My Neighbor is a Closet Winemaker

Just this afternoon I took a walk with my wife around the block in our small village (aka, ant-sized, miniscule, tiny, impossible to find on a map) of Red Bud, Illinois, USA.  We noticed our neighbor—a nice elderly gent named Charlie—working in his flowerbeds in front of his house. Being the friendly neighbors that we are, we stopped by to have a chat.  

Sitting comfortably on the front porch, chatting about the weather, life, and world conditions, pausing a bit to wave as families passed by on their late afternoon walks and bike rides—it was all so peaceful and harmonious, like the “good ‘ol days.” I have to be honest—the last thing on my mind was work, or wine, or writing.  

But then Charlie hurled some credentials at me from his sleeve like a winning ace (just kidding—but he did suddenly surprise me). He revealed his secret hobby: winemaking. I could hardly contain myself. Why, after all, I had been living in this neighborhood for a year and a half and never knew that a seasoned homemade winemaker was living right next to me. Okay. At that point my mind was on work.  

He told me about the batches of fermenting fruit juices setting in his basement: Elderberry, wild cherry, and peach.

We exchanged winemaking stories like old veterans relating war stories. We threw around ideas and vino-producing procedures. And we promised to keep in touch and keep each other updated with new developments and ingeniously creative ideas in our winemaking endeavors.  

The reason I mention this recent occurrence in this article is to encourage you to never neglect your own neighborhood when it comes to wine know-how. Charlie may not be an expert wine aficionado, but he knows some good stuff when it comes to making wine at home. And I learned some new things. And this is always a good feeling.  

So don’t forget your local community when seeking to find out some golden nuggets about winemaking or just simply wine itself. Get around to people. Visit. Ask questions. Sit around on the front porch and just chat for the sake of chatting (something we have almost forgotten to do in stressful, busy-busy, rush-rush, materialistic America). You may be surprised who lives next door.