Bunker Hill Vineyard and Winery Tour Analysis
- allisonnahrwold
- Apr 16, 2019
- 3 min read
As I reflect on our tour of the Bunker Hill Vineyard and Winery a smile comes to my face. Of all the hands-on experiments and field tours we have experienced in this course, the winery tour was by far my favorite. As I approached the winery in my car, I noticed the grounds of the winery were quaint, rustic, and beautiful, a pleasant contrast to the bustling city life of Sarasota. When my fellow classmates and I entered the wine tasting room, we were warmly welcomed by the winery owners Larry and Lenora Woodham. Together, the Woodhams gave us a detailed record of their winery, how they make their wine, and the innovative conservation efforts they are enacting in the wine industry. Following this, we embarked on our walking tour of the winery. We began in the cellar, where we viewed the various flavours of wine being aged in large barrels. Mr. Woodham further explained the aging process and how the flavours develop in each type of wine before we exited the cellar and explored the vineyard grounds. Walking through the long rows of grapevines and seeing the various flora growing on the property was the most scenic part, and also my favorite! To conclude, Mr. Woodham brought us into the wine kitchen for a tour. He walked us through the steps taken in this kitchen to produce wine from the grapes grown at the vineyard. Following this, we were offered wine, jams, and jellies to purchase and sent on our way. This tour was not only educational, but also very fascinating and enjoyable for everyone in the class.
Bunker Hill Winery reveres the muscadine grape not only for the fragrant and flavorful wines that can be produced from it, but also for its plentiful health benefits. Mr. Woodham spoke volumes of the nutritional properties of the muscadine grape and the wonders they work inside our bodies. Before this field tour, I was aware of the fact that grapes have multiple health benefits, however, Mr. Woodham opened my eyes to the vast benefits of specifically the muscadine grape. Mr. Woodham is not the only one to profess these benefits, as stated by Deborah Wechsler, “...muscadines have an abundance of phenolic compounds, including ellagic acid and resveratrol, which function as antioxidants…” (1997 p. 1) These abundant antioxidants “...have potential in preventing cancer…” and have been “...shown to be effective in reducing the risk of heart disease.” (Wechsler 1997 p. 1) The wines being produced by the Woodhams and Bunker Hill are quite possibly some of the most health beneficial wines on the market.
While I in no way claim to be knowledgeable in the wine industry, I did find one of Mr. Woodham’s claims to be slightly biased and inaccurate. Throughout the tour, Mr. Woodham repeatedly mentioned that muscadine grape wines are revered as the finest wines on earth. He continued to speak on how wine connoisseurs travel from around the world to taste these miraculous muscadine wines. However, from my small insight of the world of wine, I have understood muscadine wine to be an inferior wine in terms of quality, taste, and exclusivity. As I wrote about in my pre-investigation, muscadine wine often comes with the stigma that it is wine for country-folk, or the lower class, being uncultured in the wine industry. As stated by Grape Collective’s Nickolaus Hines, “Muscadine wines have somewhat of an inferiority complex when compared to Old World wines.” (2015 p. 1) This is most likely due to muscadine’s intensely sweet taste, as most experienced wine consumers aim for a more dry taste, “Wine drinkers have been trained to believe that serious wines are dry and red, leaving the sweet-as-sweet-tea Muscadine wine to be thought of as a beginner’s wine.” (Hines 2015 p. 1) While I in no way mean to speak condescendingly of Mr. Woodham’s statements, I do feel that many wine connoisseurs would agree that the muscadine wine is not necessarily the highest of ranking in the world of wines.
References
Hines, N. (2015). “Muscadine: The Grape of The South.” Grape Collective. Retrieved from
Wechsler, D. (1997). Muscadines for your health. Horticulture, 94(8), 56. Retrieved from
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