Stevenson - Bottled Poetry Carving

Origins: Stevenson - Wine is Bottled Poetry Carving

This Robert Louis Stevenson quote is from his 1884 book The Silverado Squatters, Chapter 3, Napa Wine. Stevenson honeymooned in Napa in 1880 and the book is the story of his time there. While his visit took place at the birth of the California wine industry, his writing was prophetic in predicting its success:

"Wine in California is still in the experimental stage; and when you taste a vintage, grave economical questions are involved. The beginning of vine-planting is like the beginning of mining for the precious metals: the wine-grower also "Prospects." One corner of land after another is tried with one kind of grape after another. This is a failure; that is better; a third best. So, bit by bit, they grope about for their Clos Vougeot and Lafite. Those lodes and pockets of earth, more precious than the precious ores, that yield inimitable fragrance and soft fire; those virtuous Bonanzas, where the soil has sublimated under sun and stars to something finer, and the wine is bottled poetry: these still lie undiscovered; chaparral conceals, thicket embowers them; the miner chips the rock and wanders farther, and the grizzly muses undisturbed. But there they bide their hour, awaiting their Columbus; and nature nurses and prepares them. The smack of Californian earth shall linger on the palate of your grandson."

This carving was created in the Craftsman style using a quintessential Craftsman letterform and grape trellis motif based on a real, but not yet realized, trellis plan. (Perhaps we’ll get to it one day, but it is nice to finally see it come to life in this craving!)

When you choose this piece in one of our oak finishes, please know that we hand-select the wood for high figure, a quality which gives each carving a distinct character and which is typically requested and appreciated by enthusiasts of the Craftsman style.

Charitable Category: A portion of the proceeds from this piece benefits Environmental Programs.

(Note: This carving is now available. However, photos of it in our various finish options are not. Please refer to finish options shown in some of our other products for reference in the meantime.)