We're interested in what our winemaker's are up to now that all business as usual is anything but. We asked Gareth Davies, Head Winemaker at Fitz Wine how he was spending his time in isolation and it turns out he's got a full house! Have a read of his blog post:
My dear baby brother turns 30 today – Happy Birthday, Nathan!
We live in different parts of the country, so normally I’d be wishing him well over the phone and hopefully would have remembered to have popped a card in the post. But things aren’t normal at the moment – all of us are experiencing quite exceptional circumstances. Some people are going through real hardship and there’s many out there who will be putting their lives at risk for the sake of others. I don’t think there’s ever been a time where it’s so crucial to care for, and appreciate, each other – whether it’s family, friends or complete strangers.
My brother and his wife gave up there home a few weeks ago for a friend who returned from Australia and needed to quarantine in isolation, I’m currently not able to live in my own home as it’s a building site, and my grandmother lives by herself and doesn’t drive. As a result, we’ve all wound up under one roof at my parents’ home – 7 humans, 5 dogs and cat. No surprise there’s been some disagreements (“shall we watch another episode of ‘Tiger King’??”), but overall the atmosphere has been fantastic – especially when we come together for dinner. Of course, we’re very lucky to have the support of each other, and it’s great that we’ll all be together this evening for a birthday celebration (whilst keeping a safe distance!).
As I write this, there’s lots of delicious food being prepared for us to enjoy later (I should probably be mucking in…). We’ll be having a few drinks, too. Naturally, there’s a few bottles of Fitz on ice – there’s nothing quite like the sound of a cork popping to mark a celebration, so sharing the wine that myself and everyone at Fitz works so hard to produce makes it all the more special. I hope that our wines have also given some joy to people at home since we’ve all been plunged into this period of adversity and uncertainty.
Tonight we’ll say cheers to my brother, but the biggest toast will go to all those people out there putting others before themselves – from frontline NHS workers to supermarket cashiers. THANK YOU!!!!
Let’s respect each other, be kind, and do everything we can to get through this together. Cheers!
Gareth chatting about Fitz Wine.
Photo of Gareth (Fitz Wine) and Julia (Just Perfect Wines) before social distancing!
Written by Gareth, Head Winemaker at Fitz Wine, exclusively for Just Perfect Wines.