Seasons Among the Vines
Paula Moulton
Reviewed by Barb Radmore
"Wine is bottled poetry."
Robert Louis Stevenson
Seasons Among the Vines, subtitled Life Lessons from the California
Wine Country, is a wonderful book for any lovers of wine, products of
our earth or protecting our earth.
This memoir follows the story of Paula Moulton's move from the busy,
fast lane life to the owner of a working vineyard in the Sonoma wine
country of California. It follows her and her family as they move and
adapt to their new lives. It is a dream come true for Paula and an easy
adjustment for her children. Her husband continues his busy medical
career and leaves the farming end to his wife. Finding the task even
more than she expected, she joins the local college program for
viticulture and so her adventure begins. Through lesson, trial and
error, and experience she becomes a true farmer and vintner. Her
devotion to the process, her desire to farm in the way best for the
earth and her enthusiasm for the life of a California vineyard owner is
evident in every well chosen word.
The book covers both the narrative side of her story and the practical.
She includes information on a wide variety of topics from "Farming
Styles" with composting tips to how to work with grape vines to what
you need to make wine. It is not a textbook, does not read like a
textbook, but it does cover quite a bit of information that will be of
interest to anyone considering going into the field or just enjoys the
background information on a favorite hobby (wine). It is fascinating to
read the amount of work and knowledge that goes into growing the grapes
for the wines we consume.
It is written with a calm, loving passion that shines through with
every word. Pour yourself a fine glass of your favorite wine (or
Ravenswood in hope that is contains some of Ms Mouton's grapes), find a
comfy chair and enjoy this book of heart and soul. It is a celebration
of grape growing, wine making and living life to its fullest.