The Winemaking Tradition

Just this past week I had the pleasure of assisting a family consisting of a father, his son, and his son’s 4 year-old boy.  I wanted to share this experience because I believe it epitomizes what winemaking means to many people.  The older of the three mentioned as he awaited to receive his load of grapes that he and his father-in-law had together made the wine that was shared at his wedding many years earlier.  For the little boy, it was an awesome site to see case upon case of grapes – perhaps more than he had ever seen - and to be able to taste the grapes that his father and grandfather would use to make this year’s wine.

Perhaps it was the experience with his father-in-law that started this gentleman in his interest in winemaking? Perhaps it would be this year’s exposure to winemaking that would be the little boy’s calling to winemaking as he grew older? And for the little boy’s father,  I will assume it was his father who passed along the wine-making tradition, as is the case with many families of European decent.

I did not get a chance to ask the gentleman exactly how he got started in wine-making, but in seeing that his experience had spread to his son and that even is grandson was being included, I could tell that for this family the wine-making tradition had taken root.

For me, I missed out on what would have been a wonderful experience with my grandfather, as he passed away before I had the opportunity to share the experience with him.  Instead, the tradition was woven into stories of love for winemaking and my own desire to bridge the gap and provide for my son what I had myself missed.

Whether the first in a family to make wine or one in a family with a rich history of winemaking, the tradition grows and develops each year much like the grape vine.  Winemaking is a common thread of common purpose for those of diverse ethnic backgrounds.  The tradition is used as a basis for connecting with family and friends whether as participants in the annual process or in the form of conversation that occurs over a glass of last year’s vintage.

As we become increasingly separated from our ancestry and more and more homogenized, I suspect that the calling to winemaking is much more primal and that it is one of the few remaining things that tie us to our ancestors.  Even for those of us who are just now embarking in the tradition of winemaking, I have to believe that these people understand, on some level, what winemaking offers beyond a glass of handcrafted wine.

Here’s to you finding your tradition in winemaking… Cheers!

- Nick Coppola
Juicegrape.com