Since our film editor friends moved to the Okanagan to become vineyard masters, I have dreamed of picking grapes for them. (My first job as a youngster, outside the family business, was picking strawberries. Gathering food from the earth seems to be something in my blood.) Plus, there seemed to be a bit more stress floating around, and my instincts plucked at my sleeve to get back to doctor nature.

 

My dream came true last weekend. A perfect sunny, dry weekend in the Okanagan draped itself out for us to dive under grape leaves and discover the bulbous clusters of merlot grapes.

I was in heaven, and Peter seemed pretty happy, too. Between the four of us, we picked over a 1000 lbs of grapes before the light faded to dusk. Ahhh… good healthy tangible work.

While I was picking I never thought of anything else. Nothing. Just me and the grapes. The best meditation ever!

But, that wasn’t the end.

Nope… We were taken on a journey that would usher us into the late night of wine making.

However, we did have the odd break for wine tasting,  cheese savouring, and other food making, bien sur!

The steps to wine making were new to me, so everything was an adventure. A focussed healthy physical experience.

Once all our grapes were in the building, we loaded them in the bins, passing them through a crusher. This is to help separate the grapes from their stocks. The merlots were  a bit stubborn so we had some grape handling to do as well! (no feet)

Once all squished into the bin we had to leave the grapes sit for awhile.

Wine consuming, I mean tasting, time!

Later in the evening, we had to decide whether to wait until morning to siphon off the juice for a rosé, or seize the moment before bed.

After testing the colour a few times, we concluded everyone had to get off the couch and head out for the “pressing”.

Which we did. And, it was the right decision.

The juice we siphoned off will sit for 6 months before being bottled next April.

After this enriching weekend, we will never look at a grape again in the same way.

The following days, once returned to the city were calmer. And, I was clearer and able to listen to a very important bit of advice that came to me in my solitude. The muse could finally confer with me without any interference. I reevaluated a situation and made a wise decision.

Thank you to our friends for the opportunity to meditate with the grapes. (And, make some wine!)

 

 

I remember Lucille Ball had a little bit different experience with her grape crushing time in Italy! Not so meditative!