Wine Stories
Symphony in 'BEE' - A Zen Moment in Winemaking
By John Bell, Winemaker
WILLIS HALL, a Washington State winery
Life seems to be zooming by at an ever-accelerating pace, and our days seem to be packed more and more full of "stuff." We're so busy trying to deal with all this … "life" … that it's a rare event, indeed, when we become aware of a higher order to all this. Such an event occurred in my life during a past crush. As many of you know, I went into winemaking in a BIG way in Vintage 2003 with the launch of my winery, Willis Hall. Many, many pounds of grapes went through my destemmer/crusher on their way to becoming, I hope, great wine. During crush, I spent many, many hours on my crush-pad, feeding grapes into the top of my destemmer/crusher and retrieving fermenters full of must from underneath the machine. I'm quite picky about what winds up in my fermenters, believing that the quality of the resulting wine is directly a function of the contents of the must. I spend countless hours each year picking MOG (Material Other than Grapes) out of the must, primarily out of the fermenters immediately following crush. My technique is to stand on a step-stool and plunge my hands (and arms) into the crushed mass in the fermenter, feeling for and removing MOG. In my case, this takes a lot of time, since I'm very picky about MOG removal. Of course, I crush in the daylight hours so that I can see what I'm doing. I found out these also are the hours when yellow-jackets are out hunting for food, the most tantalizing of which seems to be sugar. During most of my Vintage 2003 crushing and must-culling, I was visited by clouds of the little buggers (pun intended) which, at first, frightened me. After all, who relishes the thought of hundreds of bee stings? After countless swats and waves, I found that the yellow-jackets were interested only in the sugar in the must, not in stinging me. I soon found that, if I didn't disturb them, they generally left me alone, too. On one particularly warm afternoon during my crushing activities, I found myself there, standing on my crush-pad, up to my armpits in must, yellow-jackets all around, and all of a sudden it was as if I were transported to a remote place. Yes, I was still standing on my crush-pad, but I became the remote observer of this surreal scene. The more I listened to the yellow-jackets, the more their incessant buzzing became a symphony. I felt each of their little songs harmonizing with the others in a grand and glorious whole. I just stood there for the longest time, listening to the sounds and feeling the wonder of the experience. It was as if Nature was revealing a hidden piece of beauty just to me. Thank goodness I was aware enough to recognize the gift. It's a memory that will live with me forever. And I'm glad I have the opportunity to share it with you, albeit vicariously. I wonder how many other beautiful experiences have passed me by because I was too "busy" to recognize them. … food for thought.
John Bell
Winemaker extraordinaire, learned his craft while ensconced in Boeing Jet Propulsion Engine Management. His love for wine took him to amateur wine- making with the renown Boeing Wine Club which eventually rocketed him to his 'retirement' into commercial wine making with his new label, Willis Hall Wines. John has never worked so hard! www.willishall.com
