Passion. One of the most sought after emotions in the world. How many of us have gone in search of this elusive feeling, risked the world to follow this panned piper into the unknown? And was it worth it?
I believe that passion is one of the most beautiful emotions or feelings we can experience. It can push you to completely new levels and extremes, instill a sense of beauty and purpose, and on a more profound level change your whole view on life. Although we may not always feel it around us or feel it is evading us, it is always there beckoning and calling, a faint whisper or a seductive melody that makes us stop, even if just for a second, to hear its message.
I will be completely frank and admit that for most of my life I rarely experienced this blissful feeling. Not that I was completely devoid of it, it just didn’t seem to happen a whole lot. This can be attributed to a number of different factors that I am sure would involve at least 3 psychologists analyzing me inside out and backwards. I will spare you those details however and suffice it to say that it was somewhat lacking in the little world I had created for myself.
So, you can imagine the shock at arriving in Argentina. All of a sudden I was launched into a new world, where people live passionately and express this in all they do. There is no ho hum here, life is lived to the fullest. It was such a beautiful way of being and I became enamoured.
And of course who are some of the most passionate people I know? You got it, winemakers. Recently I visited a family run winery, Domaine San Diego. To me this place is like a little bit of paradise on earth, with passion as a building block and fundamental philosophy, the wines are nothing short of blissful. Nestled in Lulunta, this vineyard emanates personality. One of the few terraced vineyards in Mendoza, it runs along what used to be banks of the Mendoza River in the middle of wine country here in Mendoza. It is a small, simple yet exquisite.
With rolling vistas and terraced vines, chickens wandering through the grapevines and ancient olive trees dotting the landscape, it felt like I had walked into a little piece of paradise. The oenologist is Angel Mendoza, one of the top in the country. Yet at the same time, one of the most unassuming. Angel’s philosophy is simple, love of the vines and of the earth is where the wine is born. Angel used to work for one of the larger wineries here in Mendoza but then bought his own land, leaving his job and branching out on his own. Here at Domaine San Diego everything is in balance. You can feel it as you walk along the gravel pathways, there is a peace and tranquility that settles itself around you. Within the winery itself, a very small team works together to create exquisite wines. The winemaking process is done entirely by just the family, they all band together and spend countless hours in the winery to ensure that they are making something worthwhile of their name. The wine is treated like the living being that it is, with honour, respect and great care. A far cry from the industrialized, soulless wines, created without the touch of a human hand. Not many places like this exist nowadays, particularly with the constant move to using machines for every part of the winemaking process. When being in a place like this one sees the difference that love and passion have not only on the land but in the finished product. There is no greed here to produce more and make more money to fill the bank accounts. Everything here is done for the pure love of the grapes and the wine, creating an environment where the grapes express themselves to their highest potential. Just like nurturing a child.. now if only we could all do that in our daily lives… :)
