It’s been a while since I’ve posted to the travel blog.  It’s not that I don’t want to be living some romantic lifestyle, traveling and adventuring incessantly, leaving behind a trail of exciting photos intermixed with witty banter and insights into my personal life and philosophy, it’s just that I still have duties in this world and lately I’ve been keeping my head down and buried in those duties.  But that doesn’t mean the travels are over.  There are definitely some adventures that I have planned for the near and far future, so stay tuned for some pretty exciting journeys.  For now though, you’ll just have to bear with me and my lazy weekend affairs.

The holidays are fast-approaching, so with that in mind I decided to venture down to New Clairvaux Vineyards to purchase a few cases of wine for my staff and colleagues to enjoy over their Thanksgiving dinners.  New Clairvaux is a local winery here in Tehama County, and it has some serious history.  Located approximately halfway between Chico and Red Bluff, the Vina area where the winery is located was first cultivated by vintner Peter Lassen back in 1846.  Leland Stanford thereafter invested in the area and transformed it into the Great Vina Winery, which in 1890 was reported as having been the largest winemaking venture in the world.  Today, a smaller portion of the grounds remains and is run by the Abbey of New Clairvaux, a dedicated crew of trappist monks who trace their traditions back to Cistercian Vineyards, Clos de Vougeot in Bergundy, and Kloster Eberbach in the Rheingau.  The wine they make is truly superb, easily competes with some of the best wineries in the State, and we’re really blessed to have such a unique gem located right here in Northern California.  Also, the grounds are beautiful, especially with it being fall.

Maybe some day after I’m done with the career and all my journeys, I’ll just retire and take on the simple life of a monk working the fields at New Clairvaux.  I’m pretty sure I could get used to it real easy.  Until then though, the work and adventures continue.

Cheers,

Rob