Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/333548
4 4 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J u l y - A u g 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m tic tackle box. With his left hand, he slowly scanned a straight-edge ruler across the map. From his right hand dangled a copper pendu- lum, which shifted from a linear to a circular pattern when he sensed water under the location of the straight-edge. "You're asking it something?" I said. "Yeah," Thompson answered. "Where's the water?" After a few passes, he pointed to a wooded ridge where he said the water is plentiful. "This is just a tool," Thompson explained, holding the pendulum. "I don't need this. I can use my fin- gers." He said his fingers will go numb when they're pointed toward a water source. Different dowsers work bet- ter with different tools, Thompson added, whether they be stainless steel dowsing rods that cross when the dowser is above water, or pen- dulums of different materials. He said those tools help to manifest the sensations for those that aren't experiencing them. They offer out- siders a visual demonstration of what the dowser is experiencing. "I'm just emptying my mind," Thompson explained. "Get a stop- watch and see if you can empty your mind for a minute. I bet you can't. I can do it for two hours." Hill reminisced about the eccen- tric Mee, who occasionally worked for Hill's father. "He always had this checkerboard hat – he was just a character. I went out with him five times, and he hit (water) every time." Hill and Thompson took me out- side to try my hand at dowsing. We were about 500 yards from the Napa River, so I was pretty sure there was water just about everywhere. Plus, it had been raining. Buckets. Gallons a minute. But the rain brief- ly let up. I got a quick lesson, and pretty soon the stainless steel rods were crossing. Then it started pour- ing. I may be a better conjurer than a diviner, noted Thompson. Château Montelena's Bo Barrett claims to have a dash of the gift himself – enough to find broken irrigation pipes in a pinch. "When I was a kid and the dowser used Dowsers use different tools of various materials, including willow sticks, steel rods and copper pendulums. Photo: Tim Teichgraeber