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If something puts a smile on your face every time you think of it…if this same something is exciting to talk about…if it would be a dream come true and it was within reach would you take it? But, what if it would cause a complete lifestyle change…it may never make any profit and would be a huge risk…would you still take it?
The idea of owning a vineyard was more of a retirement thought for later in life until O’Fournier brought up the idea as a real possibility. Since then, we have not been able to get the concept out of our heads! Although we were seriously wined, dined and romanticized by the owner Jose Manuel…like any purchase we needed to look at other options. If we are really considering buying a vineyard in Argentina…are we looking at a competitive price and a quality grape?
The Vines of Mendoza is another company out here offering investors to purchase 3-10 acres of vines on their 1500 acre property. Today they invited us onto their vineyard…they were harvesting grapes. We were a bit late when we arrived but eventually found them down a dirt road in the middle of the vines. Let me paint the scene for you…the sun was shining, the air was perfectly warm, the picturesque mountains stood strong in the background and the grapes were plump and begging to be picked from the vine. As soon as we arrived, they greeted us, gave us gloves, garden shears and a bin. We walked between the vines in the dirt with smirks on our faces, and started clipping those beautiful grapes until our bin was full.
We loaded our bin of grapes onto the truck and stopped to take a group picture with the other grape pickers (and potentially new vineyard owners) before heading up to the warehouse where the grapes would go through the de-stemming machine. The grapes are poured into the top of the machine and then the stems are taken away from the fruit, emptied into one bin as the grapes flow through the machine where someone hand picks any stems that were missed or grapes that don’t look good. We all gathered around the conveyor belt to help remove the unwanted stuff while letting the perfect fruit pass by.
The owners took the small group of us through the warehouse to show where the wine barrels were being stored and the small office in which they experiment by mixing and matching different varietals. Once the warehouse tour was complete, they moved us onto the outdoor patio and opened a few bottles of wine to have us taste the results of hard-work put into a bottle. After wine tasting and mingling, we went over to the part of their property which was under construction. There was a sign showing what the layout will eventually look like, private estates, spa and resort. Hmmmm…we could even live on the wine property…very tempting!
For lunch we all gathered around a long wooden table that easily sat about 30 of us. They were treating us to a classic asado (BBQ)…plates were made of wood, like little individual cutting boards which were perfect for all the meats being served. As if we were one large family…the platters of food of all sorts but definitely focused on meat kept coming around, and we all talked and ate outside in the middle of the vineyard drinking its wine.
We had gone to this vineyard to learn about their ownership program and to maybe talk ourselves out of this whole lifestyle change, but as we left…we were even more excited. We had so much fun actually picking the fruit and watching it go through the process. Then to taste the final product, eat local food and socialize with other wine lovers from around the world made us think about our vineyard dream just a little bit more…
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Published by Brandey Kabat
What I like: Dark chocolate, yoga, fresh squeezed juice, laughing, hiking, wine, travel, food, lush products, being warm, having long hair, the ritual of drinking something hot first thing in the morning…
What I don’t like: When people smell their fingers, pushing elevator buttons, confrontational situations, not being able to fall asleep quickly at bedtime…
Most random job ever: Plastic surgery consultant
As for my love life: I met my husband mid way through my junior year in college, as soon as I laid my eyes on him I was attracted to him. In fact, I made the first move which was a bit out of character but there was something about him…probably the fact that he was smokin’ hot!!
Where from and where to: I grew up in NY, went to college at The Ohio State University and then headed to CA after graduation. My boyfriend (Giff) and I had a map, a borrowed van and used stuff from his mom’s basement aka a vacuum, silverware, old Christmas ornaments etc., and about $1000 each. We thought it would be a good idea to head straight to CA since neither of us had been. Being we didn’t know anyone there nor did we have a job or job interviews set up or a place to live…I would say we did it the hard way! However with a bit of help from Giff’s mom who flew out to put us up in a hotel, bought me a suit for interviewing and co-signed a lease to get us a place to live we eventually found jobs and an apartment and have been in CA for 10 years.
Our story: After moving out to CA and living together for about 3 years we got engaged. He popped the question while down on one knee on the beach at sunset after we finished our picnic he had packed of bread, cheese, shrimp cocktail and wine. He even had the ring in a box that had a light shining down on it when opened so as it was getting dark, this amazing man was asking me to be his wife as he handed me a huge rock…Yes! Yes! Yes!
In 2005 we were married (I am biased but our wedding was absolutely amazing). By the end of 2005 we were new home owners. 2006-2009- we were both happily married, attached to our 3 cats and were focused on building our careers.
Giff and I got pregnant mid year 2009 with our first baby but what should have been one of the highlights of our life was soon distracted by the news I received at the doctor’s office.
The lump in my breast that had been dismissed the year before as nothing was now being diagnosed by a different doctor as breast cancer. Thankfully Giff is a persistent person and when we went in for our ultrasound (to hear our baby’s heartbeat) he brought up the request for testing to be done on the lump rather than dismissing it based on feeling it.
The going gets rough: Things began to move so quickly at that point, it was hard to breathe. I was 30, pregnant with my first child and going into surgery to remove breast cancer. I was about to go through what would be the worst year of my life. The plan had been discussed, we were going with the most aggressive regimen possible- double mastectomy, port surgically placed in my chest, chemotherapy, drug therapy and radiation. We also had to terminate the pregnancy. This cancer was estrogen positive and the hormones were actually feeding the cancer. That little angel whom was the cause of our going into the doctor saved my life.
Giff was my rock through every step…interviewing a team of the best doctors, memorizing which medicines I needed to take and when, driving me to chemotherapy and sitting next to me while I was so scared, telling me I was beautiful when I was bald, and so many other things…words cannot express. When you say your vows, in sickness and in health…you would never guess sickness of this magnitude at this age would be in the near future. In addition to this hardship, Giff’s dad died of a complicated prostate cancer the day we came home from my surgery. I could not hold my husband as he mourned for his dad because of the pain I was in from the mastectomy. How did Giff handle all of this pain at one time? How was he so strong for me? He is amazing. Giff’s dad was one of those people whom you naturally wanted to be around…his smile was contagious, his love for life was invigorating and he listened so intently when you talked in a conversation with him. He made you feel special. We think about him often and will miss him so much.
My family and friends were also by my side…my mom flying out from NY several times to help us with cooking and cleaning and holding my hand. It must be one of the most awful things in the world to watch your baby girl be diagnosed with breast cancer. My girlfriends also flew out to take care of me and help with anything they could. Other friends living closer would come by just to sit and talk or watch movies. There were so many cards, letters, flowers, cookies, and other gifts that came from all over the country. It’s amazing to have such great people in my life. In addition to my amazing circle of friends and family, there were the strangers with whom crossed our path. Whether it was a letter in the mail from a breast cancer survivor, the anesthesiologist who called Giff during my surgery crying happy tears that the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes, or our fertility doctor who promised to watch over our frozen embryos as if they were her own. There were so many small gestures that made such a big impact on our lives.
Looking at the bright side: Thankfully this was caught in stage 1, had it been caught a year prior by the first doctor I had gone into about the lump, it may have been caught at stage 0. Please learn from my lesson…insist the lump be tested – a lump cannot be diagnosed by touch. They were able to cut all the cancer out and after I finish the entire regimen including a pill I take over the next 5 years, they said there is a 95% chance the cancer will never come back.
Our exciting future: We’ve decided to re-prioritize, we are taking 400 days starting February 7th of 2011 to travel the world! We will travel to new places, eat new foods, taste new wines and meet new people. We will focus on healing ourselves both physically and mentally. This will be one of the best years of our lives.
View all posts by Brandey Kabat
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