Facts about Wine that books don’t tell

 

I have had the good fortune to live and work in different parts of the world. Wherever I went it was my cardinal principle that I should enjoy the local culture including local foods and drinks rather than stick to the habits from back home. I was introduced to good wine as a doctoral student in Canada during the department Christmas party at UBC and still enjoy it on occasions. If you are a wine lover too then you may enjoy some simple facts about wine and wine making that have been gathered through my travels and experiments that most books don’t tell.

First of all as regards alcohol uphold the principle enshrined by King Solomon the wise some thousands of years ago as recorded in the Old Testament of the holy Bible

“Give wine to a person heavy of heart but give strong drink to a person who wishes to destroy himself”

There is really much wisdom in this statement that I have personally experienced. Many persons consume an alcoholic drink once in a while. At times that drink happens to be a strong one like whiskey rather than a lighter one like wine or beer. Some beers and wines have an alcohol content of over ten per cent and these too should be regarded in the category of strong drink. Life for most humans goes through ups and down where we may experience stress or even distress. This stress or distress reduces the moment an alcoholic drink is consumed. If the drink is a strong one and if it is consumed regularly over a prolonged period of time then there is a good chance that one will become dependent on the drink. One will require it then just to function normally even in times when there is no distress. It might or might not become a drain on one's finances but it will surely become a drain on one’s health. The uninhibited behavior that alcohol produced will land the person in trouble from time to time and in the worst of cases alcohol will produce a degeneration of the liver or psychological complications like psychosis. Alcoholic psychosis is relieved quickly when one gives up drinking but then a person who has become dependent on it finds it difficult to give up the drink. He is soon led to destruction as King Solomon said thousand of years ago. I too faced that situation several years ago when after a period of distress I began to consume strong alcoholic drinks regularly and nearly became dependent on it. Fortunately good wisdom prevailed in time and I gave up the drink before too much damage was done. Now several years later, I can enjoy an alcoholic drink on rare occasions without any problems.

Does this mean that one should shun alcohol completely? That depends on the individual. Besides its adverse effects, there are benefits of alcohol consumption too can not be disputed. Much that is fine in human culture has been produced by those who have consumed moderate amounts of light alcohol sensibly.

Often a person after suffering trauma or distress can be saved from becoming dependent on a more serious addiction of a medical anti-depressant or debilitating psychiatric drug by merely consuming a few drinks at the right time. Perhaps King Solomon the wise had that in mind when he said give wine to a man (that includes women) with a heavy heart. This takes me to a tragic case of a highly talented young girl in our family (name and relationship withheld). At a young age, a temporary stint with uncaring relatives traumatized this young girl so severely that she began to weep and sob uncontrollably for days together upon return to her home. At the time I was unaware of the situation or I would have recommended a good cup of tea laced with a dose of brandy, followed by sleep, sunshine, green surroundings, fresh air and gentle care. I have no doubt that she would have bounced back in weeks if not days and the temporary trauma would have been a learning experience that would have strengthened this sweet young lady. However that did not happen. Her mother became nervous and rushed her to a psychiatric hospital where she stayed for some weeks and came out with a daily prescription of medicines that are not only addictive but can also cause seizures if just given up. One can only give these up under supervision in a controlled matter. She did do it once briefly but then because of a suspected relapse her mother took her to a facility once again and back to similar drugs. Now several years later she needs those medicines just to function normally if one can call it that. The side effects of the medicine have compromised her physically and psychologically so that she cannot function normally or work. When I talked to the doctor he said that she needs the medicine because she does not work -catch 22. Modern medicine is a blessing but in some cases it can also be a curse. A nature loving person who believes and trusts in the healing powers of Nature must give nature a chance whenever possible and much medicine lies in fresh air, sunshine, appropriate food and drink all tempered with love.

My advice to friends and family now is that if you do take a drink sometimes, stick to beer or wine from a reputed manufacturer and seller that is of moderate strength (under ten percent alcohol). Wine is far better than beer especially if one is even slightly overweight and you may wish to stick to white wine rather than a red that can at times cause serious allergies in spite of the reported health benefits of red wine. My suspicion is that the good health of red wine drinking regions has less to do with red wine and more to do with the consumption of olive oil in the same areas.

I presently live in India and although beer, whiskey, rum etc. is available widely here good wine at reasonable rates is not. However, once one learns how to make one’s own wine one may make small amounts very easily at a cost that is less than the cost of tea provided the prevalent regulations in your country permit you to do it. However, one would not be able to learn this from books on the topic. There are big commercial interests to prevent that. Over the years, I have learn't to reject most of the expert suggestions of expert authors on wine making. I have discovered that in order to make fairly good wine one does not need brewers yeast, pressure sensors, special containers, filtering through several layers of muslin, clarifying agents like egg whites and ising glass, or yeast killing ones like potassium permanganate, controlled temperatures, caves and cellars etc. Let me explain.

If used properly bakers yeast will produce great wine provided it is alive and kicking. One can check by adding some, about a heaping tea spoon, to a half full glass of sweetened warm water. If after a few hours it is bubbling and frothing the yeast is fine, if there is no activity it may be dead and you need a new packet.

Filtering through several layers of cloth and adding clarifying agents will not help to clarify a wine as long as the yeast is active. But once the process is complete the yeast waste will settle down in a bottle or jar on its own, leaving a clear liquid behind. It can be decanted out carefully to a fresh bottle because shaking will cause the yeast waste at the bottom to mix and muddy the wine again.

One need not use pressure equipment. Just cap the jar or bottle lightly so that some carbon dioxide can escape as the process is on and one need not have controlled chambers of temperature. In fact summer heat will hasten the process so that one can have a jar of wine ready to drink in less than a week. Yes, aging at a moderate temperature and chilling before drinking does help a white wine improve considerably but it is not bad even when young.

And finally all you need to make a good white wine besides the yeast is a bunch of  grapes, some pure drinking water, some cups of sugar and if available a few almonds. The required equipment is just a large pot, a large serving spoon and a glass jar or bottles to prepare and store the wine. A few almonds add a nice touch to white wine and some commercial manufacturers add almond essence to white wine for that. There is an older post on the almond tree in this blog. It was described as a heavenly tree. Grape vines are heavenly wines that shade building in summer with edible leaves and shed them in winter to warm up the building. The genes for both may have arrived on Earth from heavenly planets if one subscribes to the current theory of Panspermia.

Unfortunately though, I feel constrained not to give the detailed steps for making good wine easily and simply at home but there are enough hints in this post for you to follow in case you wish to try. If you do and find that any white or black growth has developed in the liquid throw it away. It has got polluted and before consuming a whole bottle, drink just a bit, wait for a day, if you feel wonderful then call your friends to a party where you can consume the whole thing along with spaghetti in mushroom sauce dressed with sliced boiled eggs and a green salad followed by a chocolate cake and tea, all to the company of fine melodious music.

The Greeen Hybrid City - AM City

A Section of the Proposed Green Hybrid City

Several earlier posts in this blog have mentioned it is better to live in a rural or country area surrounded by greenery rather than in crowded cities. An earlier post proposed a configuration of farm lands (termed AM farms for identification) that combined some of the advantages of urban living with rural life. However many persons are still compelled to, or prefer to, live an urban life in big towns or cities. That is just as well because the population of our planet is now around seven billion and with such a heavy population it is a necessity. A large proportion of humans must continue to live in cities. However, it is possible to live amidst greenery even in urban settings provided cities are designed for it. This post proposes the configuration of a city that brings some of the advantages of a rural life along with its greenery to towns and cities. The present configuration of a hybrid agricultural –urban city adds some of the advantages and charm of  rural life to a modern city just as the AM farms added urban advantages to a rural area.

A hybrid city may be designed by uniformly distributing agricultural spaces throughout the city. The attached figure shows a possible configuration where approximately two and a half acre agricultural blocks alternate two and a half acre housing blocks. Some of the green blocks may be reserved for urban park grounds. The figure shows a representative section but it is sufficient to illustrate the concept. The housing blocks may be divided into smaller lots for individual homes or they may be used for large high rise complexes.For simplicity the illustration has shown a rectangular grid. In actual practice it would be better to add curves to some of the roads to enhance natural charm. With curved roads the size of individual blocks would vary.

One may ask as to how much extra area the proposed hybrid city requires as compared to a traditional one. Since about half the urban area goes into roads and other opens spaces  on the average, dividing the remaining half between green and constructed spaces causes an increase of approximately 50 per cent only i.e. approximately a large hundred square mile city would become around 150 square miles. It may be somewhat less if a higher density of population is permitted in the constructed space which is easily possible because of open green surroundings. It is not a major increase and the additional land used is proposed to be used for beneficial agricultural use and thus is not wastage of earth’s precious resources.

The question that arises is that if adding green to a city is so easy, why such cities rarely exist. The answer is greed. Some cities did indeed begin like that but eventually became crowded. Urban spaces become expensive as a city grows and there is greed on the part of city authorities as well as others to sell that land for profit. In order to develop such cities the master plan has to be strictly maintained with a provision that city authorities cannot convert the green spaces for other use unless approved by a two third majority of city dwellers in a city referendum.

It would be necessary to regulate the usage of the agricultural lots to make them compatible with urban surroundings. Firstly animals must not be permitted. The farming of food grains (wheat etc.) and oils seeds (soy beans etc.) may also not be permitted in these small urban farms. Rather their use must be reserved for vegetable, fruit and flower farming. The latter are best suited for small farms. In order to ensure that the farm lots are used appropriately their ownership must remain with the city. The city in turn may lease these to interested parties for a few years at a time with the provision that the lease would be cancelled if the lots are misused. Very limited construction along the northern boundary of these farming lots may be permitted e.g. a shop/restaurant of no more than 400 square feet with a 400 square feet studio apartment on the first floor for a possible farm hand or the lease holder along with a temporary shed of no more than 600 square feet for agricultural storage and use. The northern boundary is suggested here since that causes least shading on the rest of the land.

Such a city would enjoy lush green surroundings. Note that every housing lot is surrounded by green. It would also enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables grown within the city. Existing cities can not be changed substantially now but this blogger hopes that the present post will catch the attention of some planners when new cities or extensions of existing cities are being designed.

The present proposal adds rural jobs and the charm of a rural life to an urban one. Another post in this blog shows how urban charm can be added to rural life along with millions of sustainable jobs that do not vanish when the economy collapses. it is here  

UPDATE: April 16, 2013:  Today added a name of this city design as AM cities in line with the AM rural design, since both design have an identical philosophy behind them.

The Greatest Of Happiness

Jai Bajrang Bali at the entrance of the Naini Mata Temple

If you see that someone else has something nice and good that you do not have,

Remember,

That everything nice and good of this world comes with some problems attached. Feel blessed that Nature has chosen to shield you from such problems.

If you see the life of another is rising with success whereas your own is going no where,

Remember,

That every sunrise is followed by sunset, the dark night and that Nature has chosen to spare you the pain of the night that shall follow.

If you see that another has great riches that you do not have,

Just look a bit wider,

And you shall see many that have even less and feel blessed and grateful.

If your life is filled with pain, sorrow and darkness,

Remember,

That wisdom comes from sorrow and there is no gain bigger than that and look forward to the bright day that follows every dark night

If you fear for the future,

Laugh,

That the future to follow shall be yours when you shall leave this world to enter another,

And remember,

There is no happiness greater than that of being contented,

For contented you deserve to be,

Because Nature with all its infinite talents has chosen not to overwhelm and destroy your finite self by giving you all possible talents but has rather chosen to give you just a few, with one that is unique to you and greater than all others in this creation, for unique you are just as everyone else is (lest you develop an ego that you are better than anyone else) in this wonderful creation full of joy and sorrow; and the changing seasons; a season to cry and a season to laugh.

What shall I do then, you ask

Why, you could just immerse yourself in the soothing waters of

Love, Truth and Simplicity

How to Solve the Global Warming Problem within a Year

Me on the way to Nainital during a dry summer month

While nearly all scientists and experts agree that global warming is probably due to human activity, not many agree on the precise cause and which of the various human activities is to blame. The following two are the most suspected:

1. Increased carbon emissions in the atmosphere
2. Increased deforestation

My own leaning is towards cause number two. The reasons for that have been discussed in my steam center blog and I shall not go into that again. Here is just a suggestion that could take care of the problem in a jiffy whatever be the cause.

The population of grown up humans on our planet is currently around five billion. If each of these humans planted two trees each, the additional ten billion trees would take care of the entire carbon emission (through carbon capture) or deforestation problem for a year. The trees can be planted anywhere in town or country side. However, if humans continue to generate carbon dioxide at the same rate they would have to repeat the exercise every year for fifty years.

Those who are unable to plant a tree on their own may be obliged to pay a fee to enable others to do it on their behalf. The operation will help the economy too by creating professional tree planters who plant for a fee and certifiers who certify that they have been properly planted with photographic record. Even the poor should pay this fee/fine or if they cannot they can plant a couple of trees instead.

In making this recommendation, I have not made any precise calculations (it is just the idea) and the numbers suggested here could vary depending on that.