Cowboys armed with pistols and blind courage founded the wild west with the unconscious teacher, Trial and Error.
Today's San Luis Obispo (SLO) pioneers are consciously using common sense, education and solar panels. Located half-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, SLO offers more than great tasting wine and rolling hills typical of the region.
The new San Luis Obispo pioneers are conscious trailblazers committed to clean energy, sustainability, preserving nature and good ol' fashioned values like kindness.
Traits worth emulating.
Prioritizing sustainable business practices in the Edna and Arroyo Grande Valleys on the pristine central coast, I met Jim Efird of Tolosa Winery and Mike Sinor of Sinor-LaVallee Wine Company.
Let me tell you about clean air and kindness.
Jim Efird of Tolosa Winery (above photo) is making clean air priority number one as he created a 100% solar-powered facility.
Yes!
Solar panels face the sun's rays alongside rows and rows of grapevines.
A short walk to the left and Jim's got a water system in place to reclaim, clean, and reuse water on vineyards, eliminating water waste.
This conscious trailblazer educated me on the following:
- California has the most stringent pesticide control regulations in the world. If followed the chance of pesticide residue is zero!
- A Tolosa vineyard has fewer pesticides applied to it than the average suburban lawn that kids play on.
- Tolosa wines' water is far purer than that coming out of most taps or bottled spring water.
- All Tolosa Winery waste is recycled, composted or recovered.
- In 30 years, the solar power system is expected to displace more than 32 million pds. of carbon dioxide (smog/dirty air), which is the equivalent of removing more than 2,600 cars from the road.
Jim Efird, like a good percentage of this community, is conscious and forward-thinking. But Jim put clean energy into practice like no one else I met.
I hope cities, counties, and businesses will learn from Jim and Tolosa Winery. Click here to read about Tolosa Winery's Sustainability Practices.
Mike Sinor is recognized as one of the Central Coast's highest-rated winemakers by Wine Spectator, Connoisseur's Guide and Wine Advocate.
And he's a nice guy, which counts for a lot in America's cut-throat business world but not his world where I learned competitors support one another on a regular basis.
Mike founded Sinor-LaVallee Wine Company in 1997 with his wife Cheri after several years learning the ropes at local wineries, including the Mondavi-owned Byron Vineyard and Winery...a satisfying way to pay for college at Cal Poly and start a life-long career.
I met Mike by chance when I wandered into the Edna Valley Vineyard because I was told it had great views and I wanted a landscape photo. It turned out that Mike headed up the San Luis Obispo Vinters Association and had a thing or two to say.
When I mentioned that I thought San Luis Obispo wine country was more appealing than certain others I'd been to... and that the area was beautiful, quaint, and unpretentious... Mike told me that I understood their story.
He wanted to show me more, giving me a tour of San Luis Obispo, including areas with good views for my photography. In above photo of Mike, we see where he makes his wine.
He graciously gave me his 2007 vintage Sinor-Lavalle Pinot Noir, which was rich, smooth, and tasty.
When I mentioned how I loved the San Luis Obispo area, and wished I could stay longer, Mike got on the phone and minutes later his friend put me up for another night at the lovely Avila Village Inn, with views of trees and sounds of chirping birds. A great place to write. A room with a calming view.
To learn more about Mike and Cheri's Sinor-LaVallee Wine Company, click here.
By sharing these gentlemen's stories, I hope you'll be inspired to do and be better at cleaning the air and practicing kindness. And when on the Central Coast, check out the wineries.
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