Natural Women: Day Two — No Bernie, a little Phish, a lot of Petnat
This is what I woke up to this morning.
And it was disorienting as fuck. We’re staying at my cousin’s place in Killington, and I’m sleeping in her daughter Lilah’s room, and Lilah loves horses. I’ve never been on a horse but that’s beside the point. Waking up is often a startling experience when we’re in our own beds but during that split second when you open your eyes and forget where you are…come on, we’ve all been there. We were going to get up early and hike the mountain, but it was raining so we slept in and got a late start. Very exciting.
The first stop was to meet Ethan Joseph, the head winemaker at Shelburne Vineyard. He started a sub-label, Iapetus, that is, to use their words, using “minimal intervention.” I say this because we discussed the idea of minimum intervention and how even if a winemaker chooses not to inoculate, add or subtract anything to the wine, the workload is still the same. We tasted out of barrel and bottle including a Vidal Petnat made from organically grown grapes from Rhode Island, and Julian had his first foray into orange wine with a barrel sample of the 2018 Teutonic, made from La Crescent. Let me give Ethan a plug here…it’s scrumptious. Look out for it when it’s released.
On the drive from Shelburne to Bethel, I felt like we should have a Bernie bumper sticker and listen to Phish. When you’re in Rome. The bumper sticker wasn’t happening because it wasn’t, but I succumbed to Spotify’s top four Phish songs before I needed to pay attention to the GPS so I wouldn’t get lost like the last time I visited La Garagista. Truth, ten minutes is about my limit for Phish.
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Deidre Heekin and Caleb Barber live in a kind of paradise. What they’ve accomplished at La Garagista can make anyone, even me, want to live on a farm.
Deidre and I sat down for an interview on the porch at around 5, after the cameras were set up, mics checked and wine poured. We talked for almost two hours straight. Being that we’re the same age…literally born 17 days apart as we discovered this evening, and have similar sensibilities when it comes to wine, we can easily get side tracked and go down rabbit holes but the conversation seemed to flow very well. I’ll listen to it tomorrow while driving.
I’ve said this before but days like today, spending time with people who are not only so passionate about their work but also see it as part of making a better world, gives this film a greater sense of purpose. Sitting outside, listening to the birds, drinking a petnat made from Frontenac Gris, and discussing wine from so many angles…farming, environmental, social and economic…is the kind of shit I live for…ok, maybe not the birds but at the moment they provided an appropriate soundtrack.
It really is very peaceful at the Elk House, the name of my cousin’s Vermont ski house. Cami and I stayed here a couple of years ago on our way back from a wedding in Barre. When I was younger I came here to ski a few times but as an adult have only been during the off season, when it is really quiet. Vermont is a beautiful place. This is my third trip in under two years and I get the appeal for those who enjoy the cold weather, Bernie and Phish.
We’re heading back there in the morning to shoot at the winery and then check out La Garagista’s vineyards in the Champlain Valley in the afternoon so I should go to sleep. For the record, I like and respect the hell out of Bernie.
