One of the upsides of being at the NRC is having access to some of the social activities. I’ve joined the oenology club. Last week, we had a tasting of South African wines. This week, we went to Changins, the Swiss national center of excellence for training in viticulture, oenology and arboriculture.
They have over 50 types of vines growing on a plot the size of our old garden in Hinxton, and each year, the students must do a winemaking project that can use any sort of process, technique and instrumentation that they have available. Many of the local growers will donate parts of their harvest to the school to aid the students (because, you know, it’s not always easy to find 6 tons of grapes at the drop of a hat).