Transitions

As the title suggests, Farmville is in the midst of transition. Transition in this context means the classical sense, moving from one phase to another. These days, the word transition is thrown out there each and every time change takes place, but my opinion is this is not entirely accurate. Change just means it's different than it was, say five minutes ago. Transition means it changed, but the change is part of moving forward toward a place that signifies progress. In Farmville, transition includes many things: the end of summer, the beginning of a new school year, a new vintage for those that measure a year in terms of how the wine turned out.

I realize the week after Labor Day is not officially the end of summer, but there are many who feel this is the most prominent weekend to define that dividing line. I happen to be one of those. It has become a last hurrah for summer activities and in most years, the long hot days we identify summer with are gone after this point in time. This year was a bit out of the ordinary because the Labor Day weekend gave us some of the hottest days this season and a few weeks ago, you could swear it was fall already. But this year has hardly been ordinary for many reasons.

The beginning of a new school year represents a big transition for just about everyone. For the kids, starting a brand new grade level, and sometimes a brand new school, transition can seem like an understatement. It's definitely progress, but the perceived change is very dramatic. The same can be said for the many parents that have kids going through this. I'm sure there are many out there who can easily identify with both of these vantage points. One group that probably contributes more toward making this transition happen smoothly are teachers. If you think about it, teachers help kids and parents navigate this transition seamlessly, and in a lot of cases, they have their own kids to shepherd through this journey as well. I had the good fortune to spend the summer with a teacher that exemplifies this and the children she will teach this year are very lucky. They will learn much.

The final transition topic of this post is vintage. In wine terms, it simply means the year the grapes were harvested. Since every year has its own nuances as far as weather, a vintage can indicate quite a bit about what one might expect from the wine made that year. Overly hot years can mean high sugar levels and subsequently, high alcohol levels. Very cool years yield wine with lower alcohol and higher acidity. Because consistency is considered one of the most important attributes in mass marketing and most wine is mass marketed, various techniques are used to "smooth" the impact that Mother Nature has on each vintage. Since this year has been very cool, most vineyards are doing all kinds of things to try and make the grapes ripen the same as they do every year. They are under-irrigating, pulling leaves, repositioning the fruit, and many other things to get the sun to pay attention to the beloved grapes. Since Farmville has a wine making unit, we follow this madness. Mostly for the entertainment value though. Since our wine making is strictly for our own consumption, we need only satisfy our own taste and truth be told, inconsistency is what makes it all interesting. Because each year is so different and that difference is captured in the character of the wine made that year, my vote is to accept it and appreciate the diversity it provides. This will insure your palate will never get bored and your cooking style will always be versatile enough to make good use of this. Let's hold our glasses up and toast everyone that runs as fast as they can from consistency and celebrate individuality. Cheers.

After all of that soap box rhetoric, here is your reward. The following link is to the Photobucket page where we will post the 2010 wine making pictures. I can almost guarantee if you follow the blog and use the pictures as visual aids, by 2011, you too can make your own wine.

http://s1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc418/kevin756/2010%20Pinot%20Noir%20Winemaking/