"Many years ago, this land that we now call Melbourne extended right out to the ocean."
N’Arwee’t Professor Carolyn Briggs AM is a Boonwurrung Elder who is recognised as a keeper of the history and genealogies of her people. In this article for Meanjin, N’Arwee’t Carolyn provides a history of the Yaluk-ut Weelam clan of the Boonwurrung, the first people of "Melbourne".
↯ READ: A HISTORY OF BOONWURRUNG (MELBOURNE) ↯
"Sound is more ancient than planet Earth. More ancient even than atoms. 13 billion years ago sound waves pulsed through the hot plasma of the early cosmos."
Pop on some good headphones and find a little nook for a journey into the origins and evolution of sound and song, written and narrated by sound ecologist David Haskell ↴
In the Northern hinterlands of Laos, the Hmong people practise a dying tradition of whistling, usually with leaves found in the forest. This thoroughly poetic tradition is a type of language that straddles the boundary between speech and music ↴
Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker's poetry residence for Running Dog culminated in her interactive work entitled 'General Instructions For Operating'.
Click (or tap) on words to keep, then erase the rest.
↯ CREATE YOUR POEM ↯
French choreographer Yoann Bourgeois presents a beautiful interpretative dance/play, as featured in his larger work entitled 'Celui qui tombe' (He Who Falls).
A profound take on the love; the cycles, the falls, the turns, the returns ↴
"We sleep and dream on First Nations lands."
Dreamy Sleep is a collection of long-form stories by First Nations artists, especially curated to be listened to as you drift off. Meditations for the dreamscape.
↯ LISTEN: DREAMY SLEEP MEDITATIONS ↯
One of the chapters in our Winemaking Manifesto is titled "An Ode To Cork". In it, we provide some context into why we use cork to seal our wines (and why we don't use screw caps), but the cork story is much more layered; we love everything about cork. Since the 1970s, Australia has become one of the biggest supporters of screw caps. Even though, globally, around 60-80% of all wine bottles are sealed with cork, in Australia, it's only approximately 15%. We don't think this is something to be proud of.
IMAGES:
The photos used in this article are from our visit to a cork forest in Sardegna, notice the "stripping" marks on the trees.
The cork oak forests of the Mediterranean basin (predominantly in Portugal and Spain) are critical ecologies on par with the Amazon in terms of biodiversity measures. These ancient forests, known as "Montados" in Portuguese, support hundreds of endemic species, several critically endangered species that live nowhere else (e.g. the Iberian lynx, the most endangered feline species in the world) and provide direct and vital economic stability to over 100,000 people, according to a WWF report. Since the 13th century, Portugal has protected the majestic cork oaks by law, given their fundamental role in the health and well-being of the community. The cork ecosystems are also a prime example of agroecology - the mutual application of ecological processes and farming - given these are landscapes shaped by the people over hundreds of years of layered sustainable agriculture (forestry, acorn harvest, livestock grazing, etc.).
Cork oak ("Sobreiro" in Portuguese) is an evergreen oak tree with an average lifespan of 170-200 years. Not touched until they are 25 years old, their bark is harvested in May to August (known as "stripping") using a small, fan-shaped axe and specialised precision; just shallow enough to not harm the tree, just deep enough for adequate thickness. Delicately peeled off the tree in circular sheets, this bark produces "cork". Each tree, after harvest, is marked with white paint and left for at least nine years to re-grow before it is harvested again. Given their long lifespans, it's not uncommon for these trees to be harvested by multiple generations of the same family.
Moreover, the bark becomes smoother after each harvest; the highest quality cork is often linked to the tree's longevity. Given the nature of the harvest, cork production is one of the only forestry techniques that doesn't result in the tree being cut down; the entire cork industry is dependent on (and committed to) the long-term health and vitality of the cork oak trees. The blend of precise harvesting skills and the refined management of these forests means cork harvest is one of the world's highest-paid seasonal farming jobs.
Then, from a carbon cycle perspective, each year these trees stand tall, more and more carbon is taken out of the atmosphere and pumped into the tree's structure and the soil. Cork forests absorb over 14 million tonnes of C02 yearly, almost as much to offset Papua New Guinea's annual emissions (15.4 million tonnes). A myth has also been circulating about a global cork shortage; however, Portugal (home to around 50% of the world's cork oak forests) can supply the current global cork demand for the next 100 years. There never has been, and nor will there be, a cork shortage. Moreover, given the ecological/social benefits of cork production, large-scale re-forestation programs are underway in the EU (cork forests are, in fact, growing by 4% each year).
Cork closures in wine were used to seal Greek/Roman amphorae thousands of years ago, along with other mediums like beeswax. But when uniformly-shaped glass bottles could be readily produced in the 16th century, corks that fit neatly into the bottles were made. Cork has been the most-used wine bottle closure ever since.
However, in the 1970s, countries like Australia started looking for cork alternatives, given "cork taint". Cork taint is an unpleasant-tasting chemical compound made by fungi living in the air pockets of cork (cork is 90% air, which is why it's an excellent natural insulative/acoustic material as well) called trichloroanisole (TCA). Wines tainted with TCA have a distinctively "corked" taste (musty, mouldy). However, cork is not the only source of TCA (it's a naturally occurring chemical). Other taints - triboromoanisoll (TBA) and brettanomycaes - are common and do not come from cork.
Nevertheless, with industrialism came the invention of the synthetic plastic/metal screw cap (no cork taint), and people started trading convenience with social/ecological outcomes. Nowadays, though, cork taint from good quality cork occurs less than ever. Amorim, our cork supplier, has developed a natural pre-processing technique (pressure, temperature, pure water and a bit of time) that separates the TCA from the cork. Good quality, well-produced cork is now reliably free of TCA. This is why, in this day and age, cork has never been better to use.
(Side note: For those interested in the entire process from bark to cork stopper, Amorim has a comprehensive step-by-step guide into cork production - take a look HERE)
What's more, Amorim has recently invested in multiple third-party audits into the sustainability of cork production from an emissions point of view. Compared to an aluminium screw cap, which emits 37g of carbon on average, the cork closure we use for Minimum (a single piece of oak punched out of the bark) sequesters 300g of carbon on average. A screw cap is carbon positive; a cork is actually carbon-negative. This allowed Amorim to supply Minimum with a detailed carbon audit from our cork purchases for 2022. Amazingly, we sequestered 28.71 tonnes of carbon by using cork, which offsets around 1/3 of our total carbon emissions for 2022!
It gets better as well if you consider a wine cork - unlike a screw cap - is compostable (I mean, it's just bark = you can pop them in your compost, the worms love them) or reusable/recyclable (you can recycle cork into other products like insulation, a common practice in the EU). At Minimum, we use a high-quality cork punched out of a single stretch of bark (no glues = compostable or reusable). However, you can get cork stoppers that are tiny bits of cork glued together (these are very common, but they aren't biodegradable because of the glues). If you open a bottle of wine under a cork and the cork looks like a piece of wood - that's because it probably is.
And let's be honest, that's extraordinary; a piece of bark from a tree in Portugal used to protect a wine in Australia, which is eventually put in the compost to slowly decompose back into the soil. That's the lifecycle of something living.
That's why we use cork.
]]>
Project Implicit is a team of Harvard scientists whose research aims to produce new ways of understanding our attitudes, stereotypes and other internal biases. They've created a range of interactive tests around personal relationships to health and wellbeing.
For those wanting to explore more, Project Implicit have also teamed up with multi-media artist Bayeté Ross Smith for two tests on racial biases. You can find them here.
↯ TAKE THE TEST ↯
"Besides being a poetic masterpiece in its own right, ‘The Exaltation’ bears the distinction of being the first known work of literature that was attributed to an author whom we can identify in the historical record, rather than to an anonymous tradition or a fictional narrator."
In this fascinating article by cultural historian and translator Sophus Helle, a poem from an exiled woman 4,200 years ago turns instability into cosmic insight.
↯ READ: POET OF IMPERMANENCE ↯
"My homage to the square has led me to demonstrate what colour does to US."
– Joseph Albers.
The legendary colour artist, Joseph Albers, understood the role of art to be something that reveals and evokes vision. This short film on his experiments with the humble square and colour tracks his artistic life and works ↴
“Remember the earth whose skin you are,” writes Joy Harjo, and there is literal truth to this. We are grown from the body of the Earth, we are made of it, and to it we return."
A free, online interactive cookbook by Emergence Magazine, celebrating the seasons through the food we prepare together.
↯ READ: SEASONS OF THE MONASTIC TABLE ↯
Awe hits us. It's in our bones when you look up into the worlds of the sky, when we look down, from a great height, back into the worlds of the ground. It transcends, it transports. But what is it, and how we we cultivate it in our lives? Scientists are still trying to figure out the what, why and how ↴
"For me, then, a poetry map is an outcome, a poetry-based artwork that uses cartographic elements, illustration, collage and text to present poetry in a way that effects the reading of the poem. "
– Lee Mackenzie.
UK poet Lee Mackenzie is embedded in the artistic practise of poetry mapping, transcribing poetry onto maps to create layered representations of physical landscapes. For Lee, the central question is: when do spaces become places.
↯ IMMERSE: LEE MACKENZIE'S POETRY MAPS ↯
Speak until the
names of things
need new ones.
Rebecca Thomassi is an Inuk woman interested in retaining the Inuit knowledge that her anscestors have observed and maintained. She travels into the land around Kangirsuk learning some of the 52 names for different types of snow that exist in Inuktitut.
A short 6-min short film on the many names within one word ↴
"Proposing alternative narratives to the hegemonic ones we are caught in is the work and play of geopoetics."
– Erin Robinsong
We've become totally enamoured by the Future Ecologies podcast
and this episode 'Geopoetics' is totally absorbing and translocating.
Collaged from a live group dialogue, listen as the voices move through you like a river.
It's a thoroughly deep and powerful learning experience ↴
"The city is language. There's so much more punctuation, there's so many conversations, there's so many interventions, there's so many overheard things, there's so many signs. It's just all other people and there's just so much collision and I think that's how I learnt to write."
– Eileen Myles.
Eileen Myles, the prolific American queer poet, takes NOWNESS on a walk through the place she's always called home, New York.
It's only a short, 4-min film but Eileen cuts straight into the heart of beating poetry and discusses what poems are, how they emerge and how they finish. This is one of poetry's biggest living legends firing directly from the hip ↴
The simple pleasure
of moving liquid
without spillage.
Sandor Katz (AKA Sandorkraut) is a New York Times bestselling author and self-described fermentation fetishist. Visit the queer homesteading community he's been living in for over twenty years and dig into his spiritual connection with microbes ↴
Four bodies in flowing interpretive dance. All shot on Super 16mm film in the hills and streets of Spaarnwoude, Amsterdam. Vibrant, nostalgic, cheeky ↴
"Walk with us into fields of lavender, sunflowers and buckwheat and listen to the sound of a world coming alive."
– The Pollinators of Slovenia.
Enter this immersive documentary by Emergence Magazine about regenerative pollinator farming in the hinterlands of Slovenia. Watch, listen, read as the story weaves together the history of humans, pollinators and their mutual flourishing.
↯ ENTER HERE ↯
Bare,
the sole,
and little bits,
of Earth.
"The heating planet is our commons. It holds us all. To address and reverse warming requires connection and reciprocity."
– Regeneration.org
Taken a plunge into Regeneration.org, award-winning author and regenerative juggernaut Paul Hawken's web offshoot from his new book 'Regeneration'.
Big giant tick from us on this one, it's immense.
↯ Head to the website: Project Regeneration ↯
"It's really something else very beautiful. Like dance, an art of the body. And you can see that in Charles' style."
– Christophe Laumone.
Spend a totally enchanting 29 minutes in Fontainebleau, the birthplace of bouldering, with a barefoot climber called Charles Albert, who is changing what it means to climb rocks.
↯ Short film: Barefoot Charles ↯
"They watch the art.
They watch you watch the art.
But who watches what the art does to them?"
– Osmosis.
No one spends more time around the world's most famous artwork than the security guards who protect it. Did you know many of them are artists?
Watch this stunning 3-min short film on the artists guarding art ↴
OSMOSIS from Gentle Cowboys on Vimeo.
Letting.
Your day-to-day life will fill your energies.
Let this be your world,
for it is essential in determining
your purpose for the year ahead.
It may not seem like it now,
but letting daily activities be more than mundane:
Letting them be the centre.
Letting them be your everything.
Letting them be the most meaningful experiences.
Letting them be a ritual.
This is what will determine your alignment with your lived purpose for 2023.
Fill the journal page to its final line,
sit within one yoga pose to take note of your body,
bake and look to each flour particle,
turn your phone off on the train,
ask your certain someone a question of their intentions
& "heart" yourself.
– L.
We show up,
with our ears,
both.
"... reproduction of aliveness through contact; that's, as far as I can tell, how life works."
– Hannah Close
Writer, author and curator Hannah Close on the Team Human podcast;
on how we move from reciprocity to kinship ↴
A favourite episode from a favourite podcast;
Tyson Yunkaporta, one of Australia's finest Indigenous scholars,
on his book Sandtalk and living stories of creation ↴
The first of an eight-part audio documentary masterpiece;
the hidden realities of rhino poaching in South Africa ↴
If you enjoyed Tyson's episode on the RegenNarration podcast above, he has his own podcast The Other Others, which is deep and fantastic.
If you enjoyed Ocean Vuong's episode with Krista Tippet, check out Krista's interview with Nobel physicist Frank Wilczek, it's an unbelievably moving meditation on ideas and beauty, and the beauty in ideas.
Or, for something a little humorous and leftfield, take a listen to 99% Invisible's episode called 'Whomst Among Us Has Let The Dogs Out', a tremendous piece of journalism on the crazy origin story of that song that got stuck in everyone's head. It's a lot of fun.
Between the breath,
past and future, breathing,
– dying, to breathe.
"The humpback whale song from the West Australian population turned up in the East Australian population and suddenly took over the song there. No one had ever seen these song revolutions before ... what we found with this "one-off" actually turned out to be this whole dynamic song transmission across the ocean basin."
– Dr Ellen Garland
Watch Dr Ellen Garland's incredible discovery of whale song revolutions that potently shape and re-shape whale cultural identity across the Pacific ↴
"Read left to right, right to left, top to bottom, outside to in and back again. Let verbs become nouns and nouns disappear into the wilderness."
– Luke Patterson.
Powerfully displayed by Running Dog (the online arts publication), Luke Patterson's Illawarra Wandering takes us on a multi-sensory poem journey, complete with field recordings that you can layer and re-layer yourself. Headphones recommended for the full experience.
↯ Full poetry immersion: Illawarra Wandering ↯
Let the thinking mind take a beat, explore futuristic gardens;
dissolve into this hypnotically warping infinite painting.
↯ Prepare yourself: Arkadia loop ↯
Nikolaus Baumgarten, creator of the infinite loop painting "Arkadia" above, has a few other wild worlds to pull yourself into. Check out Zoom Quilt #1 and Zoom Quilt #2.
At Minimum, we’ve got a few internal team mantras to help us stay grounded. One of them is “seek the minimum”; how might we use, tinker and waste less whilst generating energetic and meaningful wines. How can we pull back, and let our grapes express themselves. How can we step aside, and let the soil do it’s thing. It’s in this pulling back where we, as a team, start to bear witness to the full spectrum of joy in the art of making wine and sharing it around.
There’s always lots to unpack when we reflect on our minimum. And from the perspective of our environmental footprint, we’ve been thinking about alternative packaging. With the release of our 4L boxed wine, Days & Nights: 2021 Red Grapes, now's the time to give you an insight into the upsides and the challenges to boxed wine and why we decided it was worth it.
But before we unpack the box, let’s look through glass bottles.
If you bottle your wine in glass, like most, the glass becomes the single largest source of emissions for the wine. Glass demands a lot of energy to produce and transport, it’s heavy and then it requires a fair bit of energy to melt and mould for recycling. In Australia, on average, 38% of the embedded emissions in a single bottle of wine comes from the glass (roughly 17% in the vineyard, 19% in the distribution, 26% in the winery and 38% from the glass). And if you extend that estimation of emissions out to the entire life cycle of the bottle of wine, which then includes costs of recycling/not recycling, around 68% of the emissions comes from glass (given the current issues with glass recycling in Aus). There are lightweight glass options for still wines, which we use, however this only reduces emissions by 10-15% overall. Then throw in what the UN this year called a “sand crisis” (glass = made from sand), with sand being the most exploited resource in the world apart from water, and things start to look a little less transparent with glass bottles.
Glass has been used for storing wine since the 1630’s and does it very, very well. It stores wines for a tremendously long time, the modern bottling technology is quick and efficient and you can easily hand bottle yourself with gravity (no electricity needed). It’s what we all know and love. But as above, it doesn't come without its downsides.
So, what about wine in boxes…
Australia has been a bit of a leader when it comes to alternative wine packaging; we invented cask/boxed wine, invested heavily in the screw cap (however we’re massive proponents of cork) and were one of the early pioneers in the budding canned wine movement. Australia seems to be, therefore, really well set up to keep developing these alternative forms.
4L of boxed wine weighs around half that of the bottle equivalent, which is 5.3 bottles of wine. The 4L box uses over 80% less emissions than the 5.3 bottles of glass. So there are major savings in the emissions reduction from the packaging itself, but there’s also a 50% reduction in emissions if we look at transport alone. As a broader picture, given the vineyard/winery emissions for box and glass would be the same, the carbon footprint of a 4L box of wine is about 40-50% less than the equivalent amount of wine in standard glass bottles.
Boxed wine is also way more efficient to store and move (a 4L box is smaller than you think), requires far less energy to distribute and you don’t contribute to the very real sand shortage. And then there’s one massive added benefit aside from its environmental footprint; once you open a boxed wine it can stay fresh for 4-6 weeks (often longer), whereas a bottle, if re-sealed, might last a week, tops. No oxygen is allowed into the bag once a boxed wine is open, meaning no spoilage from oxidation, which is likely to happen pretty quick once you drink half a bottle of wine and leave it overnight.
It sounds perfect right? But wine-in-a-box is not without its challenges to overcome also…
Currently, the bag in our box is PET/MET, which means it's plastic fused with metal. This is currently not recyclable in Australia, however the tap is a hard 100% PET plastic, so it's recyclable in a standard recycling bin. There are 100% PET bags available, however they are designed for water storage so we're running tests on them with our wines to see how they hold up over time. We're confident that we can soon sort out a better option. Then, for the 100% PET bag (soft plastic), with the current state of Australia's recycling industry and the stricter regulations around plastic exports to China, a challenge is the recyclability of the soft plastics. However, for regions like the EU that have proper recycling systems in place, this isn’t so much of an issue. There are positive signs though, since the creation of Recycling Victoria in 2020 that’s been specifically tasked with better recycling of plastic products and implementing more circular economies around “waste” streams, we have reasons to feel very hopeful about this.
Boxed wine also doesn’t last all that long once boxed up, perhaps around 6-8 months is a conservative estimate (though in our experience it's more like 12 months+, which is backed up by what we're hearing from other wine labels). This isn’t so much of an issue for us as we’re intentionally only making very small batches of boxed wine, so it won’t be on the shelves long enough for the wine to be at risk.
But the previous challenge then created another challenge; boxing in small quantities is more difficult to actually pull off without economies of scale. Our first run of boxed wine, Days & Nights: 2021 Red Grapes, was only 750 units (a very small amount). It took us quite a while to find and then bring the numerous players together to simply get the project off the ground. Essentially, the lower your volume is, the harder it is for the supply chain to get value from the project. We considered purchasing the equipment needed to box wine ourselves, but it’s just not affordable, at all, at our scale. But this is one obstacle we won't let get in our way and we are hoping this is a space that we will be able to keep growing into. We think the benefits are worth the experimentation and commitment from us; we'll always keep our boxes small batch.
Everything unpacked, we felt it was right for us to give boxed wine a go. While we have produced our first ever package that isn't 100% recyclable, the enormous benefits in carbon-footprint reduction deserved a shot. And we’re really proud of our new boxed-wine baby. The thinking around the idea has been percolating for a very long time within our team, and we are so excited to have this first small batch release available for you after what's been a long and fascinating process for us. Light red. Limited Run. In a Box.
Wine shop → Days & nights: 2021 Red Grapes.
]]>
Yearning.
The new season arrives --
you yearn for your yesterdays
unexpected,
you are every season.
Movement.
Winter/Summer solstice has passed, and it's time to move forward.
Right now, the sense is that it is not complicated: cut and run, baby. Throw it on the floor, step over it and move on. Evacuate.
It may sound like advice from a father as he says, "toughen up", but it's simply that it's time: move on.
*Oomancy is a traditional form of egg divination to predict fate and future.
Notice a block to move on?
1. Sit somewhere you feel super comfortable and most yourself
2. Let the future possibilities run wild through your mind. Let them do whatever they want to do here.
3. Start defining it a little more: imagine and play out the scenarios you most wish for.
4. Notice: what is the imagined scenario you are most drawn to?
5. Grab onto this imagined scenario and immerse yourself.
What are the sights, sounds, feelings, tastes, and smells there? What else does it want to show you? Is there something it wants to give you? Is there something it wants to take away?
1. Bring the thing to mind
2. Sit with it and stay curious about it, as if it is your friend*
3. Notice it, talk to it, visualise it*
4. Ask it questions*
5. Notice any bodily sensations that emerge as you do this.
6. Note what emerges (anything at all - colours, letters, words, sensations) and write it down, even if your mind tells you it is irrelevant.
7. Repeat the above for each thing. Look back at your paper and see what it tells you.
*Si, literally!
Release it.
The sum of the time,
you have spent with your inner.
Accumulate it, release it
to whomever or whatever,
walk forward.
Waving outside
the window
the earth
was breathing.
"The fungi underground are in communication with one another."
– Dr Tom Volk
Listen to Dr Tom Volk, world-renowned fungal expert,
as he speaks to the hilariously brilliant Alie ward,
host of Ologies, the award-winning podcast for rabbit-holing ↴
"We are Earth unraveling and reforming creation. We are meant to engage not isolate. These are difficult days. What causes us to recoil, strike, and retreat is also what allows us to reach out from the anxiety of unknowing and dare to trust what is to come—a reassembling of our humanity."
– Terry Tempest Williams, Emergence Magazine.
Emergence Magazine's brand new Issue 3 pushes the boundaries on so many fronts. Check it out, it's a wildly engaging multi-sensory journey.
↯ Dive in: Emergence Magazine Issue 3 ↯
“Migration can be triggered by the angle of sunlight, indicating a change in the season, temperature, plant life, and food supply. Female monarchs lay eggs along the route. Every history has more than one thread, each thread a story of division. The journey takes four thousand eight hundred and thirty miles, more than the length of this country. The monarchs that fly south will not make it back north. Each departure, then, is final. Only their children return; only the future revisits the past.”
– Ocean Vuoung
An immersive, expansive, multi-generational migration story;
spend a few minutes in Mexico, with the monarchs ↴
What can butterflies tell us about the stories we tell about them?
TedTalk: How you can help save the monarch butterfly
Savouring.
A seagull,
the peach juices spill,
sunlight crinkles the sea sections,
and in between I am savouring sunlight--
for tomorrow will be all sleep.
Newness.
You may have been feeling afraid of the world, which is also to say you have felt afraid of yourself. But there is now an essential newness calling you: it may be towards a new relationship, life structure, creative project, or career development waiting for you.
The fear of yourself may live in a part of you that is fearing a specific emotion, or perhaps you haven't been able to touch in with your emotions. Or maybe, you have been enduring something that no longer brings you joy.
Whatever the source: right now, it is necessary to make a change so that you can step into this necessary newness that is waiting for you.
*With change, comes loss. What do you need to lose, in order to emerge into this necessary newness? *
Support yourself to make this change.
Find a vessel that helps you to connect your inner world. Chose something that is of comfort to you and represents your power.
It may be a physical memento that you place on your desk that reminds you of your inner strength; it might be something that you physically do that brings you comfort and helps you take a bold step from here.
Whatever you chose: keep it close by as a reminder of your emotional grounding supporting you to make this necessary change.
2022 begs of our communication.
Hear when you say:
- "I could not..."
- "I cannot..."
- "I will never..."
Stop and ask yourself, is that really true for you right now? Reframe it to:
- "Right now, I would find that challenging because..."
- "If I did that, it would mean.. "
Fulfilment.
The focus of these months is clear: they are about the fulfilment of your dreams or desires. All possibilities are working equally for you; it's about harnessing them.
Two essentials call for your attention to ensure fulfilment is achieved:
- Who surrounds you? This may support or hinder; pay attention.
- Have a clear focus on what is it that you want to happen: what exactly is your dream or desire?
*Oomancy is a traditional form of egg divination to predict fate and future.
Communing is
the love act
of friendship.
"The effort of the imagination is to turn a boundary into a horizon...
Boundary says 'here, and no further', the horizon says 'welcome'."
Watch/listen to Barry Lopez, renowned author and naturalist,
as he speaks about spiritual ecology
and how the desert is a repository of silence ↴
↯ Watch & listen here ↯
"Bees
and
flies
buzz
past
my
ear
and
the
wind
makes
the
trees
talk
low"
– Freya Alexander.
Freya Alexander's poem 'Woodend'; feels like lying in the long grass.
Delve into it, alongside Ellie Waddingham's poem 'one day when i grow up'.
↯ Read: Two poems ↯
Go for a guided nature walk
with Potawatomi writer and ecologist, Robin Wall Kimmerer,
as she maps a new geography of hope
between humans and the more-than-human world ↴
]]>
Fiano’s home is in a v. idyllic warm and coastal part of Italy called Campania, where it’s predominately grown in the Avellino hinterlands. It’s a pretty beautiful place to grow if you were a grape – ocean views, long, hot ripening season and cooling afternoon sea breezes carrying the ever-present smell of passata up into the vineyard. Yum.
It’s a white varietal that was likely grown by the ancient Romans for a drink they called Apanium (meaning “bees” in Latin), as bees LOVE the high sugar content in ripening Fiano grapes. Over time it’s gone in and out of fashion because it’s a relatively low yielding crop with small, thick-skinned grapes. However, it’s super drought tolerant and the grapes retain high natural acidity, which means it can be left to fully ripen, producing big-time flavour and bright aromatics without losing freshness. On the style spectrum it’s probably somewhere close to viognier or semillon, throwing out flavours like lemon zest, grapefruit, peach, apricot and some honeyed characters – so as they say, good things in life come in small packages. Our head winemaker’s (Matt Purbrick) fave white varietal is Fiano (equal with Malvasia) so he can’t wait to get his hands on some. This love affair Matt’s got with Fiano may also be because he’s half-Italian, so this wine for him feels, well, very him.
– Our '22 Fiano.
Generally, Australia is considered Fiano’s second home, but it hasn’t been around that long here. The first commercial Fiano release was in 2005 by Coriole in Maclaren Vale, SA, and was initially planted (like many Italian varieties) due to the similarity in climates between southern Italy and southern Australia (and because it tastes like you’re eating a handful of juicy stone fruit on an Italian beach, which = delicious right?). Since then, Fiano has exploded across Australia (not literally). In the early 00’s there wasn’t really a widely produced or popular Italian white grown in Australia, and so when Fiano came onto the scene it quickly dug its roots in deep (literally). Early Australian releases tended to accentuate its naturally banging aromatics, but more recently we’re seeing people experiment with early/late picking or skin contact to push the fruit complexity, texture or thundercracking acidity. Our approach will be aiming to pick right on the knife edge between riper and under-ripe (the goldilocks zone) and ferment on full skins for a big and very fun orange-style wine.
Regardless, it’s a variety that’s got variety; Fiano tends to evoke site-specific flavours (terroir) and so they all tend to taste notably different from vineyard to vineyard. Can’t wait to see what it’s got to show us!
– '22 Fiano.
– Also known as Garnacha or Cannonau.
As a start, there’s some pretty interesting Aussie wine history linked to Grenache. Back in the 1830’s the very first cuttings of vines for winemaking came to Australia from Spain and France. Brought over by a young guy called James Busby (who’s now known as the “father of Australian wine”), just over 350 cuttings survived. In the moss-filled postal boxes he sent over were some Grenache, which was thought to have originated from either Spain or France (grenache is a French word for the Spanish “garnacha”). It is now thought that its history goes even further back to the island of Sardinia in Italy and the jury is still out whether the Spanish took it from the island, or the island received it from the Spanish occupiers. Either way, it is still a massively favoured grape in Sardinia (where our winemaker Matt has been living, on-and-off, for the past few years) where it’s usually picked fully (read: over) ripe, and fermented into crazy high-alcohol cuvees with the local varietal name Cannonau (‘hits you like a cannon’). Bang.
– '22 Grenache.
So, James Busby brings some Grenache over to Aus and it’s quickly planted in the Sydney botanical gardens. Then, quite soon after it arrives, it makes its way down to some vineyards in SA. This makes it one of the earliest vines planted in Aus, and by the 1860’s it was considered one of the most popular varieties in Australia. Back then, and up until around the 1960’s, fortified wine was all the rage and Grenache was number one for fortified. Once tastes changed to more still table wines, Grenache fell out of favour in Australia, but now it’s coming back in a big way.
Interestingly, Grenache does well when grown without a trellis, preferring to grow as a bush vine. Most of the Grenache in the Barossa grows like this as the vines largely take care of themselves (there are Grenache vines in the Barossa over 160 years old – some of the oldest in the world). It does well in the heat given its Mediterranean heritage and is usually fruit-forward (ripe red fruits like raspberry, plum and cherry), low tannin and floral/perfumed. Initially going out of fashion in the 1970’s in Australia, as the heavier styles like Shiraz took over, Grenache is starting to have a bit of a comeback as tastes start to shift towards lighter-style reds like Pinot Noir and Sangiovese. It’s also one of the best dance partners; it’s an integral part of the legendary SA three-way combo called “GSM” (Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro) and the super famous French Rhône blend, which must contain at least 50% Grenache. Blended or straight up, Grenache brings some serious fruit bomb vibes without the blow-your-head-off tannin. We’ll be making it in a very similar style to the way we make our Sangiovese; a very Italian-influenced light red flavour bomb.
– '22 Grenache.
– Also known as Mourvedre or Monastrell.
Mataro has quite the backstory, especially in relation to what it’s called. It’s known as different things around the world, which obviously isn’t at all uncommon, but in this case has led to some pretty crazy confusion, especially in Australia. Known as Monastrell in Spain, where it is likely to have originated, the grape arrived in France around the Middle Ages where it was called Mourvèdre (likely a French word for the Spanish town Murvedio).
– '22 Mataro.
Fast-forward to the mid 1800’s and Europe had lost most of their vines to the horrific phylloxera plague. Around this time Mourvèdre was brought over to Australia and the US, only it was called Mataro for some reason, named after a town in Barcelona (a name that persists still in Portugal). Mataro kind of flew under the radar in Australia, unable to live up to the hype around other popular French imports like Cabernet Sauvignon because we were unaware that Mataro (which was considered unsophisticated) was Mourvèdre (which was super well loved). What’s crazy is that it wasn’t until the 1990’s, more than 100 years after it came to Australia, that people realised Mataro was actually Mourvèdre! Classic mix-up. Now, the oldest un-grafted Mataro vines are in the Barossa (planted in 1853, they’re 170 years old). PSA: We’ll be calling it Mataro.
Mataro, stylistically, is quite similar to a heavier-style red like Cabernet Sauvignon and has the ability to produce high tannin wines that can be quite earthy, dark, deep and meaty. Like Grenache it’s a fantastic blending partner, bringing some great depth, body and oomph to the table. However, it’s not uncommon to find Mataro rosés that are quite complex yet delicate given it produces quite pronounced floral aromatics. It’s a late-ripening variety that loves a long and hot Summer and produces a wonderfully deep purple colour. The fullest in tannin and body of our three new graftings, this wine brings some seriously diverse flavour profiles (cacao, plum, blackberry, liquorice, truffle, herbs, hay). Again, another new variety that loves warm/dry climates and should do well in our hot hot Summers. We’ll be making a no-contact rosé with our Mataro that should look like a white (“blanc de noir”) and then we’ll pick some not too late to make a red, aiming for something light.
– '22 Mataro.
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Lentil Purbrick, intuitive mentor and mindset coach as well as our Co-Founder/Creative Director guides us ever so gently into 2022.
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It's time to listen to your inner wisdom. As you begin to take your next steps forward, you may not know the how — the only way to know is by taking a step, then another.
Listen to whatever is pulling at your shirt corners.
The question is, how will you support yourself while walking into the unknown?
Who are you?
You are unique. And most likely 2021 showed you that, as it pointed you in new directions, prompting you to realign with yourself, and now ends with a final statement: you are entering a new era of you.
ACTIVITY:
Make a ritual on each full moon to journal, "clearing out" whatever you were met with in the previous month.
Prompt: acknowledge both your light and dark sides while you journal, giving them each a voice — try to listen without judgement to what they each have to say.
The new year (ideally on New Year's Day) is the perfect time to reassess your "What".
What drives your decisions? What will drive them going forwards?
ACTIVITY:
Create a "no-thought" vision board, whether on Pinterest or cut-and-paste. Pick and choose what you are drawn to without much thought.
When you are finished and your page is full, look at what you have created. Sense into what it speaks to overall — what drives you today? What will drive you for the way forwards?
There is an unmistakable energy present for 2022.
Your exploits will be successful; however, look out for times that call for protection of yourself. Especially on particular occasions, where many people are involved in the collective "you". There may also be an external or environmental event that will call for some self-care time.
Attention:
Something in particular will call for your attention in 2022, or you will be the one paid attention to.
The most important things for 2022:
Communication will be imperative to your success. And even more important will be the big events in your life — these will hold great significance and relate to your love/loved ones.
* Oomancy is a traditional form of egg divination to predict fate and future.
Q: I worry I will never feel content, there has been so much uncertainty, and I am happy where I live and what I do, but something is always niggling in the back of my mind. What do I do?
A: Firstly, give yourself compassion for everything that has been and all the versions of you that have existed in 2021. They were helping and supporting you.
For your way forwards; explore the instinct that is pulling at you. We often hold secrets, even from ourselves.
ACTIVITY:
Take yourself to a quiet space, try writing without thought or judgement— letting your subconscious do the work for you. Reflect on the words that fall onto the page.
∞
Written by our Creative Director/Co-Founder, Lentil Purbrick (BA, Intuitive Mentor & Mindset Coach). This guide is designed to be read as inspiration. Take what resonates with you.
Credit: Tarot card by Sophy Hollington with David Keenan for Rough Trade Books.
Questions? mail@lentilpurbrick.com
"So for my youngest I leave an apology.
That you will never let the citrus lick of dew stain your fingers.
Nor the smell that lingers after the rain.
Frame your autumn days.”
Award-winning spoken word poet, Ellen Renton,
performing her poem 'Passing' ↴
Son-mat, 손맛: adj
The taste of one’s hands.
There’s a certain unique flavour/vibe/feeling that is transferred via touch when you make ferments (like wine or kimchi) with your hands. We call it “hand magic”, but the Koreans call it ‘son-mat’. ‘Son-mat’ literally translates to “the taste of one’s hands”. On the one hand (no pun), there’s the persons totally unique microbiome and bacterial flora that interact directly with the ferment as soon as the hands are plunged in. On the other, it is believed that ‘Son-mat’ also has something to do with the maker’s spirit or energy being passed from the hands into the live culture.
We’ve been thinking a lot about ‘son-mat’ lately because our head winemaker is called Matt and just wrapped up a small harvest on his 1/3 acre dry-farmed vineyard in Sardinia, Italy, where everything was done by hand. From slashing the grass and herbs, to pruning, to picking, to hand-pressing the grapes (photos below). It was laborious work, but it’s sure nice to trade the drone of petrol engines for the drifting sounds of sheep bells from the mountainside. Doing everything by hand means, well, it’s just you and the vines. No machinery, no fumes, no industrial efficiency.
This is where ‘son-mat’ starts to encompass a whole other dimension of experience and flavour; the slow, physical joy of doing everything with your body. It feels strangely beautiful to know that with your body alone you can help a small field of vines through the entire growing season and be viscerally present through the entire metamorphosis of grape into wine. There is a certain lineage you feel in your body as well; a feeling of connection with our ancestors, who, with only the most basic tools, began to explore this incredible act of fermentation and preservation. It’s an exchange; both you and the wine are being shaped in the process. Wine, hand-made. Hands, wine-made.
Waves, phenomena.
Lose your mind to the patterns of sound waves moving through salt and water ↴
A faded scrapbook,
a reassembled teacup,
a mouthful of moments.
"Though we have instructions and a map buried in our hearts when we enter this world, nothing quite prepares us for the abrupt shift to the breathing realm.”
Krista Tippett in conversation with the incredible Joy Harjo.
On dreaming, time, place and what holds it all together. ↴
you were carried here
by so many hands
the hands of your ancestors
pouring your life, like precious water
...
A short poem by Emily Taylor for The Community Voice
on the many hands of ancestry, and the gravity of being here.
READ: Ancestry by Emily Taylor.
The Japanese have a word for shadows
that emerge when sunlight filters through trees:
Korembi.
Watch: A stunning 4-minute short film on the passing light of our days. ↴
Dog at my pillow.
Dog at my feet.
My own toothbrush.
"I've been to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It's a tower, and it's leaning. You look at it, but nothing happens, so then you look for someplace to get a sandwich."
– Danny DeVito
Everyone loves a good sandwich, toasted.
Kelso's Sandwich Shoppe share their secrets.
Community Voice: The Classic Chop Cheese recipe ↴
Tuck in for the evening.
Make: Tahini & honey-caramel at-home popcorn by Lunch Lady
Pour: A glass of our 2020 Field Red
Watch: A beautiful film, made from crowdsourced footage from one day, July 25 2020 ↴
Is the horizon within,
where I end
and you begin?
"A selection of portraits documenting mothers and their maternal experience.
My hope is that by normalising the post partum body and the uncomfortable and difficult aspects of parenting children it might assist in helping women be more realistic in expectations they place on themselves, their bodies and their children."
– Photographer Lisa Sorgini.
What is mother?
Lisa Sorgini, documents the maternal ↴
Trace past the curve of the Big Dipper's handle,
down through the bright orange star Arcturus,
and continue until you come to another bright star: Spica.
NASA's interactive night sky, showing you how to read constellations.
Find Virgo, find a cluster of 2,000 galaxies, find the black hole's jet stream ↴
p.s.
There's a meteor shower on May 7 called Eta Aquarids,
caused by the debris of Comet Halley,
that can be seen from Australia.
Once the sugar is all gone, the yeast say goodbye and the bacteria say hello. Welcome: our guide to secondary fermentation.
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Malolactic fermentation (malo) can actually begin during primary fermentation, but nothing really happens in a meaningful way until after primary fermentation stops. As the sugars are eaten and the alcohol content rises, the fermentation baton is passed to bacteria. Malolactic fermentation is, as the name suggests, a process whereby malic acid is turned into lactic acid by a family of bacteria. If you’ve ever made pickles, kim-chi or sauerkraut then this is pretty much the same kind of process, just a different type of bacteria.
Malic acid was first isolated from apple juice (the Latin word for apple is mālum), and it’s the main acid in fruits like apples, peaches, pears and plums and the second most predominant acid in grapes after tartaric acid. The main flavour component of rhubarb is actually malic acid. So, if you can imagine that tartness, that’s malic acid in a nutshell.
Traditionally, all wines would go through malo, but these days, while all red wines are still left to proceed through this natural process, modern conventional wisdom is that only certain white varieties, like Chardonnay, should go through, with most other white varieties (and rosé wines) stopped before it can happen, to preserve the 'fresh' and 'bright' characters that malic acid brings. Winemakers can prevent malo by adding sulphur, filtering the bacteria, keeping the pH below 3.3 with a large addition of organic acid like ascorbic or tartaric, or cooling the wine down below 14°C and holding it there.
We love malo, so only prevent it in a very few batches of wine, like some components of our Main Range Dry Rosé. We prevent malo by keeping the wine cool after primary fermentation is complete until blending and bottling, and then running the wine through a filter before bottling, which removes the bacteria that drive the process.
Malo is a spontaneous and natural process and it starts to really get going a few weeks after primary fermentation is done and dusted. Sometimes, malo starts early if the conditions are right, but when winter sets in and the cellars cool down then malo goes dormant. Just like when winemakers want to intervene and prevent malo they cool down the wine, well this is what winter does. Spring brings warmer weather and then the bacteria wake up and malo begins again. Sometimes we’ll even place our barrels out in the sun during this period to get things moving.
Then, once things warm up enough, the bacteria get to work. Malic acid is eaten, and lactic acid is excreted. The tart/sourness drops off and you get the buttery acid notes (think: yoghurt). That’s thanks to lactic acid. The bacteria at work here are everywhere: in the vineyard, on the grapes, in the winery and they’re in the air, so they’re inside us too. Not only does this process de-acidify the wine and provide butter/pastry vibes (think: bakery), it also gives the wine a smoother, more rounded mouthfeel. Primary fermentation is eating a fresh apple straight off the tree, malo is putting that apple inside some puff-pastry and making a delicious danish.
As we’ve just mentioned, the mouthfeel you get from malo is softness / roundness and buttery notes. Explaining why is pretty technical, but essentially, it’s got to do with proton exchanges and changes in pH. The buttery flavour has a lot to do with a compound called diacetyl, which is what is synthesised and used to flavour microwave popcorn. True fact. On the nose, the aromatics of malo are slightly harder to predict. Different strains of bacteria can change aroma in different ways. But the common aromatic notes you’ll get are roasted nuts / dried fruits in whites and roasted/smoky/chocolatey aromatics in reds. Often though, in reds especially, malo can reduce some of the primary fruit characters.
We play with malo in all of our wines. Either all components will go through malo (like our Chardonnay and Reds), or we’ll blend some primary ferments with some malo ferments (like our Short Runs Whites & Rosés). Blending malo components with just a little of a primary-ferment-only component can offer the best of both worlds; clean zippiness with textural softness. This creates a moreish dance in your mouth that we are always striving to capture.
The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people.
Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.
The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people.
Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.
– My People by Langston Hughes
What is beauty to you?
Draw, write, whisper; tell us what you think.
The Community Voice submissions, on beauty, now open ↴
Tahini + honey caramel, spice turmeric, brown sugar + cinnamon.
How to make the perfect at-home popcorn,
an artful recipe by Lunch Lady.
Pair it with our 2020 'San Selvaggio 'Sangiovese'
and film recommendations from Very Good Films. ↴
We're starting to feel the soul of this vintage.
The vines matured through Spring and Summer well, and the low temperatures meant a slow and steady ripening phase.
Vintage is not only a time of harvest, and an entrance into fermentation, but also an exchange; the grapes are passed from farmer to winemaker.
The grapes were welcomed into the winery as they were picked: first the whites, then the rosés and then – slowly, slowly – the reds. It's tremendously enjoyable to develop, year after year, a stronger connection to the true character of our grapes as they show themselves to us. Vintage is a time of reflection, of transformation and also of surprise as we experiment with new blends, new seasonal variations and new senses of the world.
We're starting to feel the soul of this vintage, and we can't wait for you to taste it ↴
SOFT & SENSUAL
To make sense
is to arouse the senses.
Autumn is coming,
say our bodies.
Sticky, connected, honeyed, smoked, sensitive.
A micro-essay, on the sensuality of beekeeping.
[Feel it] ↴
When people come beekeeping they often ask: how many others have come out beekeeping as part of the Honey Fingers project? The truth is we lost track years ago. 100? 150? Before 2020, people often joined hive inspections and a rooftop or forest picnic. This wasn’t planned, it just happened. If people were curious about bees, we went beekeeping.
From there many real and enduring friendships, creative collaborations, exhibitions, international adventures, research trips and essays–the things that now define Honey Fingers–were hatched. It is impossible to imagine this beekeeping practice without the human community that helps care for the bees. Honeybees are wonderful nodes in urban ecologies, food webs and social networks. Some people feel a very strong desire to be guardians of bees, and the simple act of beekeeping brings this community of like-minded people together.
The second thing many say, when they step into the truck, is that it smells beautiful: smoke (from the bee smoker), honey, wax, the cinnamon notes of propolis. It is a good segue into discussing how beekeeping is less about instruction manuals after a while, and more about a kind of sensual literacy beekeepers develop.
If you do it right, beekeeping is about using all the senses: before we open a hive we watch the entrance for a few minutes. The activity at the entrance reveals so much about what is going on inside and in the field.
We listen carefully for the mood of the hive: the louder the roar of the hive becomes during an inspection the more anxious the bees are (this is the cue to close the hive). We use smell to gauge the health of the hive (some hive diseases smell bad, a healthy hive just smells…. good). In the gentle hives we beekeep without gloves: not as a sign of machismo, but because skin contact–touch–makes us more sensitive. Our skin is vulnerable, so we take a particular, meditative care. And taste: beekeeping is not just about honey, but it’s a delicious perk in good seasons when the hive produces more than they need for winter.
After a while it is the intuitive sensory responses to the honeybee organism, and the surrounding ecology, that guide bee guardianship. When we rob a little honeycomb and taste it, usually a few metres away from the hive, we become connected to an urban food web that links us in a meaningful way to the geckos that hide under hive lids and snack on stray bees; the red wattlebirds that lurk around the hive all day, stealing nectar and pollen-enriched returning foragers; the many invertebrates that are attracted to the food sources and warmth of a hive; and an invisible (to our eyes) microbiome of friendly yeasts and bacteria that also live in our bodies. When we rob fresh honeycomb and eat it immediately it is about the temperature of our own blood (about 35℃ in summer). It is warm and soft and sticky. It reminds us of the beauty of what we do, our connections to the more-than-human world around us and how fortunate we are to be guardians of these fascinating creatures.
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Wine is a magical process of transformation; grapes become wine. Here’s how the magic happens.
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We pick the grapes at dawn when they're nice and cool. We are after cool temperatures to keep the sweet juices nice and fresh while they make their way over to the winery.
Within a couple of hours after being picked, they’re in the winery and the fun begins. They’re crushed (squishy squashing each little grape) and de-stemmed (a set of whirling fingers literally fling away all the leaves and stems, leaving only the crushed grapes) and pumped into a vessel, their fermenting home. The vessel is usually stainless steel, but sometimes it’s an open concrete or old wooden vat, or, for many Short Runs batches, a huge bucket equivalent to one barrel of wine!
Over the next 10-20 days the grapes undergo 'primary' fermentation. The natural yeasts in the vessel get busy, converting sugar into alcohol and creating CO2. The CO2 bubbles up through the mixture, lifting the grape skins to the surface and creating a thick top layer. Around twice a day we plunge the wine with our hands or a special plunging tool to mix up the skins with the juice so we can extract all the good antioxidants, colours and flavours from the skins. This plunging process also introduces oxygen, which the yeasts need to survive.
As soon as the grapes are crushed, they release their sweet, sweet juice. This is when the naturals yeasts and bacteria wake up and start eating. They multiply as they go, but in the beginning it’s competitive and they all struggle to survive. There are specific yeast strains that are best suited to grape juice fermentation, especially Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. These yeasts out-compete the others and take control of the Queendom. Once this happens, it’s lift off.
Once the strongest yeasts have taken charge, they begin to consume the available glucose and fructose and multiply rapidly. For a small yeast population there’s an abundance of food, so they quickly expand in number, producing huge amounts of carbon dioxide and converting all of the sugars into alcohol. Things start to really fire up in this phase and you can smell and see the ferment transforming.
As the yeast population begins to outgrow the vessel they’re in and run out of food, their population growth slows down and there’s a nice balance between yeast and sugar. Compared to “lift off”, everything progresses far slower; sugar consumption goes slowly, which means alcohol production is also slow and steady. At this point, we transfer our Sauv. Blanc and Chardonnay into hogsheads (300L barrels) to continue fermenting in a carbonic (limited oxygen) environment. In the hogsheads, if we want to agitate the wine, we can use a special tool to stir everything up.
Eventually, the yeast run out of sugar and starting starving. When this happens, the yeasts start to die back. The yeasts also find the rising alcohol content unbearable, whereas certain bacteria love it. These bacteria start their own complimentary fermentation processes, which produce weird and wonderful (well, not always wonderful) layers of complexity as various natural acids and antioxidants emerge. Once this starts happening, we seal our Pét Nats. Under seal, the yeasts that are still alive produce CO2, which creates the bubbly exuberance when you open the bottle.
When all the sugars have been consumed, all the yeasts die and sink to the bottom as sediment. This sediment is what we call lees, and it actually acts as a natural preservative against bacterial spoilage and oxidation (too much oxygen). This is where we press the fermented juice from the skins and pour the liquid into a separate vessel (usually either a wooden barrel or stainless steel tank), where it goes through a secondary fermentation process called malolactic fermentation (or, “malo”) and everything gets creamier and softer...
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By Minimum's Resident Astrologer, Emma Vidgen
There’s a 'no more pretending' kinda feel this month, where situations or relationships that don’t feel aligned to who you are, or what you’re about, will reach boiling point. The themes and issues that begin to unfold this month will be an ongoing thread throughout 2021 – both personally and on a broader level.
Adding to the vibe, Mercury – the planet ruling communication, travel, technology and cognitive function – is in retrograde. That means it’s a great time for reflection and review but might be a little sketchy when it comes to communications and technology. Back up data, take extra care with your devices and take a breather (preferably a night to sleep on it) before you send heavy emails.
It’s also a time for intense Aquarian energy, which means that looking at things from a totally different perspective, finding freedom and connecting with kindred spirits will shape our decisions. Mentally, you should feel especially pragmatic and rational, but you might find it hard to switch off. Over-thinkers take note: this is a month to schedule plenty of time to do the things that help you get out of your head and come back to the present.
Be kind to yourself this month. There's lots of changes on the horizon; take time to press the pause button.
Feb 6
Consider the long game and don’t be afraid to try a new approach with your money or relationships.
Feb 10
Brevity could cause a major rift. Tread gently to avoid people around you withdrawing.
Feb 12
Set intentions to prioritise things that makes you feel more connected to community or friends.
Feb 14
Head to the sea. Get out of your head and back into your body by getting into water, preferably alongside someone you love.
Feb 16-24
The desire to start afresh and lay new foundations faces a major plot twist. The change of plans will become a key theme this year.
Feb 18
A snap decision based on recent developments could evoke an erratic response.
Feb 19
A more flexible, fluid energy starts to diffuse the intensity of the past three weeks.
Feb 21
A moment of clarity helps with a decision that’s been keeping you awake.
Feb 27
If you’re still undecided about what to do next, tune in to your physical reactions and follow your gut – literally.
~ Follow Emma on Instagram @emma_vee
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SKIN-CONTACT & SUNSETS
To be neither glorious
nor inglorious, but real.
Held, holding.
Our Resident Astrologer Emma Vidgen paints this year's picture.
[Horoscope] ↴
READ →
“Some people say 'Why are you restoring the forest?' but in a way saying that is like saying 'Why do you love your Mother?'”
Sip & watch this 30 minute documentary.
30 years of regrowth ↴
By Minimum's Resident Astrologer, Emma Vidgen
From 21 December, 2020 there’ll be a huge change to the overall mood. Think of this like the background track to our lives changing key. It’s a continuation of the same song, but the song takes a new, direction – think: when Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” switches gears from the ballad section to the operatic part.
On a personal level, 2021 is an invitation to consider the foundations you want to establish for the future. Chances are 2020 gave you a major reality check, forcing you to confront parts of your life that weren’t working. You may have reached the end of your tether with where you live, with your job or in a relationship.
This year is about integrating those tough lessons and restructuring the foundations – where you live, where you work and how much you work – so they are more in alignment with what you stand for. Thinking about sustainability, not just in terms of your connection to the natural world, but also, in terms of your heath, your work/life balance and your resources will be important. Like a company that’s long-overdue for a brand overhaul, this is the year to figure out your “why”.
In a broader, more societal context the mood will focus squarely on rebuilding structures, institutions and systems for the future. With Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius there’s the opportunity to create a new framework based on innovation and altruistic ideals. But building something better won’t come without resistance. With Uranus in Taurus squaring Saturn in Aquarius civil unrest, volatility, disruption and economic instability will likely be key signatures in 2021.
Innovation, data-sharing and privacy issues will dominate headlines as we grapple as a society to rebuild on the destruction of 2020 and heal both physically and culturally. With the north node in Gemini the need to consider different perspectives and truly listen to each other is crucial. But with the south node in Sagittarius, division, dogma and pick-a-side culture means compromising will be easier said than done, especially during eclipse season (26 May – 10 June; 19 November – 4 December).
Follow Emma on Instagram @emma_vee
Something to use.
New arrival: Minimum Corkscrews
Entirely useful, intelligently practical.
Stainless steel + cherry wood.
"I dream of lost vocabularies that might express
some of what we no longer can...
My love is a hundred pitchers of honey."
A poem by Jack Gilbert ↴
Read:
What is love? Are we addicted to falling in love?
Love - fresh air, or pain?
Essays in Love, A Novel - Alain De Botton
[A GIFT FROM US] ↴