No Skipping Barefoot Through These Vineyards

OK, maybe skipping barefoot through most vineyards is an invitation to a broken ankle, but in some New Zealand vineyards now such a display of frivolity is likely to result in bloody feet. Apparently in an experiment to find uses for recycled glass, some vintners are covering the soil of their vineyards with a layer of crushed glass. In addition to looking pretty, the vintners think that the glass may reflect heat up onto the vines and result in more consistent ripening. I guess this is based on somewhat the same principles involved in some Biodynamic preparations which involve spraying water with crushed quartz onto the vines. These vintners are celebrating this practice as something new in the way of responsible environmentalism, but I just gotta imagine that all that glass will make picking grapes particularly dicey. Read the full story here.