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The message in the bottle…

A message has both content and means of transmission. Transmission is dynamic and evolving. They can be physically transported between parties via mail, on the feet of birds, or inside fortune cookies. Smoke signals, Morse Code, semaphore and now electronically, messages can fly across great distances in seconds. Most of these messages typically transmit a specific thought (allegedly) or piece of (hopefully) useful information. Other messages’ contents are more of a statement or rhetorical question sent out to the universe. These latter types of messages are also often transmitted in thoughtful or creative ways: poetry, music, art, and sometimes even wine.

If there is a message in the bottle, it could be as obvious as the winemaker saying ‘look at what I have made’ or as subtle as ‘look at what I see here.’ But it is impossible to take the ‘I’ out of the message because grapes do not simply become wine without human intervention. For me, I try to allow a message to remain in the bottle from the vine’s environment, be it one that speaks of a specific site or from a specific region, if not of an individual variety and the kind of growing conditions that year. But I also want it to give pleasure while delivering the message. Sometimes this is a fine line to walk. If done right, nobody notices the ‘I’ part.

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