Growing grapes is often compared to raising a family. You nurture your offspring from infancy with tenderness and compassion. You feed and water them. In the blink of an eye, you watch as they flower and bloom. You show your friends, who say “goodness, haven’t they grown!” and “my, aren’t they sweet!” Then finally, that wistful day comes when you slice them up, divide them into buckets and sell them by the kilo.
The Gusbourne grapes were thusly dispatched earlier this month. Their final destination was a fine institution to enrol on a chemistry course, where they are currently learning...