#sustainable wine cellars

[tobiaslovesmydauntlesscake]

Wine Cellar in San Diego

A large image of a wine cellar with a travertine floor and storage racks

[kid-crayon]

Wine Cellar Large An illustration of a sizable wine cellar with storage racks and a travertine floor in the mountain style.

[leestraussbooks]

Wine Cellar Large

[zaynsource]

Cincinnati Wine Cellar

[saisa-sound]

Medium Wine Cellar

Wine cellar - mid-sized traditional porcelain tile wine cellar idea with diamond bins

[iwillbe-healthy]

Wine Cellar - Traditional Wine Cellar Mid-sized elegant porcelain tile wine cellar photo with diamond bins

[linneasunivers]

Wine Cellar Large in San Diego

[lucianaurtiga]

Traditional Wine Cellar - Medium

[sixteenseveredhands]

Vardzia, a Medieval Cave City in Georgia (South Caucasus), built in 1150-1200 CE: Vardzia was designed to be used as a fortress/monastery; it was accessible only through hidden passageways, and it contained more than 6,000 caves, 15 chapels, 25 wine cellars, an apothecary, a forge, a bakery, farming terraces, and an irrigation system

The monastic caves at Vardzia cover an area of about 500 meters. They are carved into the cliffs along the Erusheti mountains, which are located in Javakheti (a southern province near the borders between Georgia, Turkey, and Armenia).

Vardzia was originally meant to serve as a fortress, particularly in the event of a Mongol Invasion. It was protected by defensive walls, and the cave system itself was largely concealed within the mountain (though much of it is now exposed); it also contained a secret escape tunnel and several dead-end tunnels that were designed to delay/confuse enemy forces. The cave city could only be accessed through a series of hidden passageways that began near the banks of the Mtkvari River (which runs through the valley below the cave complex). Water was supplied through an irrigation system that was connected to the river, providing the inhabitants with both drinking water and agricultural irrigation, as the site contained its own terraced farmland.

The cave complex also functioned as a monastery, with a large collection of manuscripts and relics ultimately being housed at the site.

In its prime, the complex at Vardzia was inhabited by tens of thousands of residents.

Unfortunately, most of the original structures at Vardzia were destroyed by an earthquake that struck the region in 1283 CE, just a century after its construction; the earthquake sheared away the outer layer of the cliffside, exposed many of the caves, and demolished almost two-thirds of the site. The surviving structures represent only a fraction of the cave complex that once existed at Vardzia, with only about 500 caves still intact.

When the earthquake tore through the site in 1283, much of the fortress and many of its defenses were also destroyed, and Vardzia lost most of its military/defensive purposes. Still, it continued to operate as a Georgian Orthodox monastery for several hundred years after that. It narrowly escaped the Mongol Invasions of the 1290s, but it was raided by the Persians during the 16th century; the invading forces burned many of the manuscripts, relics, and other items that were stored within the cave system, leaving permanent scorch marks along the walls of the inner chambers. The site was abandoned shortly thereafter.

Medieval portrait of Queen/King Tamar: this portrait is one of the Medieval frescoes that still decorate the inner chambers of Vardzia; Tamar was the first queen regnant to rule over Georgia, meaning that she possessed the same power/authority as a king and, as a result, some Medieval sources even refer to her as "King Tamar"

Vardzia is often associated with the reign of Queen Tamar the Great, who ruled over the Kingdom of Georgia from 1184 to 1213 CE, during a particularly successful period that is often known as the "Golden Age" of Georgian history. Queen Tamar was also recognized as the Georgian King, with Medieval sources often referring to her as King Tamar. She possessed the powers of a sovereign leader/queen regnant, and was the first female monarch to be given that title in Georgia.

The initial phases of construction at Vardzia began under the command of King George III, but most of the complex was later built at the behest of his daughter, Queen Tamar, who owned several dedicated rooms at Vardzia and frequently visited the cave city. Due to her relationship with the cave complex at Vardzia, Queen Tamar is sometimes also referred to as the "Mountain Queen."

Despite the damage that the site has sustained throughout its history, many of the caves, tunnels, frescoes, and other structures have survived. The site currently functions as a monastery once more, with Georgian monks living in various chambers throughout the cave system.

I visited Vardzia back in 2011, during my first trip to Georgia. It's an incredible site, though some of the tunnels are very narrow, very dark, and very steep, which can get a bit claustrophobic.

Sources & More Info:

Atlas Obscura: Vardzia Cave Monastery

CNN: Exploring Vardzia, Georgia's Mysterious Rock-Hewed Cave City

Lonely Planet: Vardzia

Globonaut: 5 Facts about Vardzia, Georgia's Hidden Cave City

Wander Lush: Vardzia Cave Monastery (complete visitor's guide)

[dailyadventureprompts]

Deity: Litirenn, He who Guides the Vine

Days of bread and wine, are only by design/ Every petal worked, every spirit corked, every silver shined/ Every furnace lit, every lamb and spit, every silver shined/ -Only by Design, From Devil's Carnival: Alleluia!

It is hard work averting famine, a toil through seasons of gruelling weather to ensure the next harvest fares a little better than the last. To turn a scattering of seeds from errant prairie grasses into life sustaining bread is a generations long labour, but it is holy and there is no god that holds it more holy than Litirenn, Steward of Tilled Earth.

Born from a union between a god of growing things and a god of craft, Litirenn's sphere of influence has expanded over time from simple cultivation to any who wish to understand and then improve on nature's designs: Herbalists, natural philosophers, alchemists, biomancers, and those that would remake themselves seeking an inner truth.

Few temples are kept for him, but one can often find the Steward's marks worked in over the doorways of granaries, mills, and wine cellars, or sketched in the margins of a hand bound folio of research notes.

Adventure Hooks:

The grain harvest is coming in, which means the local brigands will be circling like buzzards and the village needs the party to act as bodyguards to ensure their livelihood seven samurai style. The brigands in question however are not outlaws but soldiers of the local warlord, who is currently in dispute with the village over how much grain they owe him for protection.

The village witch is in quite a fix after cultivating a new verity of foreign flower looking to make inadvertently attracting all sorts of weird magical insects to his cottage. The infestation has deprived him of his house, the town of herbal remedies, and the party of cheap healing potions. Something must be done about it.

Seeking to catalogue, preserve, and most of all taste every variety of apple ever grown on the material plane, an eccentric gnomish orchardist has broken into the elfqueen's private gardens and stolen a fruit from a silver tree placed there by the Archheart themselves. The queen's agents would like this handled delicately, not only because the gnome managed her infiltration by seducing the queen (who's quite broken up about it) but also disruption of the tree may juuuuuust have triggered a calamitous prophecy.

Signs: Plants fruiting out of season with abundant growth and fantastical properties, visions of how things came to be made. The appearance of frogs, butterflies, and other creatures that go through a metamorphosis.

Symbols: A vine laden trellis, though alchemical aspects often use the symbol of a snake coiled among grapes.

Titles: Steward of Tilled Earth, He who Guides the Vine, The Cultivator,

[typellblog]

So I've been thinking about Illya's gender and it occurs to me that one of the core tensions of her characterisation is that she identifies with the things that entrap her.

Take, for example, Berserker. Despite loving him like a father figure his summoning causes her immense pain. He cannot perform the role of father, cannot gently hold her as she wishes, as a result of his insanity.

Instead he becomes a living reminder of her duty as a Master, his existence sustained entirely by the Grail that is her objective. He cannot live outside of the Holy Grail War and his role as a killing machine, just as she cannot while he still exists.

It is only in the moment of his death that he is able to speak with his own voice.

It is only after his death that Illya is willing to give up on the Grail war, because despite her lack of attachment to the whole thing I think she persists in it because of a sense of duty towards Berserker, who was summoned for that purpose.

It is hard to imagine a happy ending for Illya without Berserker in it, but it is almost impossible to imagine one where he is still there.

Take, for example, Berserker's madness. It's a formless, causeless rage, merely added by the Grail system. Illya is the one that shapes this formless rage into lethal violence. Illya is the one that has a justified grievance, a reason to resent the world that made her.

Shirou, in the Fate route, thinks Illya isn't suited to the violence & considers the possibility that someone else is making her do it.

He is half right - she was literally made to do it, tortured into becoming a better killer, but that doesn't change the fact that every day she wakes up in the morning and chooses violence of her own will. How could she not? She has nothing else.

Take, for example, the winter. Illya loves the snow but hates the cold. She 'gets used to' the frigid conditions in which she was raised without ever really adjusting to them, but nonetheless fully embraces the aesthetic sensibility of the Einzberns - the whiteness of her hair, the foreignness of her outfit, her resemblance to a 'snow fairy' that Shirou points out on multiple occasions are all a delight to her.

Take, for example, her age. She looks younger than she actually is because of human experimentation. Her immaturity is only natural considering her upbringing. But she leans into it. She calls Shirou onii-chan. Which one is the real Illya? Does she want to be seen as the older sister or the younger one? The answer, as always, is both.

Take, for example, the castle. It's a symbol of wealth and yet also, for Illya, a symbol of restriction and isolation. She wasn't allowed outside. She could have as many toys as she wanted as long as she remained compliant. In the Fate route she feels much freer when she abandons the Einzbern residence and comes to live in the Emiya household, and yet in Hollow Ataraxia her primary scenes still take place in the castle.

Of course they do. She's a princess. The fancy clothes, the manners, the gardens and the ballroom, the wine cellar and the dining hall, all these are as much a part of Illya as anything else. Even when she's free to act as she wants there's no reason to expect her to abandon them.

Take, for example, the maids. She says she wants to like them, but struggles to do so. It's not a surprise when it comes to Sella, who reveres her like a saviour while at the same time her job is to make sure she completes the Third Magic. It's not a surprise when it comes to Leysritt, who loves Illya more than she loves herself - because in a sense Illya is herself, she exists only to be fused with Illya and complete the Third Magic.

Which is really the crux of this whole thing, isn't it. Illya's character arc is about being forced into this role of the Holy Grail, and when it comes time to do so in the Heaven's Feel route she does so willingly. Shirou has a wish, and she grants it. But not as some impersonal vessel of a higher power, not to fulfill the Einzberns' ambitions, but to grant her own wish, of being someone who can protect the people she loves.

So, yeah, when I think about Illya's gender, I think about the expectations they had for her. I think about how even if she was born with male genitalia they likely would have done something to make her closer to their ideal reproduction of Justeaze. I think about how her clothes would be picked out for her, I think about how she would be educated in the correct mannerisms.

I think about how some people (including myself) have talked about the idea of Illya being transgender, and I think about what that would even mean in this context.

The idea that she was born in a different body and embraced this one purely of her own free will doesn't sit right with me, but neither does the idea that if given some freedom she would reject her prior gender presentation. Honestly I think the best label for her, if we had to give one, is AFAB transfem.

But that's the core tension for me, when it comes to Illya. I want to alleviate her suffering, but taking that too far just ends up with a different person entirely (e.g. Fate/Kaleid)

That's why it's important to remember that traits like viciousness, childishness, aristocratic mannerisms, doll obsession, miraculous powers and resemblance to the masterwork of an ancient line of alchemists are not just key aspects of Illya as a character, they're also things that she likes about herself.

In one way or another.

[chemicalarospec]

okay so! I have some relatives who own a winery and I’ve visited a few times. Here’s some general facts and observations regarding Dawn Winery in Genshin Impact that may help fic writers or just be interesting to fans:

The Location

you need a LOT of acreage to have enough grapes to run a self-sustaining winery. My dad likes to point out that any cutesy wineries in our area (not a grape climate) must import their grapes, and their small fields are just for show/to supplement it. The Dawn Winery has a frankly PITIFUL amount of vineyards for “Mondstadt��s biggest winemaker”. One relative has a vanity/personal vineyard at their house and it's the same size or slightly bigger than Dawn Winery's vineyards. I think it’d be cool if you mentally sized up the vineyards, and tbh I see this less “missing” and more like… just done by the nature of Genshin being a video game, if you know what I mean. Like the same way the Dawn Winery is the ONLY Winery in Mondstadt, and Springville is the only town.

apparently my family has a website and theirs is 95 hectares (235.5 acres). Here is a picture:

the next thing missing is vats: the wine needs to be stored somewhere. My tours of the winery mainly consisted of looking at many giant metal vats. Genshin obviously has a historical aesthetic that these don’t match, so I think there would be rows of big Oak barrels (think a little bit taller than a tall man — my relatives had a few for fun). You are NOT making wine or even storing long-term in those tiny barrels outside -- those are probably holding wine to export, if they're holding wine.

I think Diluc’s house is canonically the winery… which… just… where is the wine being made? The basement? The family winery has a hole in the ground for drainage. Diluc has a carpet. You just don’t make massive quantities of wine in well-decorated cozy house. Maybe he has a REALLY big cellar.

A funny idea I got due to the lack of grapes and lack of fermentation equipment is that the Dawn Winery is just a "display" place to be like, the image of their brand and all the winemaking is done elsewhere.

I didn't know this but Germany apparently produces a sizable amount of wine. According to Wikipedia, they are more acidic, as grapes ripen less in Germany's colder climate. Due to my connection to the French, I personally like Mondstadt to have a Mediterranean-like climate, with mild winters and rare snow, but do what you like.

More information about the harvest/winemaking process under the cut!

The Process

Making wine actually requires a lot of chemistry knowledge. When I first drafted this post, the wiki said Diluc’s not interested in the wine-making side of things (but is assumed to have aptitude in it) and some NPCs run that side of the business. I can't find complete evidence of that now, but it's still implied Elzer actually runs the place. Given that Diluc bartends and fights crime, he probably doesn't have a lot of time to devote to the winery.

Harvest season (about 6 weeks, around September) is VERY busy because you must get all the grapes off the vines quickly, before they rot.

Before harvesting tractors, people would be seasonally hired to collect them using wooden sticks & baskets. In Genshin, there's probably creative ways for Ameno, Dendro, and other Visions to be useful here.

In the fields and the winery itself, my dad would work a lot during this time. I'm not 100% sure what he did during 16 hour work days, but I do know the general idea was “processing tons and tons of grapes,” so lots of manual labor. There were also lots of pumps and valves involved.

Okay I asked my dad and this is the winemaking process: the grapes are dumped in this corkscrew machine that remove leafs and twigs, and then a cylindrical de-stemmer (this is part of a "modern reception" my relatives brag about on their webpage, so in Genshin they'd probably do it by hand?)… I think the juice drainage goes to making white wine (I just searched that up and it’s true??? go me).

(Wikipedia has an article that's both helpful and confusing if you want to know more.)

Red wine gets its color from the skins, so they're pressed and filtered after fermentation, while it's the other way around for white. That process is to remove all the seeds and skin, which you then must dispose of. In Genshin, a Geo vision could help with the crushing.

The grapes go into massive open-air containers to ferment. The fermentation containers CANNOT be inside, because they release a lot of CO2 so you would straight up die. After fermentation, the wine is moved to sealed off vats/barrels for aging and storage. (So my earlier bullet point about vats & barrels... keep this in mind; you couldn't just put raw grape juice in a barrel in the basement and except to run the business next year.)

did a quick search and whites are fermented chill (helps them to smell nice), reds warmer, whites take longer than reds, and while it takes a few weeks to ferment a wine, it's usually sold at least a year after harvest to age it a little.

Other

My dad noted that the winery is very seasonal -- there is equipment that is not used at all for part of the year, and then very frequently at another time.

The Ragnvindr "Family" business would be on the other side of this than my family, but smaller wineries will produce "generic" reds and whites and sell them in bulk to bigger companies, which will apply their own label to them (I think they usually mix them with the "genuine").

My relatives named a bottling of wine after their grandson. I just think that's cute.

I read an article once about vineyard falcons -- they are used to protect the grapes from smaller birds. So Diluc's bird has a purpose!

(tagging @blooming-cecilia @valberryventi and @autumnpens because you were interested!)

[sotwk]

Thranduil's love of wine

If you’ve watched The Hobbit films enough times (or simply engaged regularly with Thranduil posts on Tumblr), you will surely have noticed that in multiple scenes, the Elvenking is seen with a wine goblet in his hands. In the book, a good amount is written about the Elvenking’s wine cellar, the inventory management process for his wines, and from where his favorite vintage is sourced. His “wine manager”, the butler Galion, is named in the book, whereas the name Thranduil does not appear even once.

It is likely Thranduil’s Wine was given a prominent role in The Hobbit mostly as a plot device to give Bilbo and the dwarves a means of escape. However, I don’t believe Tolkien made characterization choices randomly, so I would like to propose a few headcanons that link Thranduil’s seeming obsession with wine with certain aspects of his history.

What is the deal with Thranduil and wine? Does he have a drinking problem? Is he truly a wine snob? Does he have an iron liver?

Why does King Thranduil value wine so greatly?

Wine was used in his healing and recovery process after the War of Wrath. That unspeakably terrible war was a mass casualty event (to say the least), and Thranduil was among the young elves to suffer horrific injuries. The Hobbit movies depict him sustaining deadly burns from dragonfire, and although it failed to kill him, the burns would have required advanced Elvish healing and many years of painful recovery. Now consider this: if warriors from Valinor came to fight in the decades-long war, it would make sense that healers accompanied them as well. That would include some of the Maiar.

A Maia undertook the task of saving Thranduil’s life, likely one who served under Estë (healer of hurts), under whom Queen Melian also once served, which makes a neat little Doriathian connection. That unnamed Maia used their powers to heal Thranduil’s battle injuries--flesh burns, poisoning, damage to muscle and organs--and succeeded in eliminating nearly all physical signs of damage. But what did they use for anesthesia and pain management? A potent liquid akin to very, very strong wine. Thranduil consumed that wine while under the Maia’s care, and for a period afterward to aid in his recovery. It gave him strength and comfort during an extremely traumatic time in his life, and he never forgot its taste.

Thranduil has craved that same “wine” ever since. Sadly, since it was a product of Valinor, it is nowhere to be found on Middle-earth. His yearning for the taste of that specific libation has led him to search all the lands for any drink that could come close to matching it. He does not seek it obsessively as an addict would, but as one might ache for a fond but elusive memory from one’s childhood. His quest for the “Maia’s wine” and distaste for liquors that don’t live up to it, has led people to see him as a “wine snob”.

The Dorwinion wine is the closest he has gotten to tasting that special drink again. Early in the Third Age, Thranduil discovered the strong wine from this region and immediately initiated trade with Dorwinion to guarantee a regular supply of it. It became known as the Elvenking’s “special wine”, because it is reserved primarily for his consumption, and is offered only to special guests (e.g. Bard). On occasions of feasting, he orders enough wine to share with his people, but it is often too strong for other elves to drink much of.

Thranduil has had a very high tolerance for alcohol since he was young (likely as a result of consuming that drink from Valinor), and has almost never gotten drunk. He drinks the Dorwinion wine recreationally and on a daily basis, but noticeably consumes more of it in times of stress. The alcohol helps calm and comfort him to a degree, but does not impact his mental state.

Finally, on a less complicated and more light-hearted note, another simple reason why Thranduil loves wine is because he has a history of being a “party prince”. He has always enjoyed hosting and attending dinners and feasts, and values good food and drink in the company of friends. (This dialed back considerably after the death of his wife, but in the years before that, he was known for being a sought-after party guest.) He has a natural fondness for wines of all varieties, and not just the Dorwinion. To him, sharing a cup of wine with someone is a simple but genuine gesture of friendship.

[saldanhomes]

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Saldan Homes are dedicated to incorporating green building techniques into our unique designs. Because there is an increasing focus on sustainability and eco-conscious living. 

Our Custom homes design are built with environmentally friendly materials and rainwater collection systems, energy-efficient appliances, solar panels, and eco-friendly building appliances. All without compromising comfort or style.

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In today’s era, smart home technology is a need rather than a luxury. 

Modern smart home technologies are being incorporated into Saldan Homes’ designs to give homeowners remote button or voice command control over everything from temperature and lighting to security and entertainment.

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Every homeowner has a different idea of what their ideal home looks like, and we are dedicated to making those ideas come to life.

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[unovampire]

Here's some 𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 headcanons

Grimsley's vampirism requires him to imbibe a pint of human blood at least three times a week, or once if he chooses to binge on a larger quantity.

The flavor and 'feeling' he experiences from feeding varies on the blood quality. Quality depends on the health of the individual, their hormone levels, personality, diet, and blood type.

In his younger years as a vampiric fledgling, Grimsley required heavier feedings, consisting of blood rich in adrenaline to help indulge his predatory instincts. Nowadays, he prefers a solid AB+ with low cortisol, and a healthy amount of oxytocin, for the sense of relaxation and pleasure. When feeling fatigued or depressed, he will seek out blood with higher levels of norepinephrine.

There are two different modalities to serve blood: live, or chilled. To consume live blood simply means that the vampire drains it from a donor directly, drinking either directly from the vein through the puncture wound, or by emptying it into a glass. Consuming chilled blood involves harvesting the liquid from a donor (live or not), bottling it, and drinking it at a later date.

Grimsley has a preference for drinking from live donors, but he also has a stockpile of various ethically harvested "drops", so to speak, in his wine cellar.

It is not unusual for a vampire to capture and kill a target with sought after, rare blood qualities, in order to drain and harvest the entire body for bottling. Certain eccentric personalities, or those with exceptional health, produce high quality food for vampires, and can enhance their quality of life. For others, some of these more "strange" flavor profiles are treated like medication, performance enhancers, or to encourage a state of frenzy before hunting or partying.

Grimsley hosts auctions for exceptionally rare bottles of harvested blood at his winery, where others of vampiric persuasion can get their hands on these elusive drops. He hosts these auctions about once a year, boasting collections that include celebrities, politicians, and other controversial public figures.

Those who volunteer as donors are put on a proper, sustainable schedule, where they are required to keep to a clean diet, and are usually taking supplements to increase red blood cell count.

[polyphonetic]

We might be getting a house (for purchase) which is very exciting. In terms of requirements I'm thinking

moat

cobblestone generator

enchantment library

bowling alley

indoor submarine racing crack

dungeon (sex)

dungeon (platform metroidvania)

room for Denali (cat)

wine cellar to trap people in

two-story treehouse

mc esher stairs room

ability to turn into a giant robot

ability to store Keter class entities and sustain 200 generations in the event of an XK-class end of the world scenario

small room for me with a door