BOWBlog Page
Here at BOW, we sometimes like to write about what we're up to. This Blog page is our chance to report from the front line of wine making and we hope you like our silly little thoughts!
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Posted on: 2nd October, 2009
I love the briskness of this cooler Fall weather and I enjoy greatly my complete immersion in the airs of this season. My skin comes alive as a primary sense, well above taste and hearing and almost equal to sight. We sleep with the windows open and the mornings are bracing. We lie quietly and the dogs linger in the bed because they are not overheated as they find comfort in our arms. Barley's nose is inches from mine, the puppy bounds in and out but remains longer each time till collapsing directly on top of me, watching Barley and taking cues; his eyes moving but nothing else. I am in heaven looking out the windows where yes, the leaves are just beginning to turn. Looking across the vale, hints of yellow are only now indiscreetly peering through the green. They have so far to go yet to reveal fully their beauty. We live in a really beautiful place.
Halloween and the season holidays are a breath away. The changing season guides the immediacy of this progression. Summer greens give way to Fall orange-browns, leading soon to winter fest and the whiteness of the snows beyond. But now, right now, the countryside gently leads our thoughts toward the immediate. Already we are surrounded by the pumpkins, corn stalks, homemade jams, hay rides, local apples, and delightfully squealing children -theirs' the most joyous of sounds. As I drive the countryside, I see more and more corn fields harvested. Indeed the harvest is here in the land and in our hearts and in particular in our vineyards. What I am learning is the vineyards belong to all of us. They are integral to our identity. They have been with us since the beginning of our humanity and indeed they help to define us as humans. The vineyards, carefully nurtured and cared for, give to us all the gift of the wine and of delight. This is why parents bring their children to the wineries and the vineyards. They are sharing their delight with them. They are sharing history and art and magic and science. They are experiencing the human moment of creating nectar from yeast and juice. It is so much fun for us to be a part of it all! We have a really cool job.
Thursday we harvested the last of our vineyards as we brought in the Vidal Blanc. Friends and family gathered at seven in the morn on a cool and perfect day to bring in the grapes. Working quietly through the vineyards in twos and threes is a communal activity. We are close and joined by the labor of the harvest yet separate and free to follow our own thoughts. There are surprises and discoveries in the vineyard when you are this close and intimate. Amazing details are at your fingertips. Bees, bugs, plants, the grape leaves; all are specific to the moment and immediate to our efforts. We see these living details clearly as we focus upon the task. We see. The web of nature is manifest. We are part of the web. We breathe calmly. We are calm. We feel the earth beneath us. We feel. We hold the grapes in our hands. We hold. We share comity with one another. We share. The vineyard gives over its fruit to us. The summer is spent once the fruit is taken and the leaves immediately begin to turn and to drop. Their best is now ours and they shall lie in sleep until the spring. This is how nature and the season speaks to us. This is the joy of being a farmer. We live fully in the moment.
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- One Journey at a Time. My brother Ben and his wife Kathy travelled around the country this summer with their two kids, Genevieve and Sebastian. Kathy wrote a storyu of the trip and she has posted her photos and story of their visit to us. Enjoy!
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- A lovely online article about BOW in Tasting and Touring Magazine.
- A visitor's blog and photos about BOW from late May, 2009
- A story about BOW's grand opening from the May 8, 2008 Fauquier Times Democrat.
- Editorial in the Fauquier Times Democrat regarding Green Business as Good Business. The editorialist, Joe Gumino, a good friend of BOW, died unexpectedly soon after this editorial was published and we miss him dearly.
- Check out a great article on Barrel Oak Winery's successes in the first year. Thank you Bill Walsh at the Fauquier Times Democrat!
- Read about our green building in the Piedmont Virginian.
- Read about BOW in the Wall Street Journal Online!
- The Unemployed Mom. See what a mom thinks about BOW as the child friendly winery of Virginia!
- BOWHaus Joy: The other other Red wine! Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Virginia is for Lovers with a bottle of our very special limited release. Have you seen it? Our beloved Bogart is racing up the label!
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