How Patience in Winemaking Mirrors Patience in Crafting
- Lauren Twitchell
- Oct 24
- 3 min read
If there’s one lesson that keeps showing up in every corner of my workshop, kitchen, and backyard, it’s this: patience matters.
Whether I’m sanding a stubborn board, waiting for coals to hit the right temperature, or watching bubbles rise in a fermenter, I’m reminded again and again that good things take time. And maybe more importantly—they’re worth the wait.
Winemaking in particular has taught me patience in a way that nothing else has. And the longer I’ve crafted, the more I see how that same patience runs through every build, every smoke, every glass.
The Slow Work of Winemaking
When you start a batch of wine, the excitement is immediate. Fruit or juice in the fermenter, yeast sprinkled in, bubbles beginning to rise—it feels alive. But then comes the waiting.
Days turn into weeks. The fermentation slows. The airlock ticks less and less. And then comes racking, clearing, and bottling—all with more waiting in between.
At times, it’s frustrating. You want to taste it now. You want to rush the process. But wine teaches you to trust the timeline. The flavors develop slowly, quietly, in ways you can’t force.
And when you finally pour that first glass months later, you realize: the waiting was the work. The patience made the wine what it is.
The Workshop: Sanding, Waiting, Trusting
Woodworking has its own version of patience.
You can’t slap on stain before sanding. You can’t force glue to dry faster. You can’t rush a finish and expect it to shine.
Every project carries pauses—moments where you have to step back, wait, and let the material do its part. And those pauses matter as much as the cuts and screws.
Because what you’re really crafting isn’t just furniture. It’s the patience to let each step matter, to trust that the small details add up to something worth keeping.
The Fire: Smoke Can’t Be Rushed
If you’ve ever smoked a pork butt or brisket, you know this lesson by heart.
There’s the stall—that frustrating plateau where the temperature refuses to climb. You could crank the heat, but you’d lose the tenderness. You could rush it, but the bark wouldn’t develop.
So you wait. You tend the fire. You trust the smoke.
And when it’s finally done, fall-apart tender with that perfect crust, you know the waiting wasn’t wasted. The patience created the flavor.
The Thread That Connects Them
What ties winemaking, woodworking, and outdoor cooking together is the same truth: patience is part of the craft.
It’s not wasted time. It’s not delay. It’s the hidden ingredient that transforms raw material into something meaningful.
Wood needs sanding, drying, finishing.
Fire needs tending, holding steady, respecting the stall.
Wine needs fermenting, clearing, aging.
And all of them teach you to slow down, to trust the process, to believe that time itself has value.
Why Patience Matters Beyond the Craft
The real lesson? It’s not just about the wine, the wood, or the food. It’s about life.
Patience isn’t natural for most of us. We want quick fixes, instant results, immediate wins.
But when we craft—whether with tools, coals, or fermenters—we learn to see waiting differently.
We learn that the pause has purpose. That slow growth is still growth. That what feels like nothing happening is often the most important work of all.
Winemaking will always remind me of this: the wait is part of the story. And every time I sand a board or smoke a piece of meat, I see it again.
Patience isn’t just a requirement of the craft—it’s a gift.
So whether you’re bottling your first batch of wine, finishing your first woodworking project, or pulling your first smoked brisket off the grill, remember: the waiting isn’t wasted.
It’s the quiet work that makes the result worth savoring. 🍷🪚🔥
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