Salamandre Wine Cellars Fall 2009 Newsletter

Harvest and Health Care 2009

Nature makes the grapes...but it's people that make the wine.  This year, beyond the friendship and laughter, Salamandre introduced a novel quality control sensor, and we also rescued a lizard from the crusher for karmic expansion.   Photos by Sara Shoemaker Lind (full gallery on www.SaraShoemakerLind.com )

One day before our pelting October rainstorm, I drove my truck along the rumpled corduroy of the Bordeaux clones in the Wiley Ranch. Taking an adventuresome shortcut, I headed down a rutted track with nothing but air to the right, splashed across the Arroyo Seco riverbed, and climbed steeply to the opposite bench where selected rows of Cabernet awaited their fates. High above, darkening clouds settled onto the granite spires and defiant chaparral of the Ventana Wilderness, palpably squeezing the lungs of the small band of workers below.

I customarily load my truck a bit beyond Ford's specifications, and by the time I was on the fifth tier above the bed, the lugs seemed to be getting heavier than I remember when I started this annual ritual 30+ years ago. One worker must have seen the way I was hiding the strain behind my gray whiskers. He popped a 50 pound lug on top of his head the way I might don a hat, stabilized it with one hand, stepped on the tail gate and flipped it up. I complimented his strength and was rewarded with a flicker of a smile and a nod.

People seem to behave at their best during the harvest…which I can't really say about many parties in the current healthcare reform debate. When I first saw full frontal health disparities among vineyard workers in the late 1960's, I thought for sure our nation's leaders would have it fixed in a few years. When the ‘70's went past with no progress, I thought, well, pretty soon my classmates will assume the reins of power, and they'll surely make it right by the mid ‘80's. Forty years later, we're still struggling with power and prejudice, money and mistakes…with an ugly thread of meanness woven through the debate.

I found inspiration where few Democrats would look for it: in the heart of a successful farmer. Mark Zaninovich used energy and brains to build an agricultural powerhouse in the San Joaquin Valley , and he masterminded a series of vineyard innovations in Monterey County and Arroyo Seco. Challenging my frustration regarding the self-interested behavior of some health care professionals, he inquired: “Do you think they're different…or better…than anybody else?” Mark has always provided health insurance for his employees, including part time workers…not because a law demanded it, not because an activist cornered him, not because a lawyer sued him…but out of basic human respect. I suspect this adherence to principle has also assured him of a loyal, experienced workforce, including the gentleman who helped me load my truck.

I think human decency will eventually carry the day in health care, too, but in the meantime, you can reap the rewards of past harvests and enduring friendships in each bottle of Salamandre wine. Come see for yourself! We're celebrating our 25th commercial harvest.

Wells Shoemaker MD
Winemaker