Upper Vrone Forest

Upper Vrone Forest is a rustic math said to lie a few miles up the Vrone valley. It is associated with the Vrone avout who developed the Vrone oak used for making wine casks and is referenced in connection with cask-aged wines familiar to avout at the Concent of Saunt Edhar.

First Appearance and Context

Upper Vrone Forest is mentioned during a dinner when a very old cask is opened. In that context it is described as a rustic math up the valley whose focus complements other Vrone work on viticulture.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• The math’s contribution centers on trees traditionally fashioned into casks. The Vrone oak’s heartwood is described as unusually responsive to its contents and surroundings, releasing or retaining aromatic compounds depending on storage and care.
• The wood “listens” to its environment: temperature and humidity matter, and the cellular structure resonates with voices, so wine stored where people sing or dine can develop differently than wine stored in a quiet vault.
• Mishandled casks can be “punished” by exuding desirable resins outward, leaving poor wine inside; well‑treated casks yield better results. Casks from this wood are prized enough that less‑fortunate concents sometimes age them at places with favorable conditions such as the Mynster and Refectory at the Concent of Saunt Edhar.

Relationships

• Linked by tradition and geography to other Vrone work: the library grape was sequenced at the Concent of the Lower Vrone before the Second Sack, while Upper Vrone Forest focused on the cask‑wood side of winemaking. Together these efforts frame grape and wood as paired praxes in the Vrone valley.
• Mentioned from the perspective of avout at the Concent of Saunt Edhar, where Vrone oak casks are used and aged.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Referred to as a “rustic math” a few miles up the valley from the Concent of Saunt Edhar.
• Associated with Vrone oak: heartwood cells remain half‑alive in staves and respond dynamically to wine and environment, contributing characteristic flavors over time.

Current Status/Location

Situated up the Vrone valley from the Concent of Saunt Edhar. Its current activities are referenced by avout but not directly visited in the narrative available so far.