Hacienda del Plata

One of the things that I most treasure in this world is the discovery of places where you do not feel the presence of time. I find this highly ironic as I used to live my life guided by the clock. Well, believe me, things have changed and that concept has gone to hell in a handbasket. So when I stumbled upon Hacienda del Plata, I knew that I had found another one of these gems. The minute I walked through the gate I was immediately impacted by the great beauty and tranquility of the place. It was as if I had stepped back into a time warp and landed in what was Argentina in it’s pioneer days. The energy emanating from the land was strong and vibrant, and most importantly you could tell that it had been tended to with love. As I headed towards the 100 year old family homestead I knew that there was definitely something special about this vineyard…

I was immediately given a warm and friendly greeting by the owner, Pablo Gonzaléz. The best words I can use to describe Pablo are “salt of the earth.” There was nothing pretentious about this winery owner, and as we toured the vineyard and winery, he spoke with a genuine passion and love for the land and wines that are produced from it.

The Gonzaléz family have a fascinating family history and are one of the few traditional family wineries still left. The family originally immigrated from Spain to Argentina in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. Many families during that period in history were immigrating from Europe to Argentina. There was a famine taking place in Europe and many families opted to leave and start over in Argentina. And here they all started their lives over. Many of these families already had a wine making background and brought these traditions here with them. The Gonzaléz family however did not have a wine making background, rather they started over as cattle ranchers. A traditional gaucho history.

The family first arrived in Buenos Aires. During this period in history, land was being practically given away, therefore the family ended up buying 30,000 hectares of land between Córdoba and Santiago de Chile. Here they began raising cattle and started doing cattle runs between the two cities. Now, if you have seen the Andes mountain range, imagine trying to drive a herd of cattle through them. This is not an easy feat. However they had mountain gauchos (gauchos cordilleranos) that knew the mountains like the back of their hand and were able to drive the cattle through. Once in Chile they would sell them and bring back provisions for the family and then start the process over again with a new cattle drive.

Having the 30,000 hectares of land allowed the gauchos stopping points along the way. There were three principal homesteads on this land, one being Hacienda del Plata, the other a farm in Córdoba, and the third the main family household in Potrerillos. The property in Potrerillos was the principal household before they sold it to the government. The homestead was fairly isolated as it was located on the opposite side of the Mendoza river, therefore there were only two ways to access the property. One, through horseback in the mountains, the second via platform. From the house to a point across the river, there was a cable with a wooden platform attached to it. The family would haul themselves up onto this platform and pulley themselves across the river. It was like an old fashioned form of ziplining. A very pioneering family to say the least. This property was one of the most beautiful and if you visit the winery you can see a painting of the property nestled in the mountains.

So this is how the family started out. They didn’t actually start winemaking until 1997. It was Pablo, the current owner who is 4^th generation, who decided to add the element of a winery to the family business. When his mother passed away, his father, who had been running the family business up until this point, decided he needed a break. Therefore the children came in and took over. At this point the family’s business consisted of a dairy farm in Córdoba, farms of soy, wheat and corn, and the vineyards and fruit orchards in Mendoza. Although they have always had the vineyards they never elected to make wine with them and sold the fruit to other wineries. However they were now going to change that.

They began constructing the winery and started learning about the winemaking process. The family no longer had the cattle ranching aspect of the family business, however they used this important part of the family history as an inspiration for the new one they were creating. During Don Carlos’s latter years on the property, he had written a journal with many memories and anecdotes of his time on the land, with the family and with the gauchos. As Pablo read through his father’s journal after his death, he decided to create the lines of wines based on stories and anecdotes that his father had written. The first line of Hacienda wines is called “Zagal”, which means young boy. In the gaucho system there is a hierarchy, the base level being the young boys who would help out on the property. In the journal one of the things that his father had noted was their willingness to help, their passion for life and their enthusiasm. Therefore they chose this name for their younger line of wines. The personality of these wines are more fruity, robust, exuding the image of the Zagal.

The second line of wines is called Arriero. The Arriero is the man who used to herd the cattle. Because Carlos spent so much time out on the land and with the men, he had a number of stories to tell about them and they were an important part in his life here. The Arriero was a position with more responsibility, therefore the wines under this line are more settled, aged in oak a little longer and more mature.

The last line is called Mayoral. The Mayoral was the major domo of the property, the estanciero or landowners right hand man. This was a man in a position of authority, very well respected, and powerful. Therefore the wines under this line are the higher end wines, more mature, aged in oak for a longer period of time, and have more presence and power.

And so, the Hacienda wines were created, carrying on the rich family history in the wines that they were now producing.

We then took a walk through the 72 year old vineyard, with Pablo excitedly explaining the care and love that went into tending the vines. It was clear to see not only through his animated discussion, but just by looking at the vines themselves that they were well cared for. These were some happy looking vines as far as I was concerned.

The tour finished in the winery, with a barrel tasting of some of the best malbec I have ever tasted. The family uses very traditional and simple approaches to their winemaking, however the end result was spectacular. A euphoric finish to an already unique visit.

One of the things that greatly impresses me about this family, and one of the things that came out over and over again in Carlos’s journal is the great respect and love of the land that they have. And you can see this come out in the way they manage the vineyard, the way they make their wine and in their own way of being. A good example of this is again, with Pablo’s father. Just before he passed away he asked to be cremated as opposed to buried. This is very uncommon in Argentina as most people are buried. However, because Carlos had spent so much time out on the land and in the mountains, he wanted to be laid to rest there. So upon his passing, the family took a trip to the mountains and scattered his ashes in the place that he loved so much.

The family, both in times past and times present exude a rich warmth and hospitality. Their history and family traditions reflect this, and can be traced all the way back to when they would open their doors to the muleteers that were crossing the Andes and house them during their long trek across the mountains.

To me Hacienda del Plata is like a space where time has stood still. The minute you walk through the gate you are enveloped in the tranquility and peacefulness of a time now passed. You find yourself in a natural oasis created by Mother Nature and tended to with love by those who understand the rhythms and cycles of the earth. And that is hard to come by in this day and age. And even after you leave, you still feel the lingering beauty of the place hovering around, a constant reminder that there is still natural beauty and family love in this world.

(www.haciendadelplata.com.ar)

Living Your Potential

(Photo by Philippe Schell)

“Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.” Erich Fromm

As I was sitting out on the vineyard patio revelling in the fragrance of the jasmine vine next to me and watching the wild parakeets tending to their young in the nest above me, I thought about this charmed life I am leading and what really, a charmed life means to me. Everyone’s idea of what a charmed life should be is different. This is of course natural because everyone is unique and has different ideas of what life is about. If this were not the case then the world would indeed be a very boring place. :)

Generally, a charmed life means living a life of privilege and luck. But this then boils down to, how do you define privilege? How do you define luck? Privilege to one person may mean being born with more money than you know what to do with, whereas to another it may mean having the opportunity to live a simple lifestyle and slow down the pace of life. As for luck, well, we can go down a whole debate on the meaning of this word and whether luck exists or not. However I won’t do that to you now and save that for another post. :)

In my opinion, leading a charmed life doesn’t mean being born into a life of money and want of nothing. To me, leading a charmed life is about living your potential. So. what then, does this exactly mean?

Potential is defined as the following:

• Capable of being or becoming
• A latent excellence or ability that may or may not be developed

Our potential is great. Magnificent really. The discovery that each one of us possesses unique abilities and gifts to be used in this lifetime is a beautiful thing. Just the thought that we can benefit the world in some special way through a unique capability that only we possess is inspiring. The trick then is to actually discover what these gifts are.

Many of us have been encouraged to develop aspects of ourselves that are not necessarily in sync with who we are and what we really can do in this world. We get caught up in what the world expects us to be that we forget who we were actually born to be. However once we are able to peel away years of conditioning and build the belief that we are capable of great things, we can then begin to discover the beautiful gifts that we possess.


I know from my own experience that it took me a long time to begin to discover my own potential and actually live it. Throughout childhood and into young adulthood I had never really explored who I was and what I was capable of. Aside from a few things here and there, I always lived my life based on what others expected of me. I allowed others to tell me what I could and could not do, or what I was good and not good at. And then one day at 26 and a half I changed my life around. And finally I started exploring who I really was and the beautiful gifts that come with me as a person. Once I did this I started to make new decisions based on who I was and wanted to be. I started down a road of self discovery that lead me to new places within myself and also revisiting old aspects of myself from a new perspective.

I became amazed at the things that I was suddenly capable of doing. I uncovered new talents that I never thought existed within myself, I re-ignited old passions, dusted them off and integrated them back into my life again, I took the time to get to know myself all over again, spend time with the “me” that had been holed up for so long. A whole new person evolved out of this process, a new self confidence in myself and what I could do, what I wanted out of life, and what I was and was not willing to accept in my life. I discovered that I had some pretty damn cool gifts to share with the world. :)

Once we discover our capabilities and gifts, a new concept of self develops. We suddenly become aware of who we are capable of being or becoming. The dawning of this new realization then opens up a myriad of opportunities in the world to us that we had never contemplated before. The Universe all of sudden aligns itself into helping us fulfill this potential that we have just discovered. It is as if the heavens suddenly opened and we are in the presence of a sky full of stars, shining as brightly as possible. And each star represents part of our potential that we are now ready to fulfill and live. And as we move through life new stars are born and we continue to be presented with new gifts and choices along our path.

The minute I began to discover new passions and interests and had faith in my abilities, my charmed life began to take shape. I now work with wine and chocolate, spend my days on a beautiful vineyard, and meet fascinating new people everyday from all over the world. I wake up every morning invigorated and excited to start the day. I have a firm faith in who I am and what I can do. I am finally living my potential.

Living your potential is a process. And as you move through this process you continue discovering new and beautiful things about yourself, and the Universe will continue to provide you with the opportunities to share them with the world. Situations will change, people will come and go, and we will change. The most important thing is that we keep choosing to live this potential, on a daily basis. In doing so our life begins to lose the hum drum feeling that it had before, and starts to have meaning and purpose. We begin to shine that light, just like the stars up above, with a brilliance and strength that becomes an inspiration to others to do the same.

So how does one go about discovering the potential within? I am sure there are many ways, however the following is what worked for me:

• What are you passionate about? Make a list. How are you integrating these into your life now?
• What things have always interested you or that you have always wanted to do? Again, make a list, then go out and start doing these things.
• Keep a journal of new things that you have learned about yourself.
• Start keeping a gratitude journal of everything that you are grateful for each day.
• Push yourself past your current boundaries. Do things you wouldn’t have dared to do before. No matter how small.
• Learn new things, and keep learning. Don’t let your brain go to waste.
• Start visualizing the type of life that you want to live. Create a vision board, with pictures, sayings etc that depict this new life
• For every excuse that you come up with for not living this new life or sharing your gifts, come up with a reason to do it or way of doing it. Be creative, think outside of the box.

So what is the charmed life to me then? It is about discovering yourself and who you are capable of becoming; it is about sharing these gifts with the world; it is about constantly striving to become more because you know you can; it is about taking risks and having faith in the unknkown; it is about finding happiness in the authentic self. Once on this path life then becomes nothing short of enchanted. So I would like to raise a toast (okay so I drink a lot of wine in this charmed life….) to those out there who are finally letting your light shine. And never forget that the sky is your limit. :)

La Tormenta

Hay algo especial de estar fuera en el medio de una tormenta en la lluvia. La sensación de tener la lluvia cayendo en tu piel y el aire cargado con energía es algo que no tengo palabras para definir.

Amo tormentas. Tienen una energía que me atrae como una abeja a una flor. La verdad que no sé a donde esta fascinación empezó, mientras que hay relámpagos a fuera, puedo pasar horas sentada a fuera mirando la luz rayando por el cielo, al horror de mi familia. :)

Me encontré caminando en el centro esta noche después de tomar un café con una amiga (si, parte de mi vida encantada involucra a tomar café a las 22h00, que lindo no?) y cuando estaba en camino a la parada del colectivo, de repente sentí el aire pesado alrededor de mi. Y a dentro de algunos minutos la lluvia empezó a batir en la ciudad. La mayoría de gente estaban corriendo para buscar refugio debajo de los árboles. Pero yo salí en la calle y me quedé con brazos abiertos abajo del agua, dandolo bienvenida como un amigo viejo. Caminé por la calle en un estado de euforia, sintiendo la lluvia batiendo en mi piel y sintiendo el poder in el aire, esta carga de energía antigua en cada molécula de mi cuerpo.

La gente en este momento estaban mirandome como estaba loca. Sin embargo esto es una incidencia normal en mi vida y ya estoy re acostumbrada a esto. :) Mientras de estar esperando para el colectivo, pudé sentir la carga de energía en el aire y del rincón de mi ojo, podia ver movimiento en los rincones de la calle, atrás de los árboles y directamente alrededor de mi. Sonrisé….una noche oscura y llena de lluvia en Mendoza es el mejor tiempo para sentir las almas de épocas ya pasadas…..

Estoy muy agradecida de poder experimentar las sensaciones de estar en una tormenta. Había un tiempo en mi vida donde di por sentado las tormentas y me burlaba la idea de caminar en una. Interesante como la vida te cambia. Mientras que estoy sentada aquí y miro la luz rayando en el cielo, me pregunto si hay otras planetas que tienen esta fenómeno y si hay otros que pueden disfrutarla como nosotros.

Mi nuevo estilo de vida me da el tiempo de reflexionar en las cosas mas simples in la vida, y tengo que decir que estoy agradecida de ser un ser humano en esta planeta en este momento. Tenemos la capacidad de sentir cosas en muchos niveles diferentes, pero muchas veces los damos por sentado. Y encima de esto normalmente cerramos nuestros sentidos mientras que estamos en nuestra rutina diario. Cuantas veces sacamos el tiempo de sentir el agua en nuestra piel, o el aroma de pan cocida, o el color vivo de una flor que estamos pasando en la calle? Estamos muy privilegiados de estar acá y yo, por mi parte, tengo planes de aprovecharlo lo mas que puedo antes de salir de este mundo al otro. :)

A Stormy Night

There is something to be said about standing out in the middle of a thunderstorm in the pouring rain. The sensation of having the rain beating down on your skin and the air charged with energy is something that goes beyond words.

I love thunderstorms. There is a special energy about them that attracts me like a bee to a flower. I am not really sure when this fascination began, but as long as there is lightening outside I can spend hours sitting outside watching the light streak across the sky. Much to my family’s horror. :)

I found myself walking downtown Mendoza late this evening after having coffee with a friend (yes, part of my charmed life involves coffee at 10 pm, isn’t it wonderful?) and as I was headed to the bus stop, I could suddenly feel the weight around me. And within a few minutes the rain came pouring down. Most people were running for the shelter of the large sycamore trees that line most of the streets here. But I actually stepped out onto the street and stood with arms wide open welcoming the rain like an old friend. I walked along in a state of euphoria, feeling the water beating down on my skin and feeling the power in the air, that ancient charge of energy in every molecule of my body.

Most people at this point were looking at me as if I had lost my senses. However this is a fairly regular occurrence in my life and am now used to it. :) As I stood waiting for the bus I could feel the charged air around me, and out of the corner of my eye flashes of movement in the corners of streets, behind trees and directly around me. I couldn’t help but smile, a dark rainy night in Mendoza is the best time to see just how haunted this city really is. :) Not surprising really, water is a conductor and the air charged with electric power from the lightening heightens ouir senses to other energies around us. So it is no wonder that hauntings are often depicted during storms, because this is really the best time to catch glimpses of people from a time now past….

I am extremely grateful to be able to experience the sensations of being caught in a storm. There was a time in my life when I took this event for granted and would scoff at the thought of walking in one. Funny how life changes you. As I sit here and onto the light streaked sky, I wonder if other planets have this phenomenon and if there are others that can enjoy it like we do.

My new lifestyle has enabled me to take the time to reflect on the simpler things in life, and I have to say that I am extremely grateful to be a human on this planet right now. We have the capability of sensing things on so many different levels, yet we too often take this for granted. And we even go beyond that and shut down most of these senses as we move through our daily routines. How often do we really take the time to feel the sensation of water on our skin, or the aroma of a freshly baked bread, or the vivid colour of a flower that we happen to walk by? We are definitely privileged being here and I for one plan on taking advantage of it as often as I can before I kick off into the next life. :)

Dare to Throw Away the Bowlines…..

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” Mark Twain

What is it about fear that makes people so stupid? And I am not excluding myself from this one either.

I personally believe that fear is one of the most useless and stagnating emotions that exists on this planet. And the main cause of people not living an authentic life.

I was inspired to write on this topic after a number of recent conversations with friends and just catching up on life in general. And it never ceases to amaze me how this one emotion can wreak havoc on one’s life in so many subtle ways. But at the same time I am incredibly proud of those that have taken the leap over their fears and are finally following their dreams.

Many people, after hearing my story of how I arrived in Argentina, often look at me as if I have just stepped off of the mothership. Then they continue to comment wistfully how much they admire my courage and how they would never be able to do something like that. It always makes me pose the question, but why not? I am not saying that everyone has to jump ship and move to the opposite end of the globe, although I am on of the biggest promoters of this beautiful country that I am now living in. But what is it that stops people from doing what it is they really want to do? Fear of course.

I understand this reaction because I have been there. I used to live my life in fear of everything. I was one of the “safest” people around. I was afraid to take risks, I was afraid to get out there and actually do something that made me passionate. I was taught that these things were just not attainable and it is best to stick to living a life that was safe and secure and then when I was 65 I could retire and enjoy what life I had left.

The problem with this so called ideal is that nothing is really secure. I think that the current financial crisis hitting the globe at the moment is a good example. People are losing money left, right and centre. So then what? What happens if I don’t make it to 65? There comes a time in everyone’s life where we hit a point or a crossroads and we snap. We then need to take a decision, do we continue to let fear be the base to our lives or do we take the risk and leap into that big black hole of the unknown?

Two of the most common reasons that people don’t follow their bliss are finances and family. However, we forget that we are creative beings and there are always options. Finances are always available in one form or another if you set your mind to it. It may require adjusting your lifestyle a bit, but it is always possible. We live in a consumer based society, constantly bombarded with advertising that tells you need this or that to be considered acceptable. But when you sit yourself down and really examine what you need, how many of these things can be taken away? A lot when you really look at it. Is that big screen tv really going to make you happy? Or is it worth the sacrifice to be able to get up every morning and and be excited about what you are about to do with your day?

And then there is family. I often get the comment that because I don’t have a family I can easily just up and go where I want. True, I agree that it is easier for me as I am only responsible for myself. However, that being said, I know many families who have up and moved. I lived with one, a fantastic couple who uprooted themselves for 2 years with a three year old to come and live in Mendoza. I know of another man, who after being fed up with his life in Canada moved with his 6 children (on his own to boot) to Chile to start over. Yes, 6 children. Imagine? I also read of a couple in France who had always dreamed of sailing around the world, and so one day they decided to just do it. They too had a young daughter so they hired a tutor and off they went . They said it was the best decision that they ever made. And imagine the children’s experience? How enriching it is for them to experience a different culture, a new language and a new way of life? How expanding and educating that would be for them? I personally believe parents, in the decisions they make, are a constant example to their children. So, do you want your children to see you as happy or just going and living day to day only half alive? Do you want to see your children pursue their own dreams? Then the best way to do that is to provide the example yourself. Children really are the best excuse to follow your bliss.

It is easy to come up with a list of ten thousand excuses as to why you cannot do that thing that you always wanted to do. I used to have one of my own scrolls of excuses. J But at the end of the day, what becomes more important, living a vibrant and fulfilling life or being miserable in the status quo? One of the things I personally started doing was making decisions based on this: when I am 90 will I look back on this and regret not doing it? And that is my deciding factor. I still have things that I fear. I may be comfortable now in moving to any place in the world with nothing but a suitcase, but that is not to say that I am completely fearless. Sometimes I get paralyzed just at something that seems insignificant, such as asking for help from others or really displaying my true feelings. But I always try. And if it doesn’t work today, then tomorrow is always another day to try again. I don’t think that it is possible to have an absence of fear but I do believe that it is possible to overcome it.

So I encourage you to sit down and really examine what it is that is holding you back from doing what you have always wanted to do. Find creative ways to make it happen. And if one option doesn’t work then that is okay too. Then you just go and find another way to do it. There is no great commandment that says you have to get it right all of the time. That is one of the joys of living life, having the opportunity to try different things whether they work out or not. This in my mind cancels fear out and makes it useless because in the end there is really nothing to fear and much to be gained by taking a leap of faith. So, just as I started this piece, I will end it with a quote from one of my favourite authors and hope that no matter how little a change it may seem, you will find a way to start making your dreams happen.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain

(Photo taken from fotosearch.com)