Jo Diaz named me that a few months ago. It is so appropriate and so unconventional, dare I say ‘that’s me.?’
What is a wine shaman, you may ask. My definition – its someone who looks into wine for hidden messages and mysterious molecular congregations.
For some unknown reason, on the practical level, I have been photographing wine through the microscope for decades. Once dunked into the vineyard and the vat while artist-in-residence at Sterling Vineyards in the ’80s, I apprenticed to uncovering wisdom in wine. Hooked on revealing the beauty in wine and I explore meaning in the beauty. Or is revealing beauty enough?
I am always asked :
- Do better wines show prettier pictures?Are more expensive wines more interesting or complex?
- Do all chardonnays show the same thing?
- What about flaws in wine?
There may be a hidden language or code of shapes within wine. At least, I have uncovered what I call a wine alphabet of wine glyphs. So at this site you will have the opportunity to learn about the beautiful expressions of wine. If so inclined, I can uncover the secrets in your favorite wines.
To those who look only for science or numbers in wine, this is not for you. This is another expression, if you will, of bio-dynamics or Rudolf Steiner’s ideas who said there were elementals and devas in the garden/nature. Some of these images may have captured spirits or angels in the vineyard. Certainly an angel appears in the image below, or is it dragonflies?
Stories revealed by wine
- Wine grows up – visually as well as by taste
- Style – too tannic or very soft sometimes can be seen too
- The art work of the winemaker.
This is Heidi Barrett’s art within her La Sirena Moscato Azul… amazing. It’s almost as beautiful as she is.
