adelaide.  At the sunny outset of the week, I was accompanied by great friends to McLaren Vale, the beach, and Barossa.  There's nothing like beautiful days to relieve all sorts of anxiety.  I finally feel like I'm getting a grip on the road that is unfolding for my life.  I'm very privileged to have all sorts of options available, though there's a certain terrible stress in the background: "Don't screw up the opportunity!"
I vacillate between extreme contentment with the blank book I get to fill and acute envy of friends whose path is set for them.  Two gentlemen I know, for example, are next in line to run their families' wineries in South Africa.  How empowering to live life with a sense of duty, directly tied to filial obligations.  "Golden handcuffs," they say.  I too feel responsible to honor my family, my college, my country.... but the "how" is so undefined.  My commission is to go do my "best," whatever that means.  It's not a quick and easy task when the whole wide world holds opportunities and places at which to excel.

We do the best with what we have where we are.

Yesterday was a memorable one.  We headed up to the Clare Valley for some wine tasting, completely ignoring the crazy storm raging up the land from Adelaide.  This has apparently been the coldest, wettest winter in two decades here, and the season clearly means to go out with a bang.  A thunderstorm lingered through Friday night, and by Saturday morning rivers were running high and roadside ditches were threatening to overload onto the bitumen.  But northwards through the fray we drove.  By 2pm, the spitting rain was streaking sideways in blustery wind, branches were flying everywhere, and water was gushing from all corners of the earth to the lowest points it could find.  We were sadly forced to leave the valley early because we simply couldn't turn off the main road or get to cellar doors.  Rivers had washed over the side roads, over bridges, and into the fields, making islands of vineyards.  I do wonder what effect all this water so late in the winter will have on vinous budburst and the coming vintage.

Winos hit McLaren Vale

Sunday was spent with the University of Adelaide Wine Club on a mini-trip to McLaren Vale. It was a gorgeous, crisp fall day, the vineyards are turning golden yellow and the sky was that aqueous light blue that makes you want to be a bird so you can go swim in it.

Our first stop was the cellar door (tasting room) of Samuel's Gorge, a rustic old stone home set on a hill overlooking vines. We tasted through their current offerings, including a stellar 2008 Grenache and one of the most restrained, structured, and elegant Shiraz's (2008) I've had from this region. Really atmospheric all around, and a great way to kick off the morning. Plus, they had a dog! I'm a huge proponent of animals at cellar doors. They give such life to the place, and I for one remember the pet long after I forget the taste of the wine. The Samuel's Gorge dog will forever stick in my mind because he perfectly resembled my childhood family dog, incidentally named Sam....


Those of you who knew and loved Sam appreciated his innate ability to turn a tennis ball into a slobbery sponge, smiled when you heard about his adventures at the local construction sites, wondered why he so liked banana bread... you would have been smitten with the winery's big hairy Retroodle. What a dog.

Next stop was Alpha Box & Dice, whose winemaker Justin Lane is famous for being edgy and innovative. The decor of the cellar door certainly fit the unique character of the wines. There are a couple working pinball machines, kitsch from all sorts of antique sales, modern art clearly created during a drunken all-nighter, black and white with accent colors, '60s furniture, a ladder in the rafters, and so on.

Justin challenged us to a blend-off. We split into groups and used 15 or so red wines to make our own blend. Choosing from different styles of Shiraz, Cab Sav, Barbera, Sangiovese, Durif, etc. we put together a wine meant to be a result greater than the sum of its parts. I must say, the final wines were pretty impressive and cool. Hard to go wrong starting from such strong bases, but it was a cool experiment. Our mouths were uniformly purple, and the competition got a little rowdy. I perhaps wasn't my best behaved. I'm a vicious smack-talker when I get excited.

After a bbq lunch, we tasted through the Alpha Box & Dice portfolio... totally impressive through and through... I broke down and bought a couple bottles. Sadly, that was the end of the day, due primarily to the 4pm closing time of most cellar doors. I feel highly motivated to get back out to the wineries ASAP. That is, after all, why I'm here!