Shafer Relentless | My Love Affair With The Vine

Earlier this week we attended a memorial for a man who was just two years older than my husband. He was a well-respected community leader with a big heart and was also a philanthropist who supported and promoted many children’s charities. I knew he lived life Large but what I didn’t know until hearing his friends and colleagues speak, was that he was also a jokester.

Stories of him being such a bad driver that he ran into and over a Saguaro cactus on a golf course with the cart and then enlisted help to squish it down so he could drive off and continue his game coupled with, having 12 packages of turkey legs delivered to a neighbor who couldn’t find them at his local Fry’s store, helped me realize that there was much more to this man than I knew.

I was struck by how short life seems when you’re not ready to say goodbye.

As I was holding Ron’s hand during the service, I was thankful I still had my favorite person in my life. I was overcome with a tremendous amount of love and respect for him. He does so much for our family and I appreciate how hard he works to create this wonderful life for us.

A wonderful saying from a shop in Solvang, Ca.

He is my forever partner and I’m having so much fun on this life journey with him! I realize that finding that person that gets you, that makes you laugh, that loves you for all your crazy quirks is hard to find but, when you do, hang on for the ride of your life – it’s worth it!

Wayne Dyer uses an affirmation from his Meditations for Manifesting that goes something like this: “My judgements prevent me from the seeing the good that lies beyond appearances”.

How many times have you made a judgement based on something you saw or heard only to revise that judgement when you had more information or heard the whole story?

My guess is, many times….

I’m sharing this in hopes you will stop for just a moment and give thanks for the good things in your life…..the things that don’t suck. The things and people, that if they weren’t in your life, you would miss.

I used to think Forgiveness was for the people in my life that didn’t conform to my expectations. Those that did me wrong, the ones that needed grace and were lost for their misguided ways…..

I’ve done a lot of soul-searching in the last couple of years and I realize forgiveness is between Me and Me. I forgive Myself for being unyielding, obstinate and for seeing life only through My filter.

What I now realize is that everyone has their own story.

Love them and let them be.

No judgements.

Live your life as an example of how you want others to treat you.

Love unconditionally.

Every time I hear this Collective Soul song Forgiveness, it stops me in my tracks and I am overcome with such strong emotion. It reminds me I’m not perfect….

I’m also reminded to hug those I love, long and often. You never know the length of their life journey…..

One of the things we had in common with the man whose memorial we attended was our love of wine.

Relentless 2009-we drank the 2007 before I could get a picture!

Shafer Vineyards was one of his many favorites and Relentless was one of his recommendation to us. We enjoyed the 2007 vintage with good friends (very important!) which is mostly Napa Valley Syrah and a bit of Petite Syrah. It is dark in the glass and tasted of blackberry, dark cherry, tobacco (Ron) and cedar (Me). It’s definitely a full-bodied wine to be enjoyed with food and will cellar well for the next 5-10 years. If you visit Napa Valley you really should visit this winery. They have 2 tastings a day of only 10 people each so you will be assured an amazing experience with top shelf wines!

Tonight Ron and I are raising a glass of wine to Jon. Here’s to the life he lived – full speed ahead, to his love of wine and to the legacy he leaves behind. We will miss you.

Cheers to those that have gone before us….

I posted Music That Moves Me on my other “Lady Blog” but I think it’s more appropriate here so I will be moving it over.

This week’s song is a little ditty that has me bouncing around the living room every time it comes on…..thank God no can see me! But for those who CAN see me as I’m driving down the road, I’m in my happy place, don’t bother me. So, since I can’t get this song out of my head, I’m sharing it with you – don’t cha love that!

This is not a drive by

Just a shy guy looking for a two ply

Hefty bag to hold my love

Ok, he had me at Just a shy guy, Then he proclaims looking for a two ply Hefty bag, to hold my love,

A Hefty bag, that’s a whole lot of love….

As we get into the video we see he has commitment issues. Note to guys – don’t leave in the middle of the night – it pisses us off, so much so, that it’s likely we won’t talk to you again – EVER. I don’t care how many muscle cars you drive up with, I would not melt like that chick in the video. But….this is fantasy video land and they sing a catchy tune in fact, I think I hear Hallmark Channel calling!

I do have to say, I love the scenes driving through the streets of San Fran and the al fresco wine dinner at the vineyard….the grape stomping brings back memories of Hubby stomping grapes in Southern Az but that’s another story for another post.

This video, in a sentence, is sweet but cheesy.

Now comes the education part…..what I learned was, this was filmed at Shafer Vineyards in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley (I WANT TO LIVE THERE!). Shafer, started out as grape growers and evolved into vintners and are now known for their award-winning wines.

We were gifted with a bottle of 2008 Shafer Relentless a couple of years ago and pulled it out when we had good friends over for dinner one night. This Syrah/Petite Sirah blend had a deep inky color and lots of berry/black plum characteristics. I found the fruit to be a bit harsh and the tannins not as soft as I would like so, definitely a food wine such as short ribs or beef. Everyone else loved it, I however, like more fruit on the finish with the impression of sweet so I gave mine to Hubby. There was plenty of good juice to go around that night so not to worry, I got my fill! Would I visit this vineyard? Heck ya!! It’s in God’s country and they do make amazing wines!

I did discover another blogger – Vinecdote who has done several posts on Train, including one on the video at the Shafer Vineyard. From her, I discovered Train has released a 2009 Drops of Jupiter Petite Sirah and a 2010 Calling All Angels Chardonnay. I haven’t tried either of these wines but look for the Drops Of Jupiter label in the bedroom scene at 1:29 in the video.

So, because I like to know how things really happen, here’s a behind the scenes on what it took to make this video….