A friend shared with me, after hip hop class this evening, the challenges that she was going through at the moment. One of those times when everything goes wrong and things are just tough.
Another friend and I were talking on the drive home and she says, "When things go wrong, that's when we build character."
As much as this applies in our lives, I realize that the same principal is what makes one of my favorite wines, Shafer's Hillside Select so special!
Hillside grapes have many conditions that cause for struggling. Vines grown on the hillside are starved of nutrients due to natural runoff, and are thus less fertile. In addition, erosion leaves only a thin and shallow layer of soil. In the case of Stag's Leap where Shafer's Hillside Select is grown, the ground is of rock with shallow volcanic soil. This results in less than half the fruit per acre grown on these vines as compared to the average Napa vine. Grape clusters are tiny.....
...giving way to each grape being full of colour and bursting with concentrated flavours! As I tasted the 1994, 1997, and 2001 Hillside's, I'm mesmerized by the uniqueness of each wine, well-balanced complexity, and elegantly long lingering flavours.
Tough times in our lives may just be that secret ingredient that makes us grow into extraordinary individuals.
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