Fine Wine

This afternoon, my husband, his sister, and I had the chance to visit a vineyard. What an amazing place with many, many years of operational history. Out of all of the steps taken to produce the number one wine in the country, the step that amazed me the most was the very first one. In order to ensure that every single grape is absolutely perfect, the vitner hand picks only the perfect grapes from the vine. All of the grapes are used in what he termed “every day wine,” but the award winning wine is made only from these hand picked grapes. What love and care must go into that process! Imagine spending the hottest days of the entire year, the first days of August, outside in the blazing sun, painstakingly choosing only the very best grapes – not too heavy with juice, perfectly colored, and without blemish.

I wonder if there has ever been anything in my life that I have done with that amount of thought and care. Perhaps the slideshow I made for Rebecca’s graduation or the photo album I secretly made of my husband’s life story a few years ago, or going farther back, the cross-stitched poems I made for my mother and mother-in-law and presented to them the night before my wedding. There is no doubt that I did those things out of love and that they took hours, even months to complete, but I’m not sure that compares to standing in the hot sun all day and into the night to pick hundreds of only the most perfect fruit for someone else to enjoy. Yes, it’s his vineyard, his livelihood, but still, wouldn’t any bunch of grapes do?

Of course, the answer is no. And why? Because the vitner saw the production of the best wine as something so important, so magnificent, that he couldn’t bear to use anything but the most perfect grapes. He took such care and such pride in his work, his vineyard, and his wine that his enthusiasm radiated from him. I’d like to believe that it provided a new outlook on life for me, a new way to approach a task. I can’t help but to ask myself if any task done with that much love and care and attention could turn out to be anything other than a work of prize-winning perfection. Certainly there’s a lesson in there for us all.

Amy Schisler is an author of mystery and suspense novels. Her first book, A Place to Call Home is in its second printing and may be purchased in stores, online, and through ibooks. Her previously published children’s book, Crabbing With Granddad may be purchased in stores and on Amazon.

You may follow Amy at http://facebook.com/amyschislerauthor on Twitter @AmySchislerAuth and on her web site http://amyschislerauthor.com