Why I'm planting a Riesling vineyard in Kaysville, Utah

I first tasted wine about six years ago when my friends Joyce Kinkead and David Lancy gave me a glass of California Chardonnay while enjoying a golden summer evening on their outdoor patio in Hyde Park, Utah. I loved wine from the very first sip. Joyce and David also lent me a book called "Puligny-Montrachet: Journal of a Village in Burgundy" by Simon Loftus, which I read, then bought my own copy. Loftus's book explores the people and culture of the Burgundian village of Puligny-Montrachet, where they grow the grapes for the world's most famous and expensive white wine. A few years later I visited that village and its famous vineyards, and a photograph of of the Montrachet vineyard is the background photo for this blog.

That first sip of Chardonnay set me on an amazing journey. Since then, I have read dozens of books about wine -- where it's made, how it's made, who makes it and why -- and I've visited dozens of wineries and vineyards from California's foggy Russian River Valley to the spectacularly steep slopes of the Lavaux in Switzerland.

I started thinking about making my own wine a couple of years ago when my friend Spence Mortensen lent me his copy of "Vines to Wines," a how-to guide for home vintners. I decided that the 25-foot square plot of ground next to my driveway would be a nice spot for a small vineyard, so this last summer I ripped out the grass, tilled the ground, and my amazingly talented neighbor Doug Hammerschmidt laid the posts for the trellis system (those posts are so solidly set in the earth, it would take a bulldozer to get them out). Spence also told me that he had done some research on what kind of grapes would ripen best in this climate and soil and that the experts at Cornell University told him Riesling would be the best bet because of its ability to sustain cold winters, late bud break and early ripening.

Yesterday I ordered 20 Riesling vines from Wiemer Vineyards nursery in upstate New York's Fingerlake wine region. They will ship them out this spring, sometime around Mother's Day. I'll plant them and start training them to produce wine-worthy grapes three years from now.

One of the most interesting parts of this whole project has been the cultural aspect of growing wine grapes in an area that is probably 99% Mormon. A couple days ago my neighbor Doug said he was at the local Mormon ward Christmas party, and one of the ladies at his table was complaining about my vineyard (despite the fact that I haven't even planted any vines yet!), saying how "the city is never going to let them do that on the public easement property," by which I assume she means the mow-strip between the sidewalk? I thought that was funny. My response is, bring it on, sister.