Seeing Life With Grand Clarity

It’s amazing, flying over the Grand Canyon. The landscape is pure and solemn. The river, cutting through the orange soil and red granite appears to have easily carved its place in history, cutting a blue swath of life giving waters that meander easily over sand and rock; proverbial beads of sweat trickling down Arizona’s dry, thirsty skin.

I sat there, with my nose pressed against the cold glass, a civil meal before me, a paper napkin on my lap and marveled that I could so casually view this hand print of God while moving effortlessly through the thin atmosphere of my home planet. I enjoyed an "aha" moment about the lack of clarity with which we see the minutia in our own lives as I focused on the scene below.

I thought, if it’s so easy to see the large things in life with such clarity, why do we ignore the teaching element of these perspectives? We can look at almost anything in our world from a great distance, adding layers of understanding and reflection to our brain-trust of nature’s beauty. And yet, when it comes to looking at our own life, we peer at our situation through slits of apathy.

It’s like wondering in a dark field, using only a small flashlight to guide us. As we focus the tiny circle of light on a small sampling of our daily lives, we judge the entire field on this miniature, poorly illuminated sphere. A tiny viewpoint surely limits us from seeing our life from a healthy, holistic perspective.

This narrow view is in stark contrast to my reverent vista from the skies. And yet, dreaming is in essence a way to view our lives from above. A 30-thousand foot snapshot of everything around us is the correct perspective to have if we’re going to grow in understanding and become stronger women, stronger friends; even stronger caretakers.

In terms of today, our dreams can be more positive and possible with the right perspective. Not unlike the plant that flourishes when its whole purpose is taken into account, our dreams come into focus with childlike clarity when we nudge ourselves toward this authentic, perspective-driven lifestyle. We see our future as something that we can enjoy now. We become more invested in and more present in the moment before us. Each moment becomes calming and valuable. Our time is then spent seeing, with awe, the life before us that is guiding us towards our dreams, not spent agonizing over one small, dimly lit setback.

As participants in Networking, Women and Wine, you sip the wines before you, let the liquid fill you with a light that will illuminate your WHOLE self. Then you can sit back, fasten your seat belt, and enjoy the view to a new you!

Ode to A Grape

O grape. O great grape!

Purple, gurgling, shining, pining, elation!

Reflections, inflections, selections, vini-vacations!

Oh sphere, O red sphere.

Twist, swirl, taste, wait, hear

Engulf, engage, endure, inspire, endear

Oh grape. O great grape!

Purple ideas, lingering, longing, contentment

Liquid enlightenment, excitement, think-itement!

O grape, O great grape.

Flirting with dirt, hurt, sin, yin, yang

Singing, crushing, hushing, singing, bang!

Live Organically, Dream Sustainably, Taste Authenticity with Us!

I'm reading an article in the Atlantic Monthly about a 70 year study of a group of people just out of college, which measures their life in a linear and very in-depth way. The content is rich and worthwhile but the overwhelming conclusion about who enjoys the most happiness, health and longevity was not pivotal on cholesterol, lack of tragedy, success at work or even DNA, if was about relationships. Those people who had friends and developed deep, fulfilling relationships, were the most likely to live the longest and happiest lives.

Not a surprising statistic but really important if you realize that connections may be the key to health. And since living an authentic life is not just a badge but a mission for us, we're constantly looking for ways to help the women around us thrive personally and socially. We're looking to help encourage your dreams, temper your self-criticism and nurture the fabulous things inside you just waiting to flourish in the most natural and fulfilling ways.

All of this brought me around to an idea that seems to be floating parallel to everything in our lives and careers, and that is to move towards a more organic or sustainable way of life in terms of what we consume and how we live and breathe. This seems logical because if you're focusing your life on a more authentic path, it's probably going to be more organic by default. If you're taking a look at what would truly fulfill you and fulfill the needs of those around you, it most likely includes a sustainable solution.

With that in mind, this month our focus will be on organic and sustainably grown wines. There are so many fabulous wineries that follow this discipline that it's fast becoming more of a rule than exception in many regions. However, it's still not mainstream and we're all for uncovering gems. Plus, since we're big on putting metaphors together with wine, June will be the month we ask you to TASTE organic wines and NURTURE your organic self.

Join us Wednesday, June 25th at Vintage Wine Cellar again for wine tasting in Charlotte with Networking, Women and Wine!

Singing a Song of Courage

I used to compose music. I was passionate, imaginative, inspired and deliberate. The ballads came quickly, with words and chords that complimented each other like chocolate and whipped cream. For awhile I was the prodigy of the neighborhood.

Why didn’t I move forward with my music?

Well, for starters, I was only 8 years old and my concert hall was simply my back yard.

It was glorious really. I sat in my swing, rising up and down with a motion only limited by the rhythm of the chains that yanked me back to earth with each arc of energy. While I hit the high notes I rose into the air enough to see the white pebbles that covered the roof of my house, and catch a glimpse of the bird’s nest in the pepper tree not far from the fort I had built out of chenille bedspreads and wooden clothespins.

It was my domain. My little sound stage, I thought the acoustics were fantastic and the possibilities endless.

I remember feeling like I was the only one in the world as I pieced together lyrics and codas, crescendos and repeat verses, finally enjoying that wonderful sensation of carrying the final note up to the clouds and out to the stars. My little songs might have been good, but most likely they were something only my parents listened to from the privacy of the back door, pleased and laughing at the same time.

So why talk about my swingset symphonies? Because it illustrates something that most of us probably did as children but wouldn’t dare do as adults. That is to explore something with abandon, confidence and purpose; to move forward without a thought of failure or criticism, letting our minds be our guide and silence the inner voices of counselors, parents, or jealous peers.

During our gatherings, we, as women with a desire to create friendships and solutions, gather to celebrate what it means to release our inner potential. Coinciding with the season of the release of white wines, we sip on Chardonnay and Riesling and hopefully find a new song in our hearts. One that returns us to our child-like desire to find the voice deep inside us that longs to create; to feel the quiver of excitement in our bellies when we know we’ve found something we love.

George Sheehan, an American physician, author and running enthusiast is quoted as saying, "Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be."

A modest statement of sorts its power lies in our ability to believe it. And that is often the hardest thing of all.

As women we are always nurturing others to believe in themselves. We urge our children to pursue their greatest dreams. We perpetuate the magical myths of our culture, like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy to lend faith and possibility to a world with too much reality. We create visualization techniques for our boyfriends, partners and husbands to send them out the door with a shield of self-love, set on a path of purpose.Yet, as we look in the mirror all we see is what we need to change, what has worn out, what isn’t remarkable. Those poisonous thoughts make what we WANT seem so very far away.

How can the idea of wine help us segue to a new sense of courage?

When a wine maker experiments with blending and making wine, he has a finite amount of valuable juice to work with; the result of a year of effort, expertise and revenue. But still, he has a dream. A dream that he can find that one flavor that expresses all the grape is meant to be. Something that when sipped, imparts a flood of aromas and flavors, unique and heady.

With flasks and barrels all around, he is ready and willing to mix with abandon and science to find that perfect glass. And, not unlike the effort it takes for us to do what we know we must to do to find what’s inside ourselves, he sprinkles in a little hope and courage along the way.

Today we challenge you to find your own mixing room of flavors, OR your own backyard concert hall of possibility. Go ahead, find your voice and find the inner courage to release all you can be and all you’re meant to be!

Blue Ridge Wine and Food Festival in Blowing Rock, NC

A tent has many meanings. An inert word of sorts there is nothing lilting or romantic about its terse, quick pronunciation. It may be a boring word, but what happens under a tent is usually worth telling about.

I have many fond memories of being in tents. Girl Scout weekends, circus performances, and backyard forts to name a few. If you’re like me, all of the memories like this are vivid and fond, evoking thoughts of celebration, rites of passage, or time with friends and loved ones.

A new kind of tent memory is emerging for me and now becomes a fitting antidote for my adult yearning to return to those celebrations of youth. It all started with the Blue Ridge Wine Festival’s Grand Tasting in Blowing Rock last Saturday the 18th of April. Suspended above hundreds of thirsty oenophiles, the big, white billows of canvas and rope that made up the grand tasting tent, housed the proverbial grape escape of the mountains - a monument to flavor, friendship and opportunity.

I could see the tent as we walked up the main street, watching as people jostled through the crowd to buy a ticket and begin sipping. Once inside, the experience transformed each visitor. Large, purple and green balloons of all sized were affixed to the posts to resemble robust clusters of chardonnay, pinot noir and cabernet grapes. Booths displaying trinkets, books, hats and shirts were nestled between dozens of winery displays large and small, local and international. Wine flowed from the bottles of hundreds of varietals. Food and appetizers were a-plenty with everything from pate, to mini-gourmet cheeseburgers and blue cheese to carrot cake to choose from.

While making the rounds with my logo-etched glass I stopped and visited with many of the winemakers, tasting some familiar North Carolina favorites like the inventive Hanover Park, the young but stunning wines of Stony Creek, the skilled winemaking flavors of Childress Vineyards, and the newly branded and innovative wines at Round Peak. I became a raving fan of Semler Winery in Malibu, an avid admirer of Zuccardi Wines’ Malbec of Argentina, wowed and impressed by the Saddlerock Chardonnay from California. All of which covered my palette with memories I will talk of for weeks.

One of the most exciting parts of the Festival was the mood of the crowd and their eagerness to socialize and learn about their fellow tasters. Since most of us were standing tight as sardines as we waited for each new pour, it was impossible to avoid becoming friends with the person standing next to you. We created our own little sub-cults, gathering around specific kiosks for extra sips of our favorite port or a sparkling white. We clinked glasses, exchanged emails and shared our deepest secrets of disastrous marriages, risky career moves, religious and political opinions, and even recent shoe bargains. In the end, we were all meant to find each other as we huddled under this modern teepee; destined to find new flavors and new friends. It was a perfect entrée to summer in the mountains.

Maybe, as a child, you held your breath as you watched the man on the high wire, hoping the circus wouldn’t end. For me, when the Festival ended, I exited this tent clutching the handle of a wine tote, blue stains on my teeth, and laughter in my heart.

For more information about this annual event, and all of the activities during this 4 day long celebration, log on to BlueRidgeWineFestival.com or NCWine.com.

Blending Together to Stand Out!

While watching the history channel this morning, I enjoyed a program about 1968 and it's turbulent and defining moments. Written and hosted by Tom Brokaw, a respected historic journalist, he asserted that one of the catalytic moments in our history occurred when Apollo 8 orbited the moon for the first time. When that happened, we, as humans, had a glimpse of our fragile mother earth from a new perspective. It made us realize that we all share this planet together, and we all share the need to make it whole.

Fast forward 41 years later and I reflect that during our NWW events, energy created from those who have joined us has been very potent with these ideals. I see us, as women, on the cusp of creating a new awareness of how important it is to see connection as the way to survival, and certainly the way to joy, healing and prosperity.How does wine fit into this paradigm?

In the wine industry, April overlaps a continuing time for what is called, "blending." It is when the art of the wine is executed. Different juice is combined, tasted and combined again. Therefore, wine is sometimes a single grape, but also sometimes a blend of many. How appropriate to mix these two ideas for discussion. Success in wine making often comes from understanding that one juice can blend with another and make something spectacular.

That is certainly our premise with NWW. When we blend together we find that each of us can find what's best about all of us. In doing so, our individuality sings with triumph because we can be successful in a way that brings all of humankind together. And those blue skies above us and the green below our feet, celebrate our discovery.Join us April 22nd when our theme is blended wines. For that event, we proudly proclaim, "You Stand Out When You Blend With Us!"

Syrah Tasting at D'Vine Wine Cafe

When you think of a vertical wine tasting, you might think that it means you have to drink standing up. Or maybe you'll walk in and see the glasses stacked one on top of the other like a purple, glass fortress. And although you're free to do both, there's more to the idea than just geometry.

On Wednesday night the 25th of March, between rain storms and wind, we gathers to find out what a vertical tasting is. In essence the term refers to sampling wines of the same grape usually from different vintages but from the same vineyards but we twisted the term a little and did the same grape but different regions completely. We chose the Syrah grape (known as Shiraz in Australia) because its flavors are so versatile and yet dramatically different. If you're going to learn about wine and learn how to recognize a certain grape, vertical tastings are a good part of your protocol.

As we entered the well appointed and plush room at D'Vine Wine Cafe, we were handed a glass of Black Bubbles; the title for this bouncy and party-starting sparkling Syrah called Shooting Star. Besides the fact that most women in the room decided to buy a bottle to take home, the audible ahhhs and oooh's were more proof of its popularity! ($15.99)

There's a lot of chatter about Americans shying away from French style wines but I think it's just because they don't know how exquisite they are with food or their palette is geared towards the wines they've always liked. Believe me, you'll like this Domaine Des Cedres, Vin de Pays du Gard, Syrah. (Cool name, eh? Oui!!) The nose is almost truffle like but with a little sun shining through to add an aroma of green plants and warm earth. The taste hands you a mouthful of fruit but it's masked in layers of different flavors that unfold for several seconds after you swallow your first sip. In fact the wine changed throughout the night and we enjoyed going back to it to give our tongue a treat. ($14.99)

Gravity Hills Base Camp Syrah took the room by storm. It's the wine you came for. Peppery and mouth filling it begs you to swish it around for as long as you can. The fruit bursts out of the glass, coating your taste buds with dark fruit and licorice. The list of foods eager to join it at your dinner table are as long as the conversations we enjoyed that night. Check it out. ($14.99)

An organic gift with a story to match, (ask Justin, General Manager of D'Vine to fill you in), the 2007 Gemtree Tadpole Shiraz has a story that will make you wanna be green. Zero filtration, zero fining and minimal intervention it tastes so much more mature that the date would convey. But while you're listening, open and enjoy a bottle of this great wine. It's natural, juicy, soft and drinkable. You'll be on bottle number two before you know it. ($12.99 - amazing!)

Liquid Metaphors

As wine lovers, there is a natural curiosity about the journey of the grape to the glass aside from the pleasure it gives you when tasted. We hold wine bottles like museum treasures, admiring labels, gently inspecting the familiar indentation in the bottom of the glass cylinder, and when the cork is removed (or more and more often the top is unscrewed) we can’t help but pause in anticipation of what the liquid will look like as it cascades into our goblet.

Do we have this same fascination and yearning when making connections with other women or with potential clients, or even with the friends and acquaintances we make every day? Are we thinking about what made them who they are, what kind of a journey they have traveled to arrive at this moment in our life? We would be better off if this logic was used with every human we approach.

For Networking, Women and Wine, the vino we enjoy during our events is more than just the icing on the cake of connections, it’s the mascot of our mission. We look to formulate metaphors based on the wine experience to help define ways to create authentic and meaningful alliances, resources and friendships. We also look to the process to help uncover ourselves and the amazing value we have to offer as individuals, not as faces lost in a crowd of monochromatic followers.

If you think about wine it cannot be made alone. It is not naturally occurring but is the product of nature (the terroir and chemistry) art, (the wine maker, vineyard manager) and time.
It is one of man’s first inventions and is aligned with thousands of years of our human history.

Ancient wine drinkers, (if not inebriated most of the time!) experienced better health and reproduction, and wine is a part of many of our collective, human, ceremonial histories. Grapes are the largest fruit crop on earth and are fairly adaptable plants, growing in a wide variety of soil types, from light sand to packed clay, and flourish around the globe.

All of these combine to serve as a vehicle for us to present ourselves as women, daughters, sisters, mothers, neighbors, angels and friends. We meet as women to enjoy and learn about wine - this drink that so closely resembles our struggles and triumphs through life - to create another chapter in the history of wine and enhance the future of every women who joins us.

A mini vacation by the glass

I took a trip on Sunday. I didn't have to go far but it was wonderful. On this sunny afternoon, I found myself sitting under a lemon tree enjoying the sound of buzzing bees. I was smelling the new mown grass under my toes, savoring the pungent but sweet aromas of the severed blades that were obviously thrown violently aside, like so many organic soldiers.

In my hand dripped the sweet and sticky juice of the grapefruit I was enjoying. Cutting each segment into bite sized morsels of Spring I relished the citrusy liquid on my tongue; the bright floral notes of each little exquisite sac of champagne colored liquid.

Then, just as I thought about running into the meadow for good, I was snapped into reality with the question, "would you like another glass?"Oh yeah I was really at the bar of the new Wine Shop at Rivergate on Tryon and 160, in Charlotte. And in my hand was a glass of 2008 Whitehaven Savignon Blanc from New Zealand that was fast becoming a memory, but one that would never be forgotten. (I should say so-- for $14.99 a bottle, it was a great value!)

I had labored over my choice for the afternoon sipping. Finally settling on the Spring-Fever-antedote of a good Sav Blanc. A sniff into the glass and I was smelling grass clippings, and I could taste the oily and bumpy lemon rind as though I had it in my palm. The first sip exploded into grapefruit and gooseberry, finishing with a hint of orange blossom and contentment.

This is a great place to browse the isles of well chosen wines, and the south wall is packed with boutique brews and stunning ales. The menu was hard to get through because everything looked divine. They offer cannollis and handcrafted cheeses along with flat breads, salads and soups (and so much more!).

I may not have been outside on a summer day, lulled to sleep by the sound of popping blossoms and the taste of the tropics, but it felt like it. You can discover your own sensory getaway next time you visit The Wine Shop at Rivergate. Oh, and ask for the wine steward David. He'll take good care of you.

Our wine group, Networking, Women and Wine, have planned to hold one of our events at this location so check us out!

Find them at 14142 Rivergate Parkway, Ste. 200. Charlotte, NC 28273. Or visit their original shop at Foxcroft on Fairview Ave in Southpark.

A Green, St. Patrick's Tasting with Childress Vineyards

St. Patrick was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland in 387 AD under Roman rule. After a kidnapping at 16, imprisonment, and escape he dedicated his life to his beliefs and changed the belief system of the country of Ireland forever.

I share this because much like wine, whose journey twists and turns from the vine to the tongue, our life's passions take us in many directions before our true expression is unfolded.

Take Nascar Racing icon and powerhouse Richard Childress, owner of Childress Vineyards. http://childressvineyards.com/story/ It's a story about following a passion that is different than your original course. It is evident that he knows surrounding himself with the best talent, attending to every detail and pleasing people will always bring success.

This passion and the perfection of it was evident during an exquisite winemaker's dinner held in the barrel room at Childress Winery, Tuesday March 17, 2009. Hosted by his talented winemaker, Mark Friszolowski, we spent an evening enjoying a completely green menu with foods harvested and grown locally.

Tasting up to 11 wines, our palettes were tickled with flavors from sea to earth. Seated at a long wooden table, decorated with stones, twigs, candles and satin and punctuated with large floral bouquets of white and green, we heard about Childress history, drank pre-release whites, sold out reds, and remarked at the mouthwatering pairings before us.

A sampling of our gastronomic adventure included the matching of a burnt red Heirloom Charred Tomato Bisque soup with their pre-release Trio white wine blend. A crisp, full mouthed and refreshing wine. Release of this new Trio blend is happening April 24th so don't miss out! http://childressvineyards.com/home.asp

Another of our favorite taste sensations was the Smoked Salmon with Sour Cream, Chives and Caviar. Heaven on a fork for us and the smooth, velvety salmon woke up the amazing floral notes of the Rose of Cabernet Franc.

The Braised Short Ribs had been cooking all day, according to one of the chefs seated near me, to enjoy a rare night on the other side of the kitchen. She said the aroma and flavors had been filling the winery with anticipation for the evening's event. By the time the meat arrived in front of us, the collective sigh that rose from the 100 people seated at the long table seemed to flicker the lights strung above us. Paired with the NC Fair Best of Show Winning 2004 Syrah, long sold out, we knew this memory would never fade.

As the last food course was cleared, we were poised for our Irish Bread Pudding which paired with the 2008 Late Harvest Viognier, convinced us that the luck of the Irish is best celebrated with wine, and being green.

Cheers to you Mark and Richard and your staff Ron and myself, and from the women in Networking, Women and Wine!

Spread the Word, Life is Good!

I don’t know about you, but the air seems positively electrified these days. Perhaps it’s fear gone wild, or our medication wearing off, but I sense a hidden optimism just waiting to be tapped.

How can we as women help spread the idea that life is good? Statistics confirm that the lion’s share of new businesses started on our country are started by women. Many of us, without fear and with dreams in hand, gather around kitchen tables, in the parking lots of our kids’ schools, in the checkout line at the store, and even on treadmills in our bedroom, to brainstorm and dare to imagine the world with our solutions in it.
It’s this kind of authenticity that we’re celebrating as this year’s theme for NWW, and it’s definitely the ingredient you need to make sure your business will grow and thrive in spite of the downturn.

I recently reached out to a woman I met in March of last year, that I had included in our Networking, Women and Wine database and hadn’t heard from. Thinking our emails were languishing in her spam folder, I called her to reconnect. She began to tell me all the good things happening in her life and the lives of her family, including her move to a new city, saying that she has decided even to stop listening to her beloved NPR to keep the bad OUT of her life and leave room for the good.

In the midst of our conversation she asked me if I had any advice to help her network in her new city, as she is a social creature like most of us here tonight. In a flash of inspiration I realized she had just created her own solution. By telling me that she has so much good news around her and she’s tired of hearing about the bad she can begin connecting on that premise alone.

I told her how NWW started; a group of business friends who wanted to spend time together and offer each other support and friendship aside from the agenda of some structured business building model. I suggested she form a her own networking group by finding a couple of people who wanted to share and concentrate on good news. Through beginning a blog, a coffee meeting or connecting it with any other passion, she can begin to promote good energy and expand her sphere of influence.

You can do this too! Give something of yourself that offers help and friendship and then others will return the goodness. And from there your authenticity will grow and begin to heal all those around you.

Spinning, Sipping and Seeing

I'm enjoying a glass of Shelton Cabernet Franc and thinking about how the world is spinning faster than I'm used to. I feel like there's no safety net and no straps to hold me in and I wonder if we all feel that way right now.

The wine slides down like I'm wrapping myself in a claret, velvet cape. My lips giggle with anticipation as each swallow glides easily past the taste buds that feel they're denied a longer embrace with the aged liquid.

Sure, the lasagna that I created tonight was a crowd-pleaser. And half of the concoction is hibernating in my freezer until the next meal calls. But it's the dance with the glass I need tonight as I hold on to what hasn't changed in the face of events that define why we wish Monday's could simply slide off the calender to be left behind forever.

I'm remembering the soothing vibration of a deep yoga breath I called forth to ease my fears, earlier today. Quelling my panic until I could measure my day against my health, my happiness, and the warmth of my bed in the morning light.

Then, as I wallowed in my own fear I recall my chance encounter with the faces and stories of women I found online. Powerful ladies who have the strength to smile through their cancer while I cling desperately to the purple glow on the skiff of snow that blankets the lawn outside my March window knowing that I must stop crying without reason for a future yet unknown.

My glass is almost empty and like the end of a visit with a friend, you realize that you feel better already and what you're worried about isn't that bad. That there are people around that still need you to be whole, and they're waiting for you to heal them when their world is rocked.

I think I'll pour another, and fill the sink with sudsy, white clouds to immerse the remnants of meat and cheese. I'll sip awhile longer and ride the ride I'm on today. Spinning as it may, in ever increasing revolutions, my world, my present moment, is still the only way to experience the life I have been given. And I'll enjoy it because I own it and it goes so well with the wine, and the sunrise that I know tomorrow will bring.