Wow, can't believe it has been soooo long since my last blog post! Where does the time go? Last week I went to Templeton, CA., which is in the Paso Robles area, to photograph at an Arabian Ranch. I was very excited and honored to be asked to come and photograph at Arriba Arabians! (Website is in progress) Having an o
pportunity to travel and photograph beautiful horses AND be in wine country on top of that...well, I was in heaven to say the least!
As many of you know, I love wine (honestly, someone in my family had to be Italian!) and getting the opportunity to tastes really good wines...I mean REALLY good wines was a delight! The only problem with this scenario is it then becomes difficult to drink the cheaper wines I often buy. LOL! It was a real treat to be shown around the area and visit the local wineries. The first one we went to was
Rocky Creek Cellars, a small family owned and operated winery. They had some very nice red wines and we bought a few bottles there. I bought a yummy dessert wine called Black Monukka Dessert Wine. It is a dark amber color with vanilla and carmel undertones. They sun bake the wine for 2 years in ba
rrels which "carmelizes" the natural grape sugar. Can't wait to pop that one open on a special occasion!
The next winery we went to was called Zin Alley. Not sure that is the proper name so will have to look it up. Cecil knew the man who owns this winery so we had a warm welcome here. Their zinfandel wines were totally out of this world! Simply the best I had ever tasted. I learned that this winery only produces a certain amount of wine a
year (at top prices) and sells out annually. They do what is called dry farming, where they let the vine root go deep to find water. This results in smaller, hardier vines that produces (they believe) the best grapes. (There is alot of concern about water here in California so dry farming is really good. They may have to water alittle but mostly the plant finds its own water.)
One of the last wineries we went to was
Sarzotti Vineyard & Winery. Over a century ago this family migrated from Tuscany, Italy to open a winery here in California. Already I liked them! LOL! They are Italian afterall and Italians know wine! I have to say this was the most fun I have ever had at a wine tasting. The Sarzotti family were so gracious and their wines were the best we had had yet. Their full menu of wines were all so incredible, from their Merlot to their Cabernets, that I had a tough time choosing what to buy. We were even treated to a Cabernet from their reserve that is not even bottled yet! Man, I can't wait to get my hands on that!
I ended up choosing the Merlot which we proceeded to open and drink right there since we were invited to stay and enjoy the BBQ and music (
Pakes Grimes) that was provided. It was a beautiful day, with soft breezes blowing across the vineyard-the smell of grapes and earth, who wouldn't want to stay and enjoy it? Isn't that what life is all about? Great people, food, wine, music...
And then of course were the Arabians. Sigh...I love photographing Arabians. They have so much spirit and grace. Here are a few images from the photoshoot:
I fell in love with this black colt named aptly, CM The Black. Would love to have this colt. He has a gorgeous head and was so spunky and moved like a dream.

My signature artsy image..

This colt I think is just lovely. Nice dish head, a beautiful eye and great presence. This is BST Vargas.

At liberty. Love the tail!

This is a mare called CM Desiree. She was quite full of herself and fun to photograph.

I truly had an amazing 4 days on this trip and would like to thank The Martinez family for their graciousness and showing me around the area.
I hope to see you at Scottsdale!
Until next time...