BLOGSCHU

You've Been Rick- Rolled

Now you too can say you are part of the in- crowd.

Let There Be Light

Just heard this morning that sixty percent of all solar installations in the US are in California, and the majority of those are in the northern half of the state.

Just so happens that last Thursday, PG&E flipped the switch on our new solar panels at the winery.  We just installed two new systems - one set of panels now provides 60% of the winery power.   We even pulled out some killer 667 Pinot to make room.  That is commitment.  But the second system is even more super cool.  The panels float on our irrigation pond, and generate 100% of the power to our water recycling system.  

Seeing that meter spin backwards is pretty exciting.  The air on Rhinefarm seems fresher than ever.

 

The winery solar farm, where block 17 used to be.

 

"Floatovoltaic" panels being slid onto our pond. 

Tequila Night 2008

Here I am sitting here in Scottsdale AZ, awaiting transport to the netherworld of the desert restaurant scene, to show off some very well kept and yummy 05 and 06 vintage wines.  Band of Horses, a new fave is playing in the background, and I can exhale long enough to tell you briefly about tequila night.  For as long as I have been alive, the last day of harvest has been commemorated by a feast of sorts for the winemaking crew.   After 2 months of hard work, the night is for blowing off steam.  It is always fun and different because of the harvest interns we bring in for the season.  Every year is a different group, and the chemistry year to year makes the night an adventure every year when everyone is together with time and permission to (really) let their hair down.  The 'feast' used to be much heavier on the tequila than on the food, and the stories from those days, with arrests, fights, cry-fests, and even a few hook-ups, are plentiful and fun to retell.   In recent years though, we have made a point to make it through dinner, which is usually very good, in enough of a state to remember, let alone appreciate, the wines pulled out of the cellar for the occasion.    The Tequila comes, but ceremoniously early on, and then in volume much later.  Tequila night 2008 was a splendid and tasty affair.  Family matriarch Nancy Bundschu hosted a wonderful home-grown meal.  The leg of lamb came from Danielle Knego, star 4-h'r and daughter of Shandra, our controller.  The steak came from the local butcher and his local sources, and the veggies all came from Nancy's garden.   The wine came from family vintners from all over the world.  And it was a tasty and beautiful dinner.  That said, the setting is good to talk about for sure, and we are blessed because that is always how it is here.  But what made the night what it was though, was the spirit of the group.  They had just spent countless hours working hard together to produce stellar 08 wines, and still had the energy and fondness for each other to throw down in a very positive way.   Being election season, politics was on everyone's mind.  You wouldn't have known it though, except for the fact that Amy and Adam, interns (escapees) form Minnesota were wearing Ron Paul body suits.  Javier got up and gave an impassioned speech for Obama and America, which was inspiring to hear, and no-one threw food at him.  Nancy pulled out a game that had us all telling the group very intimate things about ourselves.  I am banking that that was late enough for the memories to be just foggy enough.  Of course the evening ended back at Steiner's, and lived up to its name.  Throughout the night there was laughter, and with it ample evidence that our 2008 cellar crew is something special.

The fact the group got off to an early start at Steiners, before dinner, had me scared. LtoR Javier, Shaun, Rolando and Fabian

The pre-trip to Steiners ended being harmless, and even inspired some art photography before dinner at Nancy's. Is that an Agave plant?

Heather and Anne viticulturist and Associate winemaker.  At an estate winery vintners and grows so get along!

Linda brought harvest shirt came out, which signaled a turning point in the evening...

Javier and Amy.  Ron Paul and Obama getting along.  Vineyard guru Abel is peacing in the background.

The table looking a little worse for wear.  But Linda and I are still upright.

The worst-best idea of every tequila night- heading to Steiner's after wards.

A Tear For Toot

In the hours following this entry, we will know the next president. This day will end in historic fashion, no matter what the outcome. Of all the nuances of both candidate’s biographies, nothing has struck me more than the life and influence of Barack Obama’s grandmother, and the role she played in his life.

From the AP Obit:

‘Madelyn Lee Payne was born to Rolla and Leona Payne in October, 1922, in Peru, Kan., but lived much of her childhood in nearby Augusta. Madelyn and Stanley Dunham married in 1940, a few weeks before she graduated from high school. Their daughter, Stanley Ann, was born in 1942. After several moves to and from California, Texas, Washington and Kansas, Stanley Dunham's job landed the family in Hawaii. The Kansas-born Dunham and her husband, Stanley, raised their grandson for several years so he could attend school in Honolulu while their daughter and her second husband lived overseas. Madelyn Dunham, who took university classes but to her chagrin never earned a degree, nonetheless rose from a secretarial job at the Bank of Hawaii to become one of the state's first female bank vice presidents. After retirement, [Dunham and her husband] would take island cruises and do little but play bridge and a more difficult version called duplicate bridge.’

Those ‘several years’ that Obama was raised by his Grandmother were from age 10 to 18, or the entirety of his adolescence. I took the following from the Yale/New Haven Teachers Institute site, which makes a lot of sense to me:

‘Adolescent maturation is a personal phase of development where children have to establish their own beliefs, values, and what they want to accomplish out of life…the self-evaluation process leads to the beginning of long-range goal setting, emotional and social independence, and the making of a mature adult. ‘Three distinct stages can be identified in the psychological development of the adolescent…During early adolescence (ages 11-13), development usually centers around developing a new self-image due to their physiological changes... During [the period known as mid-adolescence, ages 14 and 15] the adolescent battles over his own set of values versus the set established by parents and other adult figures…During late adolescence (ages range from sixteen on), adolescents have a more stable sense of their identity and place in society.'

What is not written here is the impact of key adults on successful development. For me (apparently like the rest of us), this period was among the most formative of my life. The physiological and psychological changes were coming fast and furious and the universe around me was expanding. My grandmother Mary, who passed just a few years ago, was there for me day-in and day-out and was a stabilizing force my turbulent world. There are very few people had as much of an impact on me as she did.

Mary Bundschu was born in 1920 and Madeleine Dunham in 1922, and both were raised in small rural towns (Pomona, CA and Agusta, KS, respectively). Both were married young to men who joined the army, and they both moved to their husband’s place of work. By all accounts they both were very strong and smart women and they both loved bridge. They also clearly had profound impact on their grandsons.

I don’t know Barack Obama, but I can empathize with his loss. I imagine that with this long portion of his profound journey nearly over, and being done with virtually all he can do, he can’t help but reflect on his life so far; As a politician, a father, a husband, and a grandson. I have to believe in those moments he is proud, awestruck, incredibly thankful, and, when he lets himself be, sad for the loss of a guiding force.