Wine
Images about, with and around wine and making
Many people comment that the life of a vintner is pretty relaxed as there is nothing to do beside harvest…..I am working on a series of still lives to show the various working stages of the outside work (in the vineyard) that take place over the course of the year… In the late winter, the vines get cut, this is done all by hand, the 2 year old wood (shoots) are cut out and the new shoots for this year are selected while the rest is cut away, but with an eye out for what will grow this summer and become next years selected… It is a beautiful time in the vineyard, the sun is working its way up in the sky and is trying to send us its warmth and show us that there is still power there.
January and Febuary
still life from the vines
January and February is the time to cut the vines. It is a wonderful time of the year and the work is fun. This is a still life from the scissors, shoes and gloves used.
cutting the vines
Another still life with scissors (to cut the vines)
as I cut the vines I see the new green young plants sprouting from the soil…. after 10,000 vines it feels like a dance, you are then in the groove, the rhythm… cut cut cut…pause, cut, cut….. step right….cut, cut, cut, cut…..
It is cold and the winter was long this year (2010)…
but then again , there is time to capture a few “pretty” moments….
cold cold cold
March: cutting out the old wood
Another “collage” from the vineyard, inspired by the wind which was playing with a piece of paper, making it wave to me from the ground; the wind which was just playing it’s fingers across the wires, a quiet “clatter clatter ping ping” like boat masts in the late autum, as if nature was playing its harp.
May:
Vintner’s hands and vines“A still life with vintner’s hands” and the little vinesprouts which are broken away so that the strongest one grows with optimal light and air.
There is an amazing amount of hands on work involved in a bottle of wine….. the personal attention to each vine and how it could optimally grow. Each vine is it’s own little life and one has to make choices for each one… after 20.000 or so, it seems like it would become like a factory, but it really is each little vine for itself and a choice for each plant and it’s life over the summer and into the next year.
