Our Purpose
Why ‘Minerva’?
the purpose, vision and history behind bath's first luxury sparkling wine (since the romans)
Minerva /mɪˈnɜːrvə/
The Roman goddess of wisdom, the arts and strategy
Highly honoured by the Romans as the most revered of their goddesses, the polymath Marcus Terentius Varro considered her to be “ideas and the plan for the universe personified.” A common depiction of Minerva is a tall, athletic and muscular woman in armour, accompanied by her sacred Owl, symbolic of her association with wisdom and knowledge.
In taking on the patron of Minerva, our aims for the future are clear. We wish to inspire the next generation of farmers, artists, winemakers, innovators and creators, in particular our women and girls. Our raison d’être is to encourage others to harness the traits of Minerva - wisdom, artistry and ideas, to embrace the challenges that invariably lie ahead of us all for land, culture and family.
To this end we are building a viticulture ‘Centre of Excellence’, to help empower the next generation of youth in our communities, aiding them in embracing a changing world with open arms. We foresee many opportunities to celebrate new ideas and opportunities, in viticulture, farming, the arts and on the new frontiers of digital innovation.
spreading minerva’s seeds of wisdom
When the seasons close here in the UK, the anticipation for spring is building in the southern hemisphere and much of our ‘local’ wildlife has already taken flight anticipating new beginnings. Just as our much loved migratory birds must travel to learn and return anew, we will be encouraging our young community to take their knowledge and experience from the Minerva Centre of Excellence, to fly the nest towards new adventures across southern seas.
New Viti-Pathways will be laid to vineyards in New Zealand, Australia and Chile, where our community can meet new life-long friends and build on their skills and character, all whilst enveloping themselves in the beautiful experience of newfound culture.
bringing it home
Wisdom is considered a virtue but really it is a whole way of living. It encompasses more than knowledge and good ideas - the integrity of our intentions and actions really matter.
Aristotle held that “it is evident that it is impossible to be practically wise without being good.” Practical wisdom then, is showing kindness to one another. It sounds so simple and we do it from time to time, but I wonder if we truly put ourselves to it what we might all achieve.
This is what I’ve really found, out in the vineyard - that spending time with friends and family brings the best opportunities for kindness out of all of us.
Terroir (/tɛˈrwɑːr/, French: [tɛʁwaʁ]; from terre, “land”) is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop’s phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop’s specific growth habitat. Collectively, these contextual characteristics are said to have a character; terroir also refers to this character.