Wine Making Is Enjoyable
And Educational

Wine making is an excellent retirement hobby that can expand your knowledge of the industry but connect you with new friends who share your love for wine.  For anyone who has marveled and appreciated just how good a glass of wine can be, the natural step is to investigate how this wonderful liquid is made.  A simple investigation into the wine making process can start you on a life-long journey where there is always something new to learn.

Wine making goes back thousands of years and I read somewhere that there’s over two hundred references to wine in the Bible and it has been called the drink of the gods back to the time of ancient Greece.  Almost anyone can find a wine that they like but not everyone develops a love for this “magic in a glass”.  Wine making  is a natural attempt to recreate that lovely experience of nurturing the juice of the grape into a liquid that delights the drinker and complements a meal in a perfect way.

Almost anyone who has visited a winery has been on a tour that describes the wine making process and you start to realize that this is an industry that goes the complete cycle from the planting of the vines and harvesting, to the fermentation and bottling and then culminates in the marketing and consumption by one of the most critical audiences in any industry.  Wine making on a large scale is a demanding business, yet it attracts celebrities who have their own wine label like Francis Ford Coppola, Greg Norman, Johnny Depp and Mike Ditka to name just a few of the dozens of famous winery owners.  If you’ve toured the wineries in California as we have, you see that some of them are quite small and it truly is a family business.  Some of them, no doubt, started out with just an urge to try it and learn more about the wine making process firsthand.

But you don’t have to make wine to appreciate it and you don’t have to be an expert or a wine critic to become knowledgeable and navigate your way through any wine store or restaurant list.  It truly is a fascinating world that is waiting to be explored.  While you can spend a lot of money on wine making supplies, you can find places that own the equipment and will rent it out for your use and even age and store the wine you make.  Just going through the grape to glass cycle once will give you an appreciation for how complex this industry can be and give you an appreciation for why some bottles cost more than a mortgage payment.

Wine Making Will Give You A New Appreciation For This Amazing Industry

Wine is a subject for the ages, and it has caught the attention of some of the world’s greatest thinkers and most accomplished artists.  You can study wine at almost any level and become quite knowledgeable about the grapes, soil and the wine making process.  You can just focus on just drinking it and enjoying it as well but also take the time to learn about what can make a glass of wine such a delightful experience.  Having a tasting party with friend is a wonderful way to spend time together eating good food and drinking good wine.  Join a club that will offer discounts on your purchases, customize their selections to suit your taste and provide useful information about the wine that you're experiencing.  Adding a little knowledge to your enjoyment of wine makes the exploration of this industry and hobby more interesting with each new wine you pour. 

We have been very fortunate to be able to travel during our retirement years and visiting some vineyards along the way has been a wonderful way to spend a day.  California is absolutely magnificent for wine lovers, and the Napa Valley is where I realized how much fun it is to tour a vineyard and listen to the experts how to pair their wines with certain foods. Almost every part of this beautiful state has a wonderful vineyard to experience.  While we know many of the large companies that have taken over the wine industry, it is interesting to visit a smaller vineyard and get to see the tremendous amount of labor, effort and expertise that goes into the wine making process.

Travel north through Oregon and the state of Washington, and you'll see more examples of the characteristics of each area influence the wines that are produced and how certain grapes flourish and create some outstanding bottles of pure magic.  Columbia Valley has some excellent wine makers, and their red wines are among my favorites.

Our trip through southern France made me realize why French wines hold a special place among those who are addicted to the grape.  One trip through the rocky vineyards of Chateauneuf de Pape where the vines need to go down deep to get water, will make you realize how different the wines of each of the regions of the world can be.  This was part of the Papacy when the seat of the church moved to Avignon and it's not only a great place to visit, it has some remarkable wines.

It seems that there is always a local pride for the wines that are produced in the same way that a tour guide will boast about the olive oil.  We have been to Spain, France, Greece and Italy and each country will say that their olive oil is the best.  The same goes for their wine.  Having a glass of wine with dinner is my favorite way to end a day.  Good food, good wine and good conversation with good friends is what life is all about.  It’s one more way to Enjoy Retired Life.

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