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Bradley T. Rankin M.D.
President 2005-2006
My first exposure to a Vineyard and Winery came early in life, having
grown up in Clarksville, Tennessee next door to Judge William O. Beach
of Beachaven Winery. However, I had no interest in making wine until my
wife, a retired physician, expressed a desire to plant some Muscadine
grapes in our backyard for the purpose of making her famous jam. Since
I was (and still am) learning about French culture, language, and wine
at the time, I put two and two together and the next thing you know I
had 20 Chambourcin (a French hybrid) and 10 Buffalo (a New York hybrid)
vines planted in five "squeezed in rows" of trellis's in my
backyard.
My 30 vines were planted in the spring of 2004. I figured I have two
things going for me in this project: I have a B.S. in chemistry and as
a physician (I am an allergist in Paducah) I am very familiar with
sterile technique. I have made only three batches of wine to date: a
Merlot from a kit, blackberry from a can, and recently 10 gallons of
Fredonia. I am limited by the fact that I currently have no space for a
winery.
On doing my research many have asked me,
including
some who have grown a lot of grapes in the past, why I don't just buy
grapes from someone else. In many ways, this would "solve a lot of
problems," especially since i've never grown anything in my life. But
it is that aspect of it that appeals to me the most. The "magic" for me
will be to make wine that will be made from the "fruit of my
labors"
that will have resulted from that portion of sunlight that falls in my
backyard. That fruit will mostly be grapes, but I hear of plans for
blackberries to come soon. Being that as it may, it is the cyclical
year of the grape vine and getting back to nature that will keep
me
out in the vineyard.
As for favorite wines, I can certainly
remember my conversion from white to red wine with a bottle of 1974 BV
Private Reserve shared with my wife back in 1983. However, I am not
fancy in this regard. I simply like Merlot and Pinot Noir dry reds the
most. However, I've been moving into Chardonney territory recently.
Perhaps Allen Dossey's plans are influencing me.
As for
my plans for the future, I am working on converting 1/3 of my garage
into a winery. I doubt that I will ever have more vines than my 30,
since going off site would really change the scope of my vineyard work.
I also hope to share some equipment with others in the Club. So, my
operation; should remain relatively small - but manageable. My
perception is that it is easy to occasionally make a great wine. I'll
leave the problem of making consistently large amounts of it to others
- at least for now.
As for my motive for coming up with
the idea of forming the WKWA (along with Allen Dossey) and
serving as
initial President, I can tell you that it is strictly selfish in that I
want to learn from others so that I can save money and learn how
to
make wine with fewer mistakes made. I therefore see the purpose of the
Club to be mainly educational, and I look forward to many get-togethers
in many different settings in the future |
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Copyright 2005. All Rights Reserved. 