Zen Breath 3-2-1

Note: You are receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly 3-2-1 newsletter or you subscribed to the Koi Zen Cellars newsletter. Every Friday, I share 3 wine terms, 2 quotes from me, and 1 question for you to ponder. Occasionally, I also send out long-form articles on habits and self-improvement.

" Those to proclaim to know a lot, don't"
~ The Zen Winemaker ~



3 terms, 2 quotes, 1 question

October 29, 2021


Happy Friday! Time to wrap up this week and get ready for the next! Take a deep breath and kick off the weekend on a positive note. Let's consider where we have been, improve it, and move forward next week. Packing the most content into the least words and trying to change the world, one glass at a time.

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3 - Wine Terms - Random Historical Facts

The oldest know winery is located in Armenia. This winery is aged to 4100 BCE and has preserved evidence of wine jars, press, fermentation vats, and cups.So wine has been cultivated for a long time. Mother nature has been fermenting fruits for eons.

Here are some fun facts about wine:
  1. The age of drinking wine was originally determined ages ago by the Greek Philosopher Plato. He wrote that the minimum age to consume the wine should be 18. After 18 years of age a person should drink moderately up to the age of 31. And later drink as much as you can to fight the crabbiness of the old age.
  2. The women in the early times of the ancient Rome were forbidden to consume wine. And if they were caught consuming wine the penalty was death. The last incident recorded of this was about 194 BCE. Moreover, the husbands were granted the right to kill their wives if their wife is found consuming the wine. The Roman emperor decided to use a little bit of lead and mix it into the wine as the presence of lead in the wine gave a nice sweet taste. It also enhanced the texture of the wine and hence the people of Rome thought it as a great idea to use lead in wine.

    While the Romans achieved great things, they also did a lot of silly things.

  3. The world’s most famous Champagnes Dom Perignon was named after Dom Pierre Perignon (1638-1715), a monk. He experimented various new methods and procedures of making wine and was the advocate of organic winemaking, successful in improving the procedure of winemaking and winery. His methods and procedures are still in use.

    The Benedictines and the Cistercians monks innovated and preserved the art of making wine during the Middle Ages. This included the study of soils to understand the reason of various different tastes of wine prepared from different grapes. And still, this practice is followed by various modern winemakers in their vineyards to produce the best wine for us.

2 - Quotes from Me:


1. "Nothing is foolproof, fools are so ingenious." ~ The Zen Winemaker

2. "If it can't happen, it probably will sometime." ~ The Zen Winemaker

1 - Question to ponder:

Are you REALLY ready?


Two weeks ago, I wrote about blowing a trailer tire while picking up the Tempranillo. The saga continues. You can read the first post here , to give you a better context.

Last Sunday, I had just picked up our last batch of Merlot grapes concluding our 2021 harvest. The fruit comes from a vineyard just outside of Los Alamos and the fruit is just beautiful. It was around noon on Sunday and I was driving south on 101 about 20 miles north of Santa Barbara enjoying the great vista of the ocean. Suddenly there was a large bang, and I knew what that meant - I had blown ANOTHER tire.

The road had a slight right hand curve and had dipped down a bit, vehicles were coming in blind and fast. I tried to get as much off the road as possible, the shoulder was narrow and up against a cliff. About a foot of the trailer was still crossing the solid white line in an active lane.

I grabbed my phone to tell Lisa, " Would you believe what just happened? " but here was no cell coverage.

The previous spare had blown which was on the passenger side. Having recent experience, it only took me about 10 minutes to change the flat. I made sure I was not under the trailer when cars were passing, I just didn't want the trailer to get clipped and take my head off.

I got back on the road and then for the next 3 hours, every bump and lump I hit, I cringed hoping not to blow yet another tire. I hit LA and traffic slowed giving me lots of time to think about the previous post and if I was actually prepared.

Fortunately both flats were on the passenger side, but what if it was on the driver side? I was still on an active highway with cars flying by at over 70 miles per hour. Because of the curve, they only had a few seconds react and that proposition would be like playing Russian Roulette with my life.

I had flares and reflective triangles, but guess where they were? In the garage and not in the truck. Without cell phone coverage I couldn't even
call CHP to provide safe passage.

So now the question becomes, how prepared do you really have to be?
Definitely I should have had the flares and triangles. But how about 2 spares, or a satellite phone? What about tank treads instead of tires? Bullet proof tires? A continual police escort? Where do you draw the line?

The blown tire is now getting repaired and will soon be back on the trailer and our 2021 season is coming to a close, but I continue to wonder what I need to do for 2022.

So, are you prepared enough?

Now is a good time to check your grab and go bags and make sure you didn't take some critical piece out long ago, like my flares and triangles.
I saw this about a month ago driving about a mile from the winery. Now he is prepared.

~~ Notice ~~

Always be prepared for the unexpected

~~~


Cheers,

Darius Miller - The Zen Winemaker

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Author of a #1 best seller:
'The Zen Winemaker - Follow Your Dreams & Overcome Your Fears'

Creator of:
'The Zen Wine Tasting Journal - Life is too short to drink bad wine, or to wear ugly underwear.'

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