Sunday, January 22, 2006

Breathtaking Beauty and Grace

So I’ve often thought I’d give up happiness for the rest of my life to have one “rockstar” moment…you know, like the rush Bono must feel when walking on stage at the start of a U2 concert. Well, after today I no longer need to worry about trading my life away - it happened. Driving up to Fort Ross Vineyards and Winery along the Sonoma Coast moved me into complete bliss – I can’t get over the beautiful clarity Mother Nature blessed me with today.

I woke up to one of the most clear and sunny days I can recall ever experiencing here. For lunch, I was invited to join owners Linda and Lester Schwartz at their beautiful mountaintop home and tour their Fort Ross Vineyards - a visit that literally took my breath away. Talking wine with Linda and Lester all afternoon reminded me of Argentina’s Susana Balbo and Pedro Marchevsky’s passion for meticulous attention in the vineyards and winemaking philosophy in producing exceptional wines.

Texas is lucky – truly lucky to have a nice allocation of Fort Ross landing this week. I can hardly wait to tell every wine drinker I know about the phenomenal complexity and elegance the Fort Ross wines embody. Each wine is so easy to fall in love with. I’ll leave you and end my trip to Cali with the following pictures taken today. From the Fort Ross hilltops I saw the Farallon islands towards the southwest and to the northeast pristine hilltop vineyards of Kings and Queens such as Pahlmeyer, Martinelli, Peter Michael,Helen Turley, Mark Aubert and Flowers - WOW what a view from the top!

Beauty and Grace….enjoy - Ali





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