Being Brave: Celebrating International Women's Day + Women’s History Month

I’ve always loved the month of March. It’s my birthday month, my niece’s birthday month, the Spring Equinox, and the month when the cherry blossoms bloom in my neighborhood, and daffodils come up to greet us with their cheery yellow faces. It’s also Women’s History Month. I think about all of the women who came before me, their various struggles and joys, their grief and their laughter, and their love. I am grateful to be here on this planet today because of who they were.

Photo by Ana Gabriel on Unsplash

Photo by Ana Gabriel on Unsplash

Vibrant Travelers is a women-owned business that supports other women-owned businesses wherever possible. From winemakers and winery owners, master distillers, chefs, restaurant owners, tour guides, artists, and entrepreneurs, we make the conscious choice in seeking out a diverse array of women to partner with. A small percentage of the cost of each of our tours goes to non-profits and organizations which support women and girls around the world. Our tours are created by women, for women. By uncovering, sharing, and learning from our collective herstories, we understand our unique place in the world more clearly. We are better together.

Let’s be brave together this year. Let’s lean on each other, be vulnerable with one another, be willing to listen to and learn from one another. Let’s stand a little taller knowing that we are strong, we are capable, and we are enough, just as we are. Let’s show ourselves more love this year, treat ourselves like we treat our beloved best friends, bestowing upon ourselves the same loving kindness and compassion we bestow on the people we love. Let’s keep our eyes on the horizon together, supporting each other, knowing that one day, borders will open, the virus will be under control, and we will be able to remove our masks to see one another’s beautiful smiles again. Let’s remember the sacrifices our ancestors made for us to be who we are. Let’s be brave, and hope. We can do it. I know we can.

The Queen, Grenache Blanc, Part 2

It’s been two weeks of warmer temperatures with quite a bit of sunshine since pruning day. Queen Grenache Blanc has been quietly observing the changes in the color of the light and the slope of the sun. This weekend, she surprised me by starting to show growth in her swelling buds. In fact, one looks like it might break soon! Yay, little baby!

Vibrant Travelers, Queen Grenache Blanc Part 2

Budbreak is officially the start of the growing season, signaling that the vine has moved from dormancy to starting this year’s growth. It begins when the tiny buds on a vine grow enough to show a bit of green leaf, almost like a baby bird cracking out of its shell with its tiny beak. Once the bud has broken, the growth unfolds slowly but steadily. Spring rains won’t deter it, and the changes in temperature between cooler nights and warmer days actually help the growth along. We have to cross our fingers for no frost, since this can zap the buds and any green growth, eliminating any hope of fruit. In truth, it’s unlikely where I live that we will get frost again this year, so I’m confident that things will continue along as they should.

Vibrant Travelers, Queen Grenache Blanc Part 2

The 2021 growing season is very close to starting!! Stay tuned!!

Introducing, the Queen, Grenache Blanc

In March of 2013, I became a Vine Mama. Yep, that’s right- I had a baby grapevine gifted to me, and my life changed for the better. While it hasn’t been easy, and there were definitely days when I thought I was crazy to even embark on this new journey, that sprawling leafy green canopy and those cheery little green-purple grape bunches smiling up at me have been totally worth it.

My baby Grenache Blanc, aka Queen Grenache Blanc, is from Tablas Creek Vineyard in California but in her heart, she is truly “une française” (a French girl). In fact, when I adopted her, I learned that she is actually descended from Château Beaucastel in France! Tablas Creek was founded in 1989 by two of the international wine community’s leading families: the Perrin family, proprietors of Château Beaucastel in the Rhône Valley in France, and the Hass family of Vineyard Brands in California. The imported cuttings from Château Beaucastel form the selection of grapevine material from which all of Tablas Creek’s wines are made. My little grapevine gets to stand proudly with this story as her heritage.

What does a grapevine look like as it grows? I’m going to take you along Queen Grenache Blanc’s journey this year. But here is a photo of her as a baby- so tiny and cute!

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She’s gotten steadily taller and stronger, as little ones do, and while she lives in a large black pot on my patio and not on a rolling vineyard hill, she’s had a happy life. Her sunny South facing spot on my patio is beside the house, so she benefits from warmth on her leaves and bunches directly from the sun, and indirectly from the heat reflected off of the house and up off of the flagstone patio. Thankfully, the cold and damp which settles on the ground across from her pot does not affect her much.

Today is Valentine’s Day 2021, and this is what she looks like today:

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I just pruned her last weekend when the sun was shining here in Redwood City, CA. I wanted to be a bit more diligent this year about her pruning. Last year I kept putting it off, letting buds start to form on 2019’s growth, and when I did prune back her wild arms, I did so rather harshly and probably cut back too far. Her resulting growth wasn’t as expansive as past years, with less greenery and fewer bunches than years past. So this year, I have been careful to leave 2 buds per spur in the hopes that she produces more bunches and lots of foliage this year. Stay tuned as we watch her grow!