The Extended Family. 

This Tractor. The Icon -I fixed this tractor for the 90th time today. I loved every second of it. — My grandfather bought this cast Iron tractor for my father and uncle. It's in most of their photos as children. One would peddle, and the other would sit in the wagon. I rode this tractor at my grandparent's home, on the same long driveway with my brother in the wagon.

It has four holes drilled into the top that I remember as that my grandfather put a pinwheel in one day, and it would spin as I rode. The faster you peddled, the faster it spun… it might have been one time, but when I see those holes, I still assume that is what they are for.

My cousins rode this tractor. My children whipped this tractor around on my parent's driveway, my nieces and nephews did the same.

We beat this thing to death, stunt shows, backward riding, small ramps, brick walls, you name it.

One day, as they all aged out of it, my father, for some reason, drug it to the tasting room. And for the last 5 years or so, it's been in our back yard, here at the tasting room. I watch kids beat on it like apes, they break a little thing, and I repair it the next day. I love it.

I've watched kids look at this thing like it was from space, feel how strong it is, test its limits, just as every Saarloos has for generations.

I always stop, I always get lost in the conversation I'm having, and every damn time I smile and get a little lump in my throat. That hunk of post-war metal launched a lot of childhood dreams.

I'm sitting here in the back of our tasting room, staring at it as I wrote this because this was always the dream; Grandpa loved the farm but didn't have one. Dad fell in love with farming because of his father's dream. I moved here to raise my kids and farm with my dad, which forced us into wine. This tractor sits in the back of the tasting room, serving the wines we farm.

Grandpa Buys Tractor - boom - Saarloos and sons. This little monster might be the moment it began. Bring your kids, let them peddle this tractor, and in 70 years, Boom Family+Farming+Vineyards+Wine. It's happened before. You are looking at it. Maybe not, but I'll keep fixing it, just in case.

 Extended Family has always been a Pinto Noir.
A grape that has become a staple of our Extended Family. 
We cant grow Pinot on our property; it is just to warm for the thin-skinned grape. You see Pinot needs a particular environment to develop correctly. We could plant Pinot on our property, but it just wouldn't succeed. Think of Pinot as a child. Sure you could make your youngest be just like your oldest, but they would never reach their highest potential. However, only a few miles from us is one of the exceptional pinot growing regions in the world: The Sta. Rita Hills.
This grape has become part of our family like the cousin that visits for the summer. We treat it just like family, taking it in and instructing it in the family way. I like to put photos of our extended family on the bottle. Here you find Ring and Effie, my great-grandparents. Relaxing in their home in Oregon on my great-uncles dairy. Feet up and enjoying the afternoon. That is what pinot is about. Pop a bottle and love the one you're with. 

It is a Beautiful Sunday afternoon feet up kind of wine. 
Love this wine. I am glad it comes to visit.