Sarah’s Garden

A winemaker’s tribute to his groundskeeper of 27 years

Aerial view of Wayfarer Vineyard on a Sonoma mountainside

Sarah's cabin in spring

Recently I received a call from Jayson Pahlmeyer, premium winemaker and owner of the Wayfarer Vineyard where my sister lived and worked for 27 years. It plunged me back into a deep well of memories. Again I saw the spectacular mountain panoramas from her porch, smelled the cedar, bay, rosemary, pine, and lemon thyme on the air, watched jack rabbits leap and hawks soar. But by now the feeling is more joy than grief.

Jayson’s call was a request for pictures from Sis’s long tenure there. He owns many other vinyards, mostly in the Napa Valley, but this fall, for the first time, he will be bottling wine from Sarah’s Sonoma home under the Wayfarer label. And one particular blend will be called “Sarah’s Garden.”

Of course, being blown away by this magnificent gesture honoring my adored big sis, I happily spent the next few days sorting through box after box of photos – most of them brought back from her cabin.

I dearly miss her earthy wisdom and spiritual understanding; her courage in the face of cancer. It is so gratifying to have Sarah recognized in such a meaningful and appropriate way.

 

For over a year after the malignancy was discovered, Sarah doggedly remained on her beloved mountain and on the job. She died January 4, 2013 in Santa Rosa shortly after surgery. And I’m so grateful I was there.

Back to the Hills, Part 5

Let’s go get the mail

There’s nothing more relaxing after a strenuous day than the scenic trek to the mailbox. Put on your comfiest clodhoppers and let’s go.

The head of the driveway is wide to accommodate

truck turnarounds, vineyard crew vehicles

and porta-potties.

Approaching the first gate, whose main
purpose is to keep deer from eating grapes.

And into the woods, fragrant with pine, cedar and bay.





The second gate, whose purpose escapes me.
All the vineyards up here have them.
Trying to keep out revenuers?

And out onto the road. Very rarely will you meet a car here.

Can you see the mailbox yet!

Aha! We have something!

Back to the Hills, Part 2



The main house; now only used
occassionally by winery owner

The first task at hand was to prepare the grounds and big house for a company picnic. I did my best to cop the lion’s share, but Sarah worked harder on the enormous kitchen than she should have.  I was too busy trying to spare her the rest of the house to stop her! Luckily my husband and I ran a hotel in Galveston in ages past, so I’m actually pretty fast at that stuff.

Happily, the vineyard staff took care of the weeding and set up the camp circle, so all we had to do was the house. The next day a huge bus carrying the office folk trundled precariously up the mountain track. The winery owner provided box lunches for everyone, thoughtfully including one for me. They began the outing with a walking tour. Sis and I didn’t join them until they settled in for lunch.

They were an interesting group. The world of wine is alien to me, but I found them happy to answer questions on their individual jobs. Being an old Hoosier farm girl, I was most interested in the soil specialist. What did he test for? What was the optimal dirt and conditions for grapes? “Low stress” was the only thing I understood!

The winemaker explained that this particular vineyard grew pinot grapes, as in “Pinot Noir.” Then he gestured at the lower 40 and said that section was for experimentation. The grapes are sorted into three grades, premium, medium, and what-can-we-do-with-these? They had vintage bottles from the premises for tasting, and although I’m no particular fan of Pinot Noir, I found it quite good. The difference may be that it was premium grade, as in fifty bucks a bottle! Yikes!

Speaking of yikes, the winery owner and his wife had given Sarah three bottles of their finest as a get-well gift. She’d already uncorked a Chardonnay before learning it was a no-no with her meds. I gratefully disposed of it for her over the course of my two-week stay. But what to do with the Pinot Noir and the 2008 Napa Valley Red? Dare I try to take it home? Nothing to it, the winemaker assured me. Just pack the bottles in bubble wrap and put it in checked luggage. Seeing several nods of assent around the circle, I determined to try it.  All I’m risking is making a few of those dratted TSA agents much happier than they should be!

One Last Mention of the Mountains



Yes, I know. I’ve been back in Texas for weeks now. But my sister’s mountain cabin still dominates my mind. I can still see the sweeping vistas of mountain ridges – one behind the other all the way to the ocean. Over the hills stretch endless rows of grapevines, their meticulous symmetry adding their own sense of beauty. And I vividly recall the wild fragrance of the woods beyond the vineyard gates. When Sarah sent me an envelope filled with bay leaves, rosemary and lemon thyme it nearly sent me over the edge. I’d run back there in a minute.

And there is one more thing to mention – the neighbors. None are within walking distance, at least not at our present age, and none can even be seen from the house. The nearest is Ellen, the kind lady who took care of Sis until I got there and then met the airport shuttle. One day we drove up, down, and around on the one-lane, more or less blacktopped road to have lunch on her patio.  It was sunny and cool and the view, of course, was spectacular. The visit was full of local history and further insights into mountain life.

Another time we called on Anita, a lady who has read my books and wanted to meet me. As it happened, I was wearing one of her husband’s cast-off shirts (which Sis had acquired at some point) because the airlines had yet to find my luggage.

Anita’s gardens were almost as fantastic as the scenery. Off the driveway was a beautiful bit of landscaping with junipers, flowers, herbs, art objects, and pathways. Every other side of the house had vegetable plots as well as orange and persimmon trees. We left with almost more produce than we could carry.

That evening I discovered that preparing super fresh foods is quite different. For instance, cutting a carrot right out of the ground releases a sweet, moist fragrance. Another surprise is how quickly they cook. The rhubarb, cauliflower, Swiss chard, and carrots were tender in minutes. Even a couple of days later this was still true for the snap beans, cabbage and broccoli. With access to such fresh and wholesome foods, it’s no wonder Sarah healed so quickly.

All right, that’s it. I promise. Next time it’s back to the books!