Sipster Vol.4
Becoming a Sipster vol. 4
Hello my friends, greetings, and salutations to you all on this auspicious day. The seasons, they are a-changing. Usually, I’d follow up with “where has the time gone?” or “this year is flying by” but that would be a big fat lie. It has been a long year for all of us and it’s not over yet. In fact for us at 40 Knots the year is only ramping up. This sipster is pumped for harvest time!
This will be my first harvest so I am looking forward to really getting into it and learning as much as I can. By the time harvest is over I hope to have a few stories for volume 5 but first I need to get out there! I’ve been told it is hard yet rewarding work. Equal parts toil and celebration. So it’s pretty much just like the rest of life. And like life, you don’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you might just get what you need. Okay, I stole that from the Stones but the sentiment is true. You don’t always get what you want when it comes to harvest. Something all farmers know and the rest of us take for granted is that you can do everything right and still not get the harvest you want. Mother nature is a fickle mistress. Weather, bugs, gremlins, all manner of forces conspiring to decimate the fruits of our labor. Time itself is against us! In the face of such insurmountable odds, it would be easy to give up yet we perceiver. Our wine, our time, it’s all worth it. Because someday very soon we will have all the turkey and drink we want! We will give cheers and celebrate this...interesting year.
Whether its growing grapes, raising a family, or working in an office, we might not always get the reward we expect for the amount of time we put in. But if we are present and we really try, I think you will find, you might just get what you need.
Speaking of not always getting what I want but definitely getting what I need my wife Alana has agreed to help me with a wine tasting tonight!
Mike: “Hey, thanks for helping me with this tasting tonight, first off what are we drinking, I meant ‘tasting’?”
Alana: “This is our 2019 White Seas. Literally the fruits of our labor in one bottle.”
Mike: “Literally how?”
Alana: “Well, when you pour a glass of White Seas your sampling a blend of six of our very own varietals grown right here on the farm. You’re experiencing our biodynamic farming methods, our terroir, and our climate. White Seas is a beautiful representation of 40 Knots as a whole. It says a lot about us.”
Mike: “Soooo now we drink?”
Alana: “No first we look.” Alana tilts the glass at 45 degrees above the white table cloth. “What do you see?”
Mike: Mimics Alana. “What do you see first?”
Alana: “I see a pale gold horseshoe. It’s clear in the center and gold around the outside.”
Mike: “Oh I see it! Now we taste?”
Alana: “No, we smell.” Alana swirls the wine glass and inhales the bouquet with her dominate nose hole(she means nostril)
Mike: Mimics Alana “I smell fruit and rain!”
A: “That’s a good way to explain it, the fruit is coming from the varying characteristics of each varietal. The rain...minerality from our glacier tilled soil.”
M: “Seen it smelt it, now can we have a taste?”
A: “Yes.”
M: Takes a sip makes an obnoxious slurping sound.
A: “How does it feel on your palate?”
M: “Like little bubbles maybe?”
A: “That's the effervescence from our bottling process. (CO2?)
M: “Interesting, what else?”
A: “Try this, take a good sip swirl it around then tilt your head forward. Pay attention to your saliva glands. This is a good way to taste the acidity or lack thereof. My mom taught me that.”
M: Follows instructions, drools saliva on leg. “So is that a good thing?”
A: “Yes! We are fortunate to have a cooler climate which means higher acidity. Which makes it easier to balance the wines acid and sucrose levels.” (FACT CHECK) What else do you taste?
M: “I guess maybe some apple, like a tart granny smith apple. But at the same time kind of peachy?”
A: “Tropical fruit, tart lemon, spice. The spice comes from the pinot noir. Juices pressed off the skins. Add spice to the finish. Similar to Gewurtztraminer.”
M: “Gesundheit!”
A: “Very funny. It might seem like a lot but its really about each person’s own palate and enjoyment. There isn’t really any right or wrong answer, do you like it or don’t you?”
M: “I love it actually. I love you and thanks for trying to teach me a few things about White Seas!”
I thank you for reading this, we encourage you to pick up a bottle of White Seas and taste for yourselves. Maybe you agree maybe you have another opinion. Share it with us and my wife will be happy to argue...with anyone...anytime...anywhere.