Pearce
Pearce

 

Pearce barn.jpg Pearce third of an acre.jpg Pearce picking grapes.jpg Pearce blessing of the grapes.jpg
Pearce theyre in there somewhere.jpg Pearce cutting them loose.jpg Pearce among the vines.jpg Pearce gathering2.jpg
Pearce all filled up.jpg Pearce time out for photos.jpg Pearce sampling the juice.jpg Pearce crushing 3.jpg
Pearcetryinglastyearswine.jpg Pearce last years wine.jpg

Country living was exactly what Jim and Mary Pearce were looking for when they eased toward retirement a number of years ago. They’d lived in Dallas and a few other large communities and Smith County, with the rolling terrain that spreads northward from Lindale, was what they were looking for.

The area, just off a main highway, provides easy access in all directions and is home to numerous ex-city dwellers, many who own cattle, others horses and the Pearces, well they own a small vineyard.

They tried retirement and Jim says “it didn’t take” … and they’ve busied themselves working just enough that they know retirement is just around the corner.

In the meantime the vineyard has been a project that grows a bit each year and with it the tradition of having friends, some long-time and others quite new, show up for the Blessing of the Grapes.

Those invited gather for a quick breakfast as the sun clears the tree tops and the shadows are long… but more importantly, before the temperatures reach into the 90s, which is normal for mid-August in this part of the country.

Jim reads a blessing of the grapes and then for the next half hour to 45 minutes grapes are hunted down like shoes at a department store sale. None are left unclaimed, though perspiration dripping from the tip of one’s nose can be a bit distracting.

Then a portion of the grapes are crushed in a hand-operated crusher that isn’t half as much fun as stomping a vat of grapes, though we suspect it’s a bit more sanitary.

He harvested between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds of grapes, keeping enough to make himself 20 gallons of wine and selling the remainder of the grapes to a nearby winery. “He laughs lightly as he says “I give away more than I drink.”

Before the visit ended there was a tasting of last year’s wine, which turned out to be a wonderful, slightly dry wine.

As the dozen or so who took part in the morning’s events were heading for their vehicles there was a reminder… “If you get invited once,” the voice was saying, “you have to come back next year.”

That’s part of country living.