Weekly Photo Challenge: CULTURE / Travel Theme: LIGHT
“People are like wine, some turn to vinegar but the best improve with age.”
Pope John XXIII
I’ll admit this week’s Photo Challenge was just that for me, a real challenge. Having done some wonderful traveling I was tempted to focus on one of the many interesting indigenous cultures I’ve seen. But then I thought about the many places we’ve been and one aspect of our journeys kept recurring – the love and culture of wine.
“Wine is bottled poetry.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
This could of course be because my husband is a true oenophile (one who loves and appreciates wine according to Wikipedia) who seeks out vineyards, vintners and fine wine wherever we go. Often this leads us to some of the most beautiful countryside, and to interesting conversations with strangers with whom we share an immediate bond (and usually a few glasses as well!). I sometimes feels its a fair trade for me to focus on talk of wine-which is really not my thing – in exchange for the many hours my husband tolerates as I happily photograph the world around us.
We have sampled some wonderful wines here in the US, as well as in our travels throughout Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and of course France. Our journey through Provence last summer was perhaps the best blend of our passions. Between the amazing wines at every stop and the numerous vineyards dotting the countryside, my husband and I were both in heaven 🙂
For a photographer, it is well worth enduring the seemingly never-ending details of why a particular wine is better than any other, or how the various qualities of the soil can influence the wine’s bouquet, in order to get to the challenge of shooting the musky, dark cellars of the vintners.
“A bottle of wine begs to be shared.”
Clifton Paul Fadiman
Like an oenophile, I could go on and on with some of my favorite photographs of wine and vineyards, but I fear that like me, you have about reached the limit of your interest! So I will close with some favorite shots and nod to Ailsa with a reminder that neither oenophiles nor photographers would be anywhere without the lovely sunlight that feeds the grapes and the subjects of our lenses 🙂
“There’s a built-in romance to wine.”
Padma Lakshmi
To see more Weekly Photo Challenge entries, click here. For more responses to Ailsa’s Travel Theme, click here.
Some great photos here and well thought through and put together.
Thanks so much Out10about–love the blog title 🙂
Beautiful post and a very nice presentation, Tina, one of the best post I have read lately. Unfortunately the lightening in this room is not too good and I sometimes find it hard to read the black types on the dark grey background, I sit here with my nose glued to the screen..:-) 🙂
Greetings to you from Norway!
Dina
🙂 Thank you Dina! I know, I’ve played and played with the background vs text. A word in process – thanks for sticking with me through the challenge!
Great photos! I love the shot with the chairs.
Thanks Isabelle – kind of made me want to curl up with a good book 🙂
All of your photos are beautiful! You could have gone on and on as far as I’m concerned…:-) (I work for a wine distributor by the way, so the post was fab to me!)
Thank you Sue! Where is your distribution area? My husband knows many of them 🙂 Thanks for the lovely compliment!
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Massachusetts…
Vinyards are so interesting, and I wish there were some around. And some vine to. Very interesting and nice photos, Tina!
Thanks Bente. Hard to have vineyards with all that snow all the time LOL!
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A creative and clever interpretation Tina. ‘Vineyard on a summer day’ is a brilliant shot!
Thanks Madhu! Just made me want to curl up in the chair and watch the world go by 🙂
I’ll take two of the wooden baskets of bottle please! {;~}
LOL. Me too 🙂
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Fantastic photos! Seems that we have a lot in common with you and your husband…We Love wine travel! We spent 6 weeks last summer exploring the wine regions of Southern France, northern Spain. Wine, vineyards, and all that photographically gorgeous terrain all go together so well!
Excellent! Our summer was all over Provence! Maybe we crossed paths :-). Thanks for your comment 🙂
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