Feast of St. Amand (d. 679). Monk. Hermit. Abbot. His association with vintners originates from his preaching and teaching in the beer and wine regions of France, Flanders and Germany.
Birth of James Busby. Born in Scotland, Busby was a viticulturist, writer and public servant, known as the “Father of the Australian Wine Industry.” Took first collection of vine stock from Spain and France in the 1830s to Australia. Australian Chardonnay and Shiraz trace their origins to his vine imports.
Another of Aldo’s drawings of the eternal feminine. Here she gathers up the year’s vintage in such a way that the grapes conceal her bosom. You could argue that she gazes down on them as a mother would on two infants, or she may have dozed off. As to that bird showing off its profile in the corner, Aldo says it’s a crow, not a pigeon, and functions as a memento mori. He thought a skull would be depressing.
Aldo did this little illustration in celebration of the EU’s decision not to allow—and so cheapen—the definition of rosé to include blends of white and red grapes. Admittedly, this is a drawing of a rather demurely happy garden-variety rose, which is not the same thing as rosé. But Aldo says he’s tired of drawing bottles, and besides this is a fairly accurate depiction of his emotional state when sharing a good rosé. And I’m not sure I disagree. It seems to be beckoning others to join it.
I asked Aldo to provide one of his sketches on the theme in the title. I think this is closer to Teletubbies than biodynamism, but Aldo says it is a tribute to the sun and nature in the new season, and what more could you ask for? The moon-like head in the lower right, he says, represents winter, now dormant. Aldo, by the way, loves the Teletubbies.
Some people like to draw their own holiday cards—Aldo sketches seasonal labels for wines that exist only in his mind. The reindeer looks as if it were developing a headache from the bulk of its antler vines.
