Slow news week. Or two.

Yup, not a lot going on in Vinoland besides veraison, baby-chicken watching and waiting for harvest.  So I was interested to read this article in the Daily Mail that Thud forwarded to me.
Some enterprising, vino-loving Italians have revived historic, so-called 'wine windows' as a way to socially distance whilst still permitting folks to enjoy a glass of wine.  Apparently there are 300 of these windows in Tuscany, known as buchette del vino, that were traditionally used in the 1600s, in times of plague, to enable that the local citizenry could still get a goblet of their favourite tipple.  Minus the scabs, sores and pustules that come with pestilence, of course.  Quaint and genius.
I can't personally recall seeing any of these windows when I holidayed in Lucca.  And if I had, I probably would have assumed they were religious niches.  Who knew?  I didn't.  But hey, I'm all for walking along the street and a hand pops out of a random window and offers one a glass of wine...a nice Chianti, perhaps?  So civilised.

Social Distancing in the Vineyard.

I was hoping to avoid mentioning Covid-19 on Vinsanity altogether, if possible.  The coronavirus pandemic has already negatively impacted too many lives to give the darned thing any more publicity than it deserves.  (Be safe, stay healthy, peeps.)  But whilst driving out of Napa, to purchase chicken feed, I spotted this public service announcement sign in the Napa Valley College vineyard.  I suppose the Napa Valley Farmworker Foundation and the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, sponsors of the sign, thought this was a simple way to illustrate safe social distancing for vineyard workers.
Being a bit of a pedant, it seems to me like this particular spacing would only work if a given vineyard was bilateral cordon trained (as in the signage).  In-row vine spacing can range from 3 to 12 feet and can be dependent on many factors; cultivar, soil fertility, canopy training system, rootstock selection, and so on.  (My Syrah vines would like 15 feet, but they have to make do with a measly 7 feet, poor babies.)  So, it looks I'm going to have to get my tape measure out to ascertain what constitutes safe distancing, between Vinodog 2 and I, in Vinoland's head-trained vineyard.  Titter, titter.
I can't think of a healthier place to be than out in the vineyard in these trying times.  But 8 feet in the vineyard and only 6 feet in the supermarket?  Hmm.  On a lighter note, I'm off outside to wrestle with the aforementioned Syrah.