It was a bumper year for the vineyard – a long drought had favored the rare Nebbiolo and Gewürztraminer grape varieties which thrive in granite soil. No mold or rot had threatened the perfect bunches, and the spring used for irrigating had not run dry.

But one night, fires that had plagued the dense plateau around the vineyard ignited the neighboring pine forest. The team struggled all night alongside the local firefighters to keep off the flames, but embers were parachuted from the forest, and fell on the vineyard, burning many vines and damaging most of the grapes with smoke. That year we helped with a different kind of harvest. The charred vines were laden with fruit, and even though they were destroyed, the grapes needed to be removed from the vines.

Jesus’ words that “every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” were beginning to have new meaning.