Back in the Spring of 2002, when the economy was strong and real estate was hot, Bob and I took a meandering weekend drive through the Edna Valley.  We had talked about looking for an acre or two of land on which to build a house on.  While driving on Orcutt Road, where many lovely vineyards and wineries are located, we passed by a gorgeous piece of land with rolling hills dotted with California Oak trees and contented cows grazing with a ‘For Sale’ sign on it.  We stopped the car and got out to gaze on the bucolic scene.  We looked at each other and knew this was the place we wanted to plant a vineyard and build a house. 

We called the agent the following week, made an appointment and walked through the eighty acres.  We fell in love with the land.  Although it was not our plan or within our budget we knew we had to make it happen.  The land was actually in receivership as part of a difficult divorce settlement.  We were told we could make an offer on the land, and in the county courthouse a few months down the road, if there were no higher offers received on the land, we would be able to purchase it.  We made an offer, which was absolutely all we could afford and waited for the court date.  In the meantime we found out that higher offers had been made on the property in the past, but the divorce was contentious, with the seller not cooperating, and as a result the buyers dropped out.  Finally the court day came and no other interested buyers showed up.  We borrowed money from our family and bank, sold our big, beautiful home in Solvang to make the down payment on the property.

Our vision was becoming reality.

We started planning our vineyard.  So many decisions to be made, what grape varieties, rootstocks, how would the rows be sited?  How will we pay for it?  Did we know the price of steel fluctuates daily?  Steel is what would be needed for the trellis system, and lots of it.  Irrigation must be designed and put in.  Not to mention, the most important question:  How to farm the land?  Organic?  Biodyanmic?  Sustainable? Big decisions, big money, big commitment.

After talking to many friends and colleagues in the wine business we were divided on whether to farm organically or biodynamically.  I was leaning toward biodynamic farming as our good friends Steve and Susan Beckmen had started biodynamic farming at their Purisima Mountain Vineyard and were incredibly happy with the results.  Bob was less convinced.

In the spring of 2005 Bob went to London on a sales trip and by coincidence there was a biodynamic wine conference being held while he was in Town.  He attended the conference and ran into two friends and colleagues, Dominique Lafon and André Ostertag.  They went out to dinner together and sung the praises and amazing results of biodynamic farming to Bob.  If you have had the opportunity to try the wines these winemakers produce you would be sold too.  They are, as most wine connoisseurs will agree, among the finest wines made in the world.  I received a telephone message from Bob that evening which I still remember:  “Babe, biodynamic is our future!”  The rest is history.