We have honeybees, fruit trees, grape and berry vines; and fragrant herbs that synergistically work together. Hand-in-hand they make for a nice cycle of life. In the spring the honeybees pollinate the fruit blossoms. Then into summer and fall the many herb blooms feed the honeybees when the nectar is more scarce. We're returned with bushels and bushels of fruit, that then can become wine.
Like so many things, it all goes back to necessity and the mother of invention. We started making our wines from fruit and honey, because that's what we had. Then we started combining wine grapes and honey, because the grapes meant a pleasant family day trip into the Columbia River Gorge.
Honey makes us a little different, makes our wines a little different. Honey adds to the body of the wine. Honey acts as a natural preservative. Honey marries up with just about any fruit in such a beautiful way. Honey makes the wines a little friendlier, more approachable. Honey can smooth out the edges, or can add new dimension.
Honey is fun, it has gotten so interesting. In the same way that the grapes give their own separate flavor profiles, different varieties of honey do the same. For instance, Clover Honey is very neutral, so only the fruit really comes through. Raspberry Honey adds a touch of elegance, and Wild Flower Honey is more complex and mysterious. It's funny as I taste the wines, the fruit brings about images of fruit and flowers, but the honey component brings about images of people and personality types I know (from prim and proper to rough and tumble).
This is a poem I wrote years ago to express my love for my surroundings.
"Oregon Seasons"
Spring rains come and flowers abound
Summer the busy bee fills the tiny honeycomb
Berries on vine, fruit on bud. All grow to succulent juiciness
Autumn leaves fall. Seasons plentiful harvest brings joy
Winter chills to the bone as the East Wind blows
--But alas we've not forgotten to preserve the joy
Fruit and honey sings across our lips and over our tongue
Whispering "Spring is soon to come"
Spring rains come and flowers abound
Summer the busy bee fills the tiny honeycomb
Berries on vine, fruit on bud. All grow to succulent juiciness
Autumn leaves fall. Seasons plentiful harvest brings joy
Winter chills to the bone as the East Wind blows
--But alas we've not forgotten to preserve the joy
Fruit and honey sings across our lips and over our tongue
Whispering "Spring is soon to come"
