It is now late September and I started writing this piece as I headed out to Australia for vintage 2020. At that point in time, the devastation caused by the fires was uppermost in my mind and I could not have known what was about to happen. My thoughts then seem even more pertinent now and so I’ve edited it and decided to publish now.
Do not ask your children
William Martin, The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.”
Last week I sat down with a group of people, all of whom had either attempted suicide or had been bereaved by suicide. In a life filled with “important” meetings about sales targets, production plans and grape prices, this was genuinely important – literally, life or death.
What we ended up talking about most was not suicide, or any of the sad mechanics, but hope. When all but that last flicker of purpose or enjoyment has departed, we determined that the most important message we needed to carry with us, and convey to others is that there is always hope.
Over the last few months, many in Australia must have teetered very close to the precipice where all hope had been extinguished.
I talked to a grape grower last week who told me that, having finished fighting fires in NSW, he was now helping farmers, unable to do the job themselves, euthanize their badly burned livestock. As gruesome a spectre as this may be, the very fact that someone was willing to help with this task is testament to our faith and hope in others.
The devastation inflicted upon many vineyards and grape growers’ businesses over the last 2 months will have lasting consequences for the financial and mental wellbeing of too many people.
But, just as it appears that life cannot be any crueller, the warmth and generosity of the wine community constitutes a beacon of hope that we can follow in difficult times ahead.
Wine, as an alcoholic drink, is justifiably, criticised for the damage it can do to health and relationships. The risks of excessive drinking are undeniable. However, both in its ability to bind communities, be they physical or digital, wine is unique amongst alcoholic beverages. No other alcoholic drink is so inextricably linked to a place, quite often a very specific place. It is both a beauty and a weakness of wine that what nature bestows upon that particular place, will have such a profound impact on the product and those that make it. As the outpouring of support in Australia has demonstrated, those in the wider community are quick to recognise when those so dedicated to a place, need our help.
And in this groundswell of kindness, could we take another message? Is it that those who are rooted to the soil, inextricably linked to a place and dedicated to nurturing the fruits of one place are actually the most content, the happiest amongst us? Those that can learn to value the simple pleasures are the most fulfilled?
I am guilty of often longing to be somewhere else. At home, as my wife will attest, my mind is often wandering to a distant vineyard. No sooner off one plane but contemplating another journey. To an extent, disconnected from everywhere rather than firmly grounded. Like many, I’m in awe of those who understand the value of concentrating and committing to one thing, one place.
And hope? Well, even if in the gravest of crises, we can find a positive message, extract a learning that will aid our future wellbeing then there is hope.
Our Fathers 