# Grad school and wine making



## acorn (Feb 9, 2016)

So, apparently the time has come: checked my mail this afternoon and there it was, my admissions offer to a doctoral program starting this Fall. While I do have my priorities straight, I think I would miss wine making now that I got used to it over the years, especially since I will be relocating from NYC all the way to Seattle. I know some members have been going to school while maintaining (at least partially) their wine making activity. I was wondering whether someone has any tips on creating an outlet for a wine hobby or having it easy going through "withdrawal"  while away from home for several years (with the possible exception of longer holidays)? Basically, is there a way to reconcile the two in some (even unusual) way?

Thanks.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 9, 2016)

Why in the world would you stop making wine while in grad school? Its the perfect hobby for the person who has to study all the time since it can always wait for the next step after its in the secondary. You could make a special wine the week you start, then bottle it and have it at your graduation party. Having a carboy aging in your living room is an interesting topic starter for other grad students, they will be impressed by your mind as well as your ability to do something with your hands by creating a big jug of wine. What are you going to specialize in grad school? WVMJ


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## acorn (Feb 9, 2016)

Thanks, MountaineerJack, I totally hear you and that would be awesome to have my own wine for the parties there. The problem is that I will not have my own space for a while, let alone dragging all the carboys and equipment behind, since I will be moving from coast to coast. I thought that perhaps I could go back home during certain holidays and start a batch or two, then do another racking the next time I visit in several months or so, and so on. In any event, I have been making quite a number of gallons recently to keep the cellar stocked. I only hope that "wine thieves" around here don't lay their hands on it all prematurely.  

Oh yes, and Sociology/Demography is my study area.


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## AZMDTed (Feb 9, 2016)

Congratulations, on both the opportunity and moving to Seattle. A gorgeous area. Look into local home brew and wine shops to see if any offer on premise wine making areas for you. Some do here, I imagine you might be able to find one there. Have fun, good luck.


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## BernardSmith (Feb 9, 2016)

Congratulations acorn, on being accepted into graduate school. That is a wonderful accomplishment. 
My own area is medical sociology but I come from the qualitative side (ethnomethodology) not from the other, the dark side of quants which is what your program sounds like.. but not having much space (or your own space) does not necessarily mean that you need to put wine making on hold.. You might think about smaller , single gallon batches. You might think about fruit and flower wines or wines from honey and sap (agave or maple)...


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## ibglowin (Feb 9, 2016)

Congrats on all fronts!

Your moving to a wine making mecca! So you may be able to source fresh grapes off of craiglist etc if you want to go that route or just go to Woodinville (or over the mountains to Walla Walla etc.) and taste your way through some of the best wines being made in the world at the moment.

You have options!


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## NorCal (Feb 9, 2016)

Congrats, I was thinking the same thing as IB, you are going to an area where some nice grapes are available, time to step up your game! Sure, try to resist, but you will come around.


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## AZMDTed (Feb 9, 2016)

AZMDTed said:


> Congratulations, on both the opportunity and moving to Seattle. A gorgeous area. Look into local home brew and wine shops to see if any offer on premise wine making areas for you. Some do here, I imagine you might be able to find one there. Have fun, good luck.



Here's a make your own wine on premise shop in Edmond's:

http://www.whereubrew.com/


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## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 9, 2016)

Sociology isnt very hard so you should have plenty of spare time, a few gallon jugs instead of the full setup would keep you entertained, lots of berries and stuff growing up there, you should be able to crank out a few small batches, zork them, bribe a few committee members who drink with a homemade bottle. WVMJ


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## BernardSmith (Feb 9, 2016)

Yeah.. We say the same thing about Zeno's paradox, string theory... and fresh butter.


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## acorn (Feb 9, 2016)

Thank you all for your encouragements and advice. I'll be looking to buy a house around Seattle, but not in the next 2-3 years for sure, so I will probably stick with 1 gallon batches wherever possible. But then, I will rely on imports from my home cellar in New York to keep up with the demand for parties. 

On the side note, I am totally on board with BernardSmith here: nothing is easy at this level. I admire you, qualitative social scientists, it takes far more effort to produce a decent study, mostly because you have to painstakingly collect and process your own data. But maybe that's just my biased quantitative perspective.


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## barbiek (Feb 10, 2016)

Congrats! I have a feeling you'll find a way remember it's not only a hobby it's an addiction


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## BlueStimulator (Feb 10, 2016)

East of Seattle is this town called Yakima bout 2 hours and no traffic 300+ days of sushine, from there travel for 2.5 more hours to Walla Walla. In between the two are hundreds of winery's and vinyards. Stop by say hello when you are passing through.


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## Runningwolf (Feb 10, 2016)

Congratulations. Take this time to visit wineries in the area and become more familiar with the west coast wines and wines from around the world. You'll have plenty of time to get back into the hobby of making it once you settle down. You could even volunteer to work at a winery when you have a free day or two.


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## BernardSmith (Feb 10, 2016)

acorn said:


> Thank you all for your encouragements and advice. I'll be looking to buy a house around Seattle, but not in the next 2-3 years for sure, so I will probably stick with 1 gallon batches wherever possible. But then, I will rely on imports from my home cellar in New York to keep up with the demand for parties.
> 
> On the side note, I am totally on board with BernardSmith here: nothing is easy at this level. I admire you, qualitative social scientists, it takes far more effort to produce a decent study, mostly because you have to painstakingly collect and process your own data. But maybe that's just my biased quantitative perspective.


Off topic, I know but ...
Quant folk also collect and process data but we also tend (he said) to try to make sense of the sense making of those we observe and study... whereas the quant people use their own understanding as the basis for the understandings of those they study (compare - Durkheim's study of suicide where if you think about it for a minute - Durkheim (and those who came after him) "know" which sudden death is a suicide and which an accident and which a homicide.They "know" because they treat as their resource the outcomes and findings of others (the statistical records)..and so can talk about the causes of suicide (anomie etc). But those records did not assemble themselves and no suicide counts itself. Suicides do not speak for themselves. Coroners and medical examiners and courts speak for verdicts of suicide. So we , for example, observe precisely how a coroner or M.E. or a court determines a cause of death. So for us the cause of a suicide is the coroner or M.E. - the folk who define and label the event... Others then collect THEIR labels and assume that those labels point to something going on in the heads of those labeled (psychologists) or assume that something is going on in the larger society (hack social scientists) . The same principles apply to every aspect of our experiences in the world - In other words, what fascinates us are the shared practices (and understandings) of those who label/define every aspect of our reality (from crime to "medical errors" to "obesity" to the discovery of the Higgs Boson) - which is why I am a qual and not a quant. and which is why sociology is a science but not a science that mimics physics or biology. It is the science of social practices and how those practices constitute and construct our every day reality. I end my lecture.


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## sour_grapes (Feb 10, 2016)

BernardSmith said:


> Yeah.. We say the same thing about Zeno's paradox, string theory... and fresh butter.





acorn said:


> On the side note, I am totally on board with BernardSmith here: nothing is easy at this level.



I agree with both of these fine gentlemen. Creating knowledge, i.e., discovering that which _no one else_ knows, is never easy.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 10, 2016)

Acorn, you will remember this bit of advice through your whole career, study the sociology of winemakers! That will give you an inside into angle to learn as much about winemaking as you can while you are working and looking like a serious young professional person, you can indulge your hobby even while you have to work. WVMJ


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## acorn (Feb 10, 2016)

BernardSmith said:


> Off topic, I know but ...
> Quant folk also collect and process data but we also tend (he said) to try to make sense of the sense making of those we observe and study... whereas the quant people use their own understanding as the basis for the understandings of those they study (compare - Durkheim's study of suicide where if you think about it for a minute - Durkheim (and those who came after him) "know" which sudden death is a suicide and which an accident and which a homicide.They "know" because they treat as their resource the outcomes and findings of others (the statistical records)..and so can talk about the causes of suicide (anomie etc). But those records did not assemble themselves and no suicide counts itself. Suicides do not speak for themselves. Coroners and medical examiners and courts speak for verdicts of suicide. So we , for example, observe precisely how a coroner or M.E. or a court determines a cause of death. So for us the cause of a suicide is the coroner or M.E. - the folk who define and label the event... Others then collect THEIR labels and assume that those labels point to something going on in the heads of those labeled (psychologists) or assume that something is going on in the larger society (hack social scientists) . The same principles apply to every aspect of our experiences in the world - In other words, what fascinates us are the shared practices (and understandings) of those who label/define every aspect of our reality (from crime to "medical errors" to "obesity" to the discovery of the Higgs Boson) - which is why I am a qual and not a quant. and which is why sociology is a science but not a science that mimics physics or biology. It is the science of social practices and how those practices constitute and construct our every day reality. I end my lecture.



I totally share your point of view. In fact, this is the reason why I was so eager to shift focus from the pre-med track over to sociology early in college (though I finished both degrees). However, I ended up exploring the statistical side of sociology, which nowadays, unfortunately, steers clear of a lot of its interesting underlying theory (particularly classical), and focuses predominantly on improving methods developed by earlier quant studies. At the same time, I am working as a research assistant to a professor who generally does ethnographic research. At least, in this role I can evade my insecurity of being incapable of venturing into the qualitative domain on my own. 




WVMountaineerJack said:


> Acorn, you will remember this bit of advice through your whole career, study the sociology of winemakers! That will give you an inside into angle to learn as much about winemaking as you can while you are working and looking like a serious young professional person, you can indulge your hobby even while you have to work. WVMJ



I intend to study population health and aging, so in one way or another, I will probably incorporate various wine drinking habits as a factor in life expectancy and morbidity (yeah, nothing is obvious until one empirically proves it otherwise). After all, I think we all heard of those Frenchies that have a much lower risk of heart disease later in life because, presumably, they are moderate wine drinkers, as a whole. As for myself, indeed I see no reason why I would otherwise look or feel not serious about wine making. It's not that I have to use my graduate/professional work as an excuse for asking people or wine makers about their habits and practices. In contrary, I think I'll use my professional position as an excuse to advance my personal hobby knowledge, where possible, so I definitely follow your point. :>


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## REDRUM (Feb 15, 2016)

I'm the other way around. Getting into winemaking partly as a result of my postgraduate studies. Just finished my PhD in Anthropology where I was looking at approaches to landscape & land use in McLaren Vale, a peri-urban area in South Australia ... which just happens to be an important wine region!

Heading down there tomorrow to pick some Shiraz


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## REDRUM (Feb 15, 2016)

And fwiw I see no reason to stop making wine just because you're away from most of your equipment. You can ferment at whatever scale you want, and if you're in Seattle you'll have access to some great fresh grapes nearby.


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## acorn (Mar 17, 2016)

Apparently the wind has changed direction for me as of late: no longer considering UW and Seattle (visited, loved the city and the university campus, but I don't feel it's my place). Instead, I am going to UC Berkeley. In many ways I think it is even a better deal, given its proximity to San Francisco, good weather, and of course, magnificent wine. Napa, here I come!  

It's strange that wine or wine making wasn't among the factors I considered in making my final decision, and yet I seem to be in luck.


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## NorCal (Mar 17, 2016)

Great school and you are surrounded by grapes.


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## ibglowin (Mar 17, 2016)

Interesting. UW campus definitely has more of an East Coast "feel" to it so I would have thought you would feel very comfortable there. But alas, it does RAIN there a LOT! 

Both are great schools so...... WINNING!


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## Floandgary (Mar 17, 2016)

acorn said:


> Apparently the wind has changed direction for me as of late: no longer considering UW and Seattle (visited, loved the city and the university campus, but I don't feel it's my place). Instead, I am going to UC Berkeley. In many ways I think it is even a better deal, given its proximity to San Francisco, good weather, and of course, magnificent wine. Napa, here I come!
> 
> It's strange that wine or wine making wasn't among the factors I considered in making my final decision, and yet I seem to be in luck.



May ((wind)) up with a career change as well. If your free time does get you the area, consider http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/Visit-Us/Wine-and-Food-Pairing. Mary is a great Hostess and the wife of a cousin of mine as well


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## acorn (Mar 17, 2016)

Floandgary said:


> May ((wind)) up with a career change as well. If your free time does get you the area, consider http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/Visit-Us/Wine-and-Food-Pairing. Mary is a great Hostess and the wife of a cousin of mine as well



Oh wow, cool! I'll keep it in the back of my head when I venture in that direction.

Thanks!


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## Floandgary (Mar 17, 2016)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> Acorn, you will remember this bit of advice through your whole career, study the sociology of winemakers! That will give you an inside into angle to learn as much about winemaking as you can while you are working and looking like a serious young professional person, you can indulge your hobby even while you have to work. WVMJ



Very Sage indeed! Simply staying in touch with this Forum ought to reveal about as mixed-bag of wine personalities as you'd be likely to find anywhere :<


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## sour_grapes (Mar 18, 2016)

ibglowin said:


> Interesting. UW campus definitely has more of an East Coast "feel" to it so I would have thought you would feel very comfortable there. But alas, it does RAIN there a LOT!
> 
> Both are great schools so...... WINNING!



Yeah, I actually had a (mild) case of culture shock when I relocated from the east coast to Berkeley years ago. It was not something I could really put my finger on, but something just felt a bit "off." I only mention this by way of saying that it is possible that you will encounter something similar, and you will have to roll with the punches.


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## acorn (Mar 18, 2016)

sour_grapes said:


> Yeah, I actually had a (mild) case of culture shock when I relocated from the east coast to Berkeley years ago. It was not something I could really put my finger on, but something just felt a bit "off." I only mention this by way of saying that it is possible that you will encounter something similar, and you will have to roll with the punches.



Quite possibly. Although I visited both places and liked both, I think I can explain my preference for Berkeley in that I am used to all sorts of big-city madness, having lived in NYC for a decade now, and I'll miss that kind of roller-coaster of a life, should I move to Seattle. Though not a small city either, Seattle comes across to me as a place with that bucolic attitude and low-key way of life in many of its neigborhoods (yes, some of them are quite hipstery, but still...). Maybe I am judging by a different standard, but I by no means see it as bad, it's just not something to what I can subject myself for the next 5 years or so.


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## heatherd (Mar 18, 2016)

Congrats on heading to Berkley!


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## nephils (Mar 25, 2016)

Congrats. IMO, grad school is the perfect time to improve upon your hobby...speaking for myself, but if I had a wine making or brewing hobby in undergrad I probably would not have gone out as much, having that kind of hobby is a more enticing reason to stay home.


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## Floandgary (Mar 25, 2016)

acorn said:


> Quite possibly. Although I visited both places and liked both, I think I can explain my preference for Berkeley in that I am used to all sorts of big-city madness, having lived in NYC for a decade now, and I'll miss that kind of roller-coaster of a life, should I move to Seattle. Though not a small city either, Seattle comes across to me as a place with that bucolic attitude and low-key way of life in many of its neigborhoods (yes, some of them are quite hipstery, but still...). Maybe I am judging by a different standard, but I by no means see it as bad, it's just not something to what I can subject myself for the next 5 years or so.



By the time the west got settled, the population was made up of escapees who realized that the East was becoming a rat-race-madhouse. Ergo the laid back culture that may seem a little strange! JMHO


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