Excerpt No. 0011

Questions Grow Better Than Answers

Every page that follows began the same way.

With a question.

Sometimes it came from someone standing in our tasting room holding a glass of wine.

Sometimes it came from one of my kids riding beside me in the truck.

Sometimes it came from another farmer.

Most often...

It came from me.

I've never believed curiosity was a sign that you don't know enough.

I think it's proof that you're still learning.

The older I get, the fewer absolute answers I seem to have.

What I have instead are better questions.

Why did that block wake up first?

Why did that vine struggle while the one beside it flourished?

Why did this vintage surprise us?

Why did nature choose today to teach that lesson?

Those questions are the reason this Almanac exists.

People sometimes think experience means finally having all the answers.

I don't believe that anymore.

Experience simply means you've asked enough questions to recognize the important ones.

The vineyard has a way of reminding me that certainty can be dangerous.

Curiosity keeps me humble.

It keeps me paying attention.

And every once in a while...

It rewards me with understanding.

The pages that follow aren't meant to prove how much I know.

They're my best attempt to answer the questions I've been fortunate enough to ask.

Some answers came quickly.

Others took years.

A few are still changing.

That's okay.

The vineyard isn't finished teaching me.

I'm not finished learning.

If you came here looking for the "right" way to farm, you may leave disappointed.

There are very few perfect answers in agriculture.

There are observations.

Patterns.

Lessons.

Mistakes.

Successes.

And every now and then, something that feels true enough to write down.

That's what you'll find here.

Every Entry in this Almanac begins with a question because that's how every worthwhile lesson in my life began.

Someone asked.

Someone listened.

Someone paid attention.

Then someone took the time to pass it along.

Now it's my turn.

So from this point forward, we'll trade philosophy for practicality.

We'll talk about vines.

Soils.

Weather.

Harvest.

Fermentation.

Corks.

Barrels.

History.

The Santa Ynez Valley.

The questions people have asked me for years.

One page at a time.

One answer at a time.

I hope you find the answer you came looking for.

But even more than that...

I hope you leave with a better question.

Because that's usually where the real learning begins.

Filed Away

Answers end conversations.

Good questions begin them.

Keith Saarloos
Farmer
Saarloos & Sons