Why Salamanders?
photo by Sara Shoemaker Lind
Aptos is the last, lonely refuge of the Santa Cruz Long Toed Salamander. This slithering crusader of the marsh has valiantly battled the polyester and asphalt dragons of cold steel extinction. And he's winning!
Perhaps he's not so regal as the eagles, flighty as the falcons, nor horny as the stags adorning the Napa labels, but the Salamander is a noble predator—a vital rampart of the Santa Cruz mountain order.
Francois Premier, the first and probably the last king to be loved by the people he ruled, proudly wore the Salamandre on his coat of arms as he roamed through the villages and haylofts of Central France. Francois is gone, but his descendants have honored his love of wine by appointing a somewhat bellicose Salamandre to guard the stately entries to the noblest of the Cognac wineries.
Actually, the Winemaker happens to like salamanders ever since his earliest days roaming a mountainside in Massachusetts. The little fellows inhabited the cellar in Aptos before it knew it was a winery. Shoemaker excavated by hand to protect them, and they have since returned to guard the casks. They don’t miss a thing.
If you are prejudiced against salamanders just because they are cold, slow, and slimy, we do hope you'll at least try our Chardonnay. Nobody is beyond all hope of enlightenment....
Perhaps he's not so regal as the eagles, flighty as the falcons, nor horny as the stags adorning the Napa labels, but the Salamander is a noble predator—a vital rampart of the Santa Cruz mountain order.
Francois Premier, the first and probably the last king to be loved by the people he ruled, proudly wore the Salamandre on his coat of arms as he roamed through the villages and haylofts of Central France. Francois is gone, but his descendants have honored his love of wine by appointing a somewhat bellicose Salamandre to guard the stately entries to the noblest of the Cognac wineries.
Actually, the Winemaker happens to like salamanders ever since his earliest days roaming a mountainside in Massachusetts. The little fellows inhabited the cellar in Aptos before it knew it was a winery. Shoemaker excavated by hand to protect them, and they have since returned to guard the casks. They don’t miss a thing.
If you are prejudiced against salamanders just because they are cold, slow, and slimy, we do hope you'll at least try our Chardonnay. Nobody is beyond all hope of enlightenment....