It struck me a few days ago...how imperceptible the passing of time can be. Even though some days can feel so long, when you look back over a season or a year, it is difficult to understand how time has passed in you are in the same, exact spot. It is overwhelming, especially when things haven't worked out the way you thought they would. It is disheartening. That's the word...disheartening. In that moment when it comes together for you, often due to a pivotal moment or moments all clumped together, it presents itself like a giant question mark.

But then when the panic subsides, it becomes clear that in truth you are not in the same exact place. Maybe in a worse place, but still--not the same. All of this made me think of growing grapes, as most things do. Everything for me is rehearsal for that. Learning lessons and laying groundwork. Surrounding myself with people I can count on who want to be a part of something alive who aren't afraid to live outside the box. That's more difficult to find than you think. But in the interest of trying to use everything as a learning experience, I thought of the most cyclical thing of all. The growing season. Year in and year out, the same months with the same seasonal shifts come and go. The struggles and choices made -- some that we can control and others that control us -- are sometimes viewed best in hindsight. I think about the repetition. Would that be boring? Probably not. In actuality repetition can be comforting. It can provide the framework within which we can anticipate and is a foundation for growth. How would I feel about a bad cycle -- a bad vintage-- and how would I view the mistakes I had made. How would I reconcile the final product compared to how I thought it would be? It made me have renewed respect for the growers of wine. It made me wonder how they feel at the end of a difficult vintage. How they manage bottling a wine that turned out less than they had hoped. And I wonder how long the lessons and the scars of that vintage stayed with them. Can they ever let it go?

If integrity were a picture. What would it be? I guess this one doesn't make a lot of sense to most people. It does to me. What is integrity anyway? The word is used frequently without reference to its true meaning. The trusty dictionary says, "firm adherence to a code of esp. moral or artistic values: INCORRUPTIBILITY 2: an unimpaired condition: SOUNDNESS."

First. I am there. I asked a winemaker on my recent trip to Italy about writers and the press. I awkwardly tried to sympathize that entertaining the onslaught of writers who visit continuously must be a akin to a full-time job. The response was this -- "Yes. If writers or journalists wish to come, we definitely accommodate them." A lengthy pause. "But", she said, "How can so many people write about our wines and our winery if they have never visited?" Precisely. It isn't easy to journey to the source. Sometimes, as was the case on the day of this photograph, it feels like the world conspires against you getting there. Reaching the final destination. But the point is that nothing that is real or reaches the truth is easy to achieve. Which is the point. The special group of people -- and they are special and limited in number -- who choose to sacrifice in order to create an expression that is moving and who are incorruptible deserve to have others move mountains to witness it.

For me, this place, appointed with these stones and crinkled leaves, is the epitome of Integrity. During the afternoon I encountered a truly stalwart wine maker who shared his philosophy in his own words--no polishing, no positioning...just absolutes. Simplicity. I tasted from barrel, one vineyard alongside another from the same vintage. This provided the truest expression of terroir. A destination for me that was finally reached. Every wine is vinified precisely the same. Precisely. It is here that I realized how it is so easy for the market to get away with creating and perpetuating the illusion (delusion) that terroir does not exist. In the absence of facts...of presence...this false truth, a fable if you will, is able to take hold. This is the stuff of urban legend to be sure. 

For this and many other reasons, Integrity is my current theme. I get those. Running themes at different states of my journey. The problem is that to be incorruptible and to speak with soundness, some people's feelings can get hurt. Even when that isn't the point. And it is no mistake that I didn't share where this picture was taken. The point is not where, the point is the journey taken, the truth found through presence and the the purity tasted in something that's real.

I love this technology but have not understood why it is so vastly under- and mis-used. It struck me that this is the perfect way for me to tell the story of the wine in the bottle without littering the label with a thousand words...to go with that one picture on the label (we discussed that already, right?)

So here is a sample...though the final product will be more informative. Thoughts? Tweet me!!

Oh well...I am usually my own biggest fan when it comes to humor. 

I just got off the phone with Paul Sloan so its time for a little update on Pinot in the Russian River Valley -- and most importantly the one and only Small Vines, which now, selflishly will also mean an update on Genese as well. (YAY!)

The picture above was taken when the Small Vines chardonnay vines were grafted onto rootstock and planted on the new vineyard site, which will also be the location of the new winery. I am so excited that I've been invited to help harvest the first grapes from this vineyard for its inaugural vintage -- 2012. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to sleep in the vineyard under the stars. So excited. But I digress....

The whites of the Valley in general are still struggling to catch up from the early season shenanigans. This morning, however, a low level fog blanketed the vineyards but wasn't thick enough to hide the fact that veraison has set in. When I saw Paul in New York last week, he shared that the troublesome pinot noir seemed to be adapting to the erratic weather dished up in California this year pretty well. So we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. And those little vines shown above? Struggling a bit this year but still on schedule for their first harvest. I had the chance to taste a single vintage of chardonnay that Paul made years ago and I can tell you....it was stunning. The idea that there will be chardonnay on par with the caliber of his pinot noir available is thrilling to say the least.

I'll be tromping around the dirt of the vineyards next month where I'll be doing a little bit of testing and sampling (I love being put to work). By then, we will be just weeks away from the historical harvest date so the grapes should be exuding the warmth, color and body of the vintage. I can't wait to pop the grapes in my mouth. I'll keep you posted.

I am getting ready for a trip to the west coast and more importantly to the mountain ranges that envelope the precious plots of land responsible for the nepenthe...the elixir that brings solace and soul to our lives. The vineyards!! And of course...there will be feet in the sand. Gotta be! I will be exploring Gap's Crown in the early morning just so I can be surrounded by fog before sunrise. Then I'll be jutting up two hours north of Santa Rosa to a perch high above the ocean in Manchester Ridge. Is there a place where you can actually see the ocean from the grape vines? I don't know but I plan to find out. And if I can...I plan to rename it Utopia. And I may move in with my sleeping bag and a trunk of wine & champagne. 

These two offer distinct microclimates and soils that offer the opportunity for me to expand the portfolio of Site-Specific pinot noirs and syrahs from the region. My answer to, "How many more California pinot noirs do I need?" is this. You absolutely never need more of the same. What you always need is more of what is distinct, delicious and well made. I plan on finding those on this trip.

The wine world is an extremely difficult and complicated one. From an outsiders point-of-view, nothing should be easier. Make wine...drink wine...talk about wine. That's it. Pure pleasure...a bacchanialian festival of fun. The truth is that, according to Nielsen, the number of brands in the US has grown from 2000 in 1999 to over 4000 by 2007. The market is cluttered and the domineering force of the constantly consolidating sources of distribution make it difficult to get for small production "boutique" wines to capture and maintain the attention of mainstream distributors. The economics of small production wines just don't work in the new-age distribution model. The added truth on the distribution side, is that the big boys increased muscle and book size, appeals to the on premise contacts. Over the past year, this has informed me as a person who sought to find small brands and bully their way into the market. I need force. As much force as I can find without so much that the "sell out" mentality takes force. I think I have found this. I began as Finally Wines, a self-contained broker and distributor working in an extremely loose partnership with Boutique Vineyards. I had aspirations for doing it all. The reality is that I could not be everywhere I needed to be all at the same time. At the same time, Boutique Vineyards felt the time was right to add more sales people to reach out to the market. More but not too many...they wanted to stay small enough to keep it all "in the family". At that time, they reached out to me in the hopes of being able to sell the wines in my family to broaden their book. After many talks about our mutual strengths and weaknesses, a new synergy was created.

Technology, social networking, education, brand management & acquisition is my forte...creating an excitement that can spring forth into the market through the hands of an intimate group of dedicated sales people. What is not my forte? Compliance paperwork, invoicing and collections, delivery scheduling...when you have to invariably wait two hours for the appointment you had at one to be ready to see you at three, there is little time for the inspiration that is needed to get delicious wines discovered. Boutique Vineyards has the perfect infrastructure in place with quality warehousing to boot. My personal pallet jack will have a nice home. (How many girls can say they have their own pallet jack?)

So beginning April 1, 2011...things will be different in the best of ways. I am newly energized and can only say that the learning experience of the past year has been difficult. But like Archer said in a recent episode, as long as you learn something...it wasn't a mistake.