Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Friends and Wine




The View from a Knights Gambit Winery
June 9, 2018
Chris and I enjoyed a fantastic weekend in Charlottesville with friends. The views of the mountains reminded me of my boyhood home in the dairy country of upstate New York.
Vines at Pollak
June 9, 2018

Touring a couple different wineries and enjoying a polo match were the icing on the cake of spending time with friends reconnecting. 

Chris and I love to get out in the vineyards and see the grapes growing. There is something almost magical about how the small green grape clusters of June will become wine in a bottle within a few months or years, depending upon the variety and the fermentation process. It is, at its core, farming. The weather and the soil all contribute to place their unique stamp upon each vintage. 

Grape Clusters at Pollak
June 9, 2018

Wine begins in the soil with the vines, but the stars of the show are the clusters of grapes. The winemaker orchestrates the symphony and manages the outside influences to create their personal interpretation of a wine. I have been to vineyards where the winemaker's version of a particular grape and mine do not agree--and that is definitely OK. There are thousands of wines because it is an individual preference. There is a wine for everyone.

Touring wineries and sampling the fruit of the vine is always better with friends. I hope we get to head out again soon and discover many more new and favorite wineries.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

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