Wine Drinking & Gardening Tips

💡Featured - Wine Tips: 

Ever since I was a little kid, I always had a knack for collectibles. As a kid I collected pokemon & sports trading cards. As a traveller, I began (and still do) collect money from around the world (past & present). And in adulthood, started learn & acquire Bitcoin, which has graciously taught me about scarcity.

Now as an American (lover of all things beer), to now currently living in France for the last 3 years, my wine palette is growing exponentially. It is something that I find interesting, as it combines collecting, drinking, investing together. Instead of investing all of your money in the stock market, I’d rather use some of it to invest in something I can sell or drink. As I am in the very beginner stages into the world of wine investing, hop-along for the ride, as I will be periodically sharing my learning journey for those interested. To get an idea of my wine preference (as it currently stands), my favorite wine region is hands-down, Cotes du Rhone, with emphasis on Chateauneuf-du-Pape red wines.

So here is the starter pack to some interesting finds on my wine investing journey…

Tip #1: Great Vintages Matter - Great vintages (the year in which the grapes were harvested) trade at a premium. Wine is a tricky beast because great vintages need ideal weather conditions for it to be considered “successful” as a long-term aging wine. To tagalong with the weather condition(s) playing a leading role, environmental hardships are becoming more common leading to potential great vintages to turn sour: too much rain or not enough rain, heatwave, frost (that wrecks havoc on yields and delays the ripening process), mildew, risks of coulure, etc.

A great resource for learning more about the health of a vintage (by year), is by using legendary wine critic, Robert Parker’s “Vintage Chart” (see figure below).

This chart allows me to select various wine regions, that then give both a rating range, and a maturity level (see figure below).

Although Robert Parker’s “Vintage Chart” guide is carried out from 1970 to 2022, we will can still gather an encyclopedia of information. Let’s take a snapshot of my beloved Southern Rhone wine: Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Vintage Range from 2006 to 2021 - (see figure(s) below).

What we can gather from this chronological rating system, is that Chateauneuf’s best vintages (96+ points) as these years as follows: 2007, 2010, 2016 & 2019; good vintages (90 to 95 points) (basically all the rest in this range), minus the vintages from (<90 points) are as follows: 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014 & 2021. So, this gives you insight into wines that can age over the long-term or not. If you drink the great vintage wines 10+ years from now, then it should be a magical experience. If you prefer to sell it, in 10+ years’ time, than the appreciating value should greatly increase, many times beating the S&P 500.

Tip #2: - Supply vs Demand Impact Wine’s Value - Economics is economics. Demand increases for items in limited supply. This basic economic premise, even in the world of wine seem no different, whether you are as a simple pure wine enthusiast, a pure wine collector or investor, or a hybrid of both. A good example of this is, Bourgogne (aka Burgundy) wines. In the Burgundy wine region, they battle unpredictable changes in climate (hot summers & cold winters), making there wines taste drastically different from year to year. Unpredictable weather (due to frost and/or hail) can drastically damage yield , unfortunately. Due to limited vine acreage in the Burgundy wine region, this region is inherently scarce. This limitation on land alone make their wines more valuable (supply), and being delicious wine according the the average taste buds, has also given it value (demand). Does Domaine de la Romanée-Conti set off any alarm bells? (see figure below)…

Tip #3: - Temperature To Store Wine(s) - The ideal storage temperature for red wine and white wine vary. White wines tend to not age as long as red wine, as white wines endure a less complicated fermentation process with their grape skins than red wines go through. Therefore, white wines can be stored at lower and/or chillier temperatures (no lower than 8˚C, and no higher than 12˚C), to not ruin its flavor.

Aging red wine, is a bit more complicated. Red wine has more interaction with their grape skins, and needs to maintain a greater consistency in temperature (no lower than 12˚C, and no higher than 19˚C). If the temperature is too low, it may cause the wine to freeze, which will certainly ruin its potential, and the cork will be the culprit for causing oxidation. If the temperature is too high, you start to “cook” the wine, which in turn, destroys its flavor potential.

If storing both, white and red wine in the same storage unit, 12˚C / 55˚F is ideal (but you may can also get away with 13˚C). Why might you be capable of “passing” with 13˚C? Because 55˚F is 12.778˚C, but this is a personal choice that deserves better research for your own personal household needs. At Finperma, we store both our whites and reds at the ideal temperature, 12˚C / 55˚F.

At a later date, after thorough research on wine cellars vs wine refrigerators, and which one provides better storing conditions. All I know so far, is that maintaining darkness and humidity levels (under 70%) during wine storage, is equally as important for preserving the wine’s aging process. An ideal humidity is roughly around 57%. Below 50% in humidity, you start drying out your wine corks. Anything 70% or above, and you risk the growing of mold (Belhabri, 2024). So proceed with caution when storing your wine.

🌱Permaculture Practices: Lessons Learned While Starting a Garden:

1) Observe Your Landscape

Before doing anything to your garden, just observe it. Identify your opportunities, while simultaneously noticing its flaws. For our garden, we paid close attention to when & where the sun hits our garden. What time does it start (and where), along with what time it ends (and where).

If you have time to observe the light in your garden during the different seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter), it will be helpful to optimize the production of your garden.

Other opportunities and weaknesses to be observed (besides sunlight) are: what wildlife is currently in or comes to your garden (insects, birds, domestic animals, etc. In our case, we found ants, slugs (check under your hood of your wood planks - a slug’s perfect hiding place), snails, beetles, caterpillars in select parts of our garden. We also have many birds (as many trees and electrical structures surround our property, cats (that our neighbors own), but who use our garden as their second home), rats (who come around to our compost, especially when we put fresh eggshells in our compost - get rats OUT of your garden (!) - to not be esposed to disease and/or parasites, etc.).

Another important aspect - when in the “observation stage” of your garden, it important to get to know your soil. What type of soil are you working with in your garden? Some plants grow better in specific types of soil, but moist and loose soil is ideal as it helps young roots latch itself to their new territory. Something that I have found helpful (to build more nutrients in our soil, water retention, and to prevent weeds from growing in our veggie beds), is to spread layers of mulch on top of your soil.

Final note: When you observe your garden, you’ll have a better idea how to solve any problems that might arise, and be better capable defending anything that can cause your garden harm.

2) Crop Rotation

I’d put learning about crop rotation to be the second input necessary before planting anything. Why? Because it comes back down to the soil. Rotating crops help increase your yield, improves nutrients and organic matter within your soil, helps to disrupt the lifecycle of crop pests & disease, and reduces the need for applying chemicals to steer away unwanted “costs” to your garden (read figure below - a brief explainer on the benefits & costs of Crop Rotation).

When planting our garden, I knew absolutely nothing (and still have so much to learn) about crop rotation. But by not implementing this task before planting our winter veggies, we are paying for it now, and risking disease and pests, if no action is taken rather than repeated. But for 2025, we now have no other choice but to plant the same crop in one or two of our beds in 2025 to get on a proper crop rotation. Below is the 4-year rotation we decided to commit to, and what I call the “FiLLeR Method”. The FiLLeR Method (removing the vowels) leave you with:

F for Fruit; L for Leaf; L for Legume; R for Root

Crop rotation is important for optimization - “the major nutrients being nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (N-P-K).  Basically, the groups are planted in order of their nitrogen use.

Fruit – If the portion of the plant we will eat is the result of a flower being pollinated, it is considered a “fruit”.  They have a higher requirement of phosphorus (P).  Phosphorous helps the plant set blooms and then develop the fruits.  In fact, if these plants receive too much nitrogen, they will produce excess leafy growth at the expense of bloom and fruit production.  This is a common problem with tomatoes if they are over fertilized with high nitrogen fertilizers.

Leaf – Leafy vegetables have a high requirement for nitrogen (N).  They use it to form their stems and leaves, which are the parts of these vegetables that we eat.  Nitrogen is also the most soluble of the major nutrients.  Any excess nitrogen not used by the plants will be washed out of the soil and into the watershed.

Legume – Legumes are the nitrogen fixers.  They are capable of pulling available nitrogen from the air and storing it (fixing) in nodules on their roots.  When the plants roots decay, they release the stored nitrogen into the soil where it will be available for the next crop – the leafy vegetables again.

Root – Root crops use even less nitrogen than fruit crops and are heavy users of potassium (K). The original Leaf-Fruit-Root-Legume rotation strategy plans for them to fall into the line of succession when the majority of the nitrogen has been used first by the leafy vegetables and then by the fruit producers.  Potassium also takes a little longer to become available in the soil, so the timing should work out in theory” ((The Garden Academy: Gardening and micro-homesteading, Gulf Coast style, n.d.)).

Final note: All you have to remember is the system/sequence…

Fruit follows Leaf. Leaf follows Legume. Legume follows Root. Root follows Fruit (FiLLeR Method).

3) Companion Planting

Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. I love building systems, and think that having a great system, will generate great outcomes. Thinking within a system is no different if doing crop rotation or companion planting.

Companion Planting is where the fun begins. You get the pleasure of taking the crop you plan to consume, and create a system (with various degrees of creativity levels) that you program to work harmoniously with each other.

Our Fruiting Bed (2024) has:

Melon - Zucchini - Tomatoes (boeuf & cherry tomoatoes) - Peppers (red & orange) - Basil

Our Leaf Bed(s) (2024) has:

Onions - Leek - Spinach - Salad - Cauliflower

Our Legume Bed (2024) has:

We don’t have one for 2024 😢 

Our Root Bed (2024) has:

Potatoes - Mint - Radish- Carrot - Leek - Garlic; Brussel Sprouts - Carrot - Beetroot - Kale - (other but TBD)

We have two raised beds that are not used in 2024, as we are preparing it for our 2025 season, and we missed getting it started during Winter 2023 😢 But in 2025 it’ll be our herb & experimenting beds.

🚀Bitcoin Breakdown:

Strike App, an application made by Jack Mallers, is making its way to Europe! A KYC’d application where you can buy & sell, Bitcoin on-chain or over the Lightning Network. I personally use Strike myself, but a good rule of thumb (for me) is that I do not & personally will never keep the bulk of my Bitcoin in any custodial wallet. A custodial wallet is a wallet that I do not have control over aka the ability to self-custody. However, it is important to note that I do use these custodial wallets to maintain small amounts of Bitcoin for daily use, etc. Strike is an application that I have found forward-thinking, trustworthy & fulfills my individual needs. To learn more: the link is attached (below) to do your own analysis & due diligence...

Next “Roots of Finperma” issue (v.6) will focus on privacy, as the financial privacy of Bitcoin currently under attack, and this deserves way more thought than I can give to it in this issue, on such short notice. Hang tight. Next issue is going to educate us all.

📚Hand-Picked Recommendations:

A great introduction to why privacy matters, check out “The Great Hack” documentary to help clue you in. Available on Netflix .

Until next time!

#SowSaveSustain

Raven S. Richardson at Finperma

Source(s) Verification:

Belhabri, R. (2024, March 30). Build a Wine Cellar on a Budget. Retrieved from Coravin: https://www.coravin.com.au/blogs/community/build-a-wine-cellar-on-a-budget

Dolph, M. (2023, December 12). New York Post. Retrieved from The 1945 Romanée-Conti sold for $585K — Here’s what made it the most expensive bottle of wine ever: https://nypost.com/2023/12/12/lifestyle/1945-romanee-conti-the-most-expensive-bottle-of-wine-ever-sold/

GILLNURSERY. (2015, August 06). Gill Nursery. Retrieved from The Importance of Crop Rotation: https://gillnursery.com/the-importance-of-crop-rotation/

Robert Parker: The Wine Advocate. (1970 to 2022). Retrieved from Robert Parker: Wine Advocate: https://www.robertparker.com/vintage-chart

The Garden Academy: Gardening and micro-homesteading, Gulf Coast style. (n.d.). The Garden Academy: Gardening and micro-homesteading, Gulf Coast style. Retrieved from 4-Step Crop Rotation Plan: https://www.thegardenacademy.com/vegetables/4-step-crop-rotation-plan/#:~:text=Leaf%20%E2%80%93%20Leafy%20vegetables%20have%20a,soil%20and%20into%20the%20watershed