My daughter, Melissa, wanted to play the violin from the
time she was a tiny girl. She began teaching her own violin students when she
was fourteen years old, and here we are ten years later with Melissa teaching
more students than ever. Her students range in age from as young as three years
old to adults who are taking on new musical challenges.
One of her adult students owns Shadow Run Winery and has
named a new wine after Melissa. When I asked the winemaker about it she said,
“I will share with you how Melissa (the wine) was named. First, white wines are much tougher to make
than reds. Red wines are typically more
expensive than whites based on time in barrel, but universally, wine makers
will tell you that a perfect white is really, really tough. The flavors are more delicate and mistakes
are more obvious.
I looked at your Melissa one day and realized that she
personifies a perfect white blend of Grenache Blanc (bright high notes),
Roussanne (a strong core or structure) and Viognier (floral notes). She has a core of strength, bright high notes,
and of course a sweet feminine side. All
together, the perfect white blend.
Because Roussanne can sometimes be overpowering, we are experimenting
with achieving "structure" with fermentation in new French oak
barrels. Anyway, I won't bore you with
the wine making details, but suffice to say that the person Melissa gives us an
ongoing goal for the wine, Melissa. The
labels for Melissa will also evolve over time although there will always be a
violin as the shadow under Shadow Run Vineyards.
As a mom, of course I know that producing bright, balanced
children (who become bright, capable adults) is even tougher than producing a
nice wine. I salute your success!”
This blog is dedicated to my beautiful Melissa who has a
birthday next week, the day after Mother’s Day. We will celebrate together with
a glass of wine named for her!
