Saint Nicholas Day

Posted 12/07/2006 at 02:18 PM by Dirk

Today is Saint Nicholas Day but I won't get this posted until tomorrow...so you missed it!  We have a thing about St. Nick's day. This day captures a little wine whimsy. (That is a characteristic that can be in short supply in the wine world. Get Serious!)  Ask the average person, "What is the date of St. Nicholas Day?" and he will likely stare blankly before quietly asking if it is December 25th.  (Nope...December 6th, it could win a trivia game.) Saint Nicholas Day, December 6th is full of traditions. The most famous is that children leave out their shoes for St. Nick. If they have been good...treats will greet them in the morning. (Chocolate wrapped coins in our house.) However, if they have been bad...coal!  He was an eastern European patron saint of children – someone whose story remains genuinely inspirational throughout the ages.

When I was working in Germany I heard about 'St. Nicholas Wein' (note the German spelling that spell-check wants to change). It was special and ever so rare because the grapes must be picked on December 6th to be called St. Nicholas Wine. Usually by that date harvest is over, any grapes left on the vine have been ravaged by winter storms, or eaten by flocks of birds as they migrate south. What are the chances of harvesting in December?  It seemed like a neat idea to make a little someday.

Someday came...unexpectedly, in 1999.  The Dolce vineyard had been picked numerous times, but there were still grapes out. The week before, we decided to let the grapes hang to see if we could pick on December 6th. While there had been storms, that day was nice. The more years pass, the more it seems as if that day was glorious even! We slowly picked clusters, parts of clusters and individual grapes that were good enough. Greg, the Dolce winemaker, gave me a factoid that could terrify any vineyard accountant. Many days each Dolce harvester only picks 10 pounds per hour! At the end of the day, we had four barrels of St. Nicholas grape juice to show for all of our efforts!  We grinned at each other like drunken fools. These grapes were an unlikely gift! Even if the wine didn't taste great, we had done something uncommon, fun, and different.

We fermented, aged, and bottled a wine worthy of its heritage. It is rare and wonderful... and outrageously expensive (all 1000 bottles of it). While we are proud of it, and it slowly sells. The magic of St. Nicholas Wine is captured in the spirit behind it and the unlikely victory of success against such huge odds put forth by Mother Nature.  Each time we sell a bottle, we make a $100 donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation in San Francisco. St. Nicholas was always closest to kids.  Whether it is when we are lucky enough to help their cause, or when December 6th rolls around, each time we remember where we were in 1999.  What we were doing, that one special wine, and how lucky we were when whimsy and imagination met opportunity.

I don't know when, if ever, we will get another St. Nicholas wine but our 1999 has been quite a gift.  Since it will age longer than most any red wine, there isn't a rush to drink it up or make more. We did have a bottle to celebrate the end of harvest 2006.  I still think it is THAT good, but I am biased and not to be trusted.

In case you were wondering, St. Nicholas did visit our house. I got four chocolate coins, less than anyone else in the house. I can't remember if that is an improvement over last year, or if I am headed towards getting a personal supply of coal.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

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