The Sanfords

So, I went running this morning and as I was getting back to my car, I was next to a golf course, and there were people already playing golf. As I passed by there was an ostrich walking away from me on the golf course! I wasn't sure exactly what to do with myself, but I started turning my head to find someone so we could share the site...

My excitement was tempered about 5 seconds later when I realized it was just a golfer carrying his golf bag on his back and was also perfectly in line with a golf ball cleaner (which for my purposes was the head of the ostrich). It was still pretty exciting.

Anyway... Yesterday, I left LA and started making my way up to Morro Bay along the 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway. As I got close to Santa Barbara, I decided to go searching for the Sanford family winery (for those of you who remember, I went to school with Blakeney Sanford). Google Maps pulled up two addresses, and like everything else in life, the first one I went to was wrong (it was an empty lot with a wagon wheel hanging across two poles. The second address proved to be the right one.

The old name and company, "Sanford Wine," went through some business craziness over the past couple years, but the Sanfords (Richard and Thekla) have come out of it all with a new company and a new name... Alma Rosa Winery. I almost didn't go in because I wasn't sure if it was the same family, but there were a couple Sanford-esque flourishes (silver tinsel over the vines to keep the birds away) that told me I was at the right place.

Richard and Thekla were awesome... I met them once 10 years ago as a freshmen at Colby College, but still Thekla walked me around the winery as we sipped wine and I she told me what Blakeney is doing. There are a couple really great things about Alma Rosa Winery; First, all the wine they produce is certified organic and their ethos is to work with nature rather than against it. It's just plain nice. Second, their tasting room and winery was part of the movie Sideways," which I haven't seen, but it is still cool none-the-less.

Afterwards, they took me out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant in Buellton. It was an excellent stopo-over. I actually just talked with Blakeney (as I was writing this) who is in New Hampshire visiting Mo Doucette, a mutual friend from Colby.