Viteus - "Of or Belonging to the Vine"

About 4 years ago, my friend Mark and I started making wine in our old house a few blocks from where I live today. I wanted to make beer, but he convinced me with "People have been making wine since before Jesus. It's hard to screw it up." Thus began our jouney as vintners. Our wine is called Viteus, which is Latin for "Of or belonging to the vine" because we figure that's got some good religious symbolism to it. We bottled our latest batch tonight.

Mark's wife Sophan just gave birth to a little boy named Elisha, so I'm naming my half of this batch in honor of him. We got about 60 bottles this round. The red wine is Chiraz and the white is Pinot Grigio.

I enjoy making wine with Mark. We lived together for a good five years and we shared a room for maybe three of those. We used to pray together every Tuesday, so he knows me pretty well. He'll back me up on my strenghts and call me on my weaknesses. That's a good friend. We've shared a lot together and I'm proud of him as I watch him grow into a husband and a father.

So here's to Mark, our friendship, and his new baby. Cheers!!