Carpe Diem – Tan Renga Opie’s ‘sweet October’

At Carpe Diem today we’re talking about wine. Wine is something I’m quite familiar with, both growing the grapes, and drinking the finished product. I live, literally, in the middle of a vineyard. I’m surrounded by meticulous rows of red grapes. It’s not my vineyard. It belongs to a winemaker who owns, and leases, many hundreds of acres in the area. He is but one of many.

Growing wine grapes is all science, no romance. Only at this time of year, after harvest, is it quiet for a few months. The rest of the year is a constant barrage of tractors, fertilizers, pesticides, and many dozens of workers on various days, pruning and culling.

All that said, at all stages of growth the plants themselves are beautiful. In the summer they are heavy with fat, sweet grapes, and in the fall the leaves turn red and gold. If you can forget the fact that so much land is devoted to producing an alcoholic beverage you can settle in to the beauty of it.

If I could afford the land I would uproot the grapes, and return it to the apple trees. That’s what this area used to be: acres and acres of apple trees, and Christmas trees. Every year more and more acreage is given over to wine grapes.

And yes, I do drink it, and much of it is excellent. The winemakers know what they’re doing, but still.. I can’t help but lament the loss of the trees.

But this is no time for lamentations. It’s the start of the holiday season.. And so, on to the tan renga..