Teisho and Wine

At least once a year a senior student gives a talk at Sonoma Mountain Zen Center. I usually give mine in June. That schedule was cut when I was involved in a car accident. Fast forward five years later and I was ready to give my talk once again but not ready to make the long drive up there. I wrote my talk hoping that someone would give it for me. That’s an advanced concept for a traditional monastery so it was a no go. But it was printed in their newsletter. This year Joseph offered to drive me up since we needed to get away for the weekend anyway. It was quite touching to be able to not just enter the zendo but sit with the other pracitioners.
I gave the talk from the point of view of how I feel like I grow up there even though I was an adult when I arrived in 1984 on a referral from my teacher, Arvis Justi, in Los Gatos. I got married there, I practiced with chemotherapy there and I saw many come and go from all over the world and met many other teachers there. And it was the things I learned there that helped me get through my two year medical journey.
Joseph took Goldie for a walk while I gave the teisho, and we joined everyone for lunch and stayed and talked into the afternoon. Even though I don’t physically sit with the Sangha there, my heart and teacher, Kwong Roshi, is still there. I think about this while I make roots at the Silicon Valley Shambhala Center and everyone knows it and respects what I do. It helps that Roshi had such a strong connection with Chogyam Trungpa rinpoche that when I say where I am- everyone knows and smiles and understands.
Afterwards, we took the RV to Calistoga and walked around there and did some wine tasting. I was surprised to find a wonderful Charbono wine from Summers winery that is made in small production. We also fell in love with some Petite Sirah from Vincent Arroyo winery. We also made reservations at the famed Castello di Amorosa. As I approached the castle, a older woman said to me- ” You know, honey, there are a lot of stairs on the tour.” I smiled and said thank you. I knew there were stairs and I had confidence that I could walk them although slowly. I wasn’t going to let fear set in. I did the whole tour and enjoyed it. The wines we tasted after weren’t as impressive as the building.
Here is a quote from the LA Times about the castle built by Darryl Sattui of Sattui Wines:
He has opened to the public a sprawling, medieval-style castle and second winery that he has been building for 12 years. At 121,000 square feet, Castello di Amorosa, tucked away on a hilltop off California Highway 29, could hold 50 average-sized homes. It has 107 rooms on seven levels.
Sattui, a self-confessed medieval architecture fanatic who also owns a former monastery and a Medici palace in Italy, figures his current project will eat up $30 million.
“Honestly, I’ve spent everything I have except my pension plan,” said Sattui, 65. “But I don’t care. I just hope I don’t go broke.”
Castello di Amorosa is a meticulous, if not always authentic, vision of a Tuscan castle. It sports a dry moat, drawbridge, iron-gated entrance, five towers with battlements, a church, a great hall, gargoyles and wrought-iron sconces.
More wondrous stuff lies below, in four underground levels.
A dungeon is outfitted with torture equipment, including a reproduction of a rack and an antique iron maiden, which Sattui said he bought for $13,000 in Pienza, Italy. The iron maiden, looking like an upright mummy case, is lined with spikes meant to impale victims shut inside.
A labyrinth of cellars, housing thousands of wine bottles and barrels, showcases centuries of architectural elements. The largest underground chamber is the main barrel cellar, 135 feet long, with 40 cross vaults.
The most impressive room above is the great hall, 72 by 30 feet, with a 22-foot-high coffered ceiling. Frescoes — decorative but perhaps not museum-worthy — cover the walls, inspired by such classics as Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s “Good and Bad Government,” at the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, Italy.
Throughout the castle, details attest to Sattui’s passion for vintage buildings. Iron gates, fashioned five years ago, have been aged with acid to appear ancient. Double doors outside the great hall contain 2,000 nails, all handmade in Italy.
The project, at first overseen by a Danish naval architect and now by Italian Paulo Ardito, has employed workers from six countries and materials from eight, Sattui said.

Tagged as: teisho, wine, zen