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Now that 2018 is here, we are looking forward to new beginnings for Paradise Ridge. With the fires taking so much from so many, the last few months of 2017 were a surreal and difficult time. The grief of our community’s loss was softened by the incredible LOVE Sonoma County received from all over the world. It is true, from the ash springs hope. With each new green leaf and blade of grass, we see life coming back to the beautiful land we call Paradise. The love our incredible community continues to give us the inspiration we need to move forward.

I’m sure many of you have been wondering what we have been up to. To be honest it has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Each week seems to bring challenges and unexpected obstacles in our path to rebuild. As with many others who lost their homes and property, we have found that navigating our way through recovery is not easy. With each step forward it seems we find more problems than answers. Rebuilding our database, finding a new home for our winemaking, setting up a new office, navigating insurance, debris removal, permits, renewing licenses and the piles of paperwork that need to be filled out has definitely created stress and emotional hardship. Yet every day also sends us a little something to keep us going; a club member stopping by Kenwood to see how we are doing, an email from a friend letting us know they are thinking of us, a post on social media showing our friends enjoying their cherished bottle of Paradise Ridge wine. It is these little things that bring us strength and healing.

A couple of weeks ago Dan (my husband and our winemaker) and I were in Fort Worth Texas visiting friends. These friends happen to also be wine club members and after the fires they immediately set about arranging a Paradise Ridge gathering for their friends and family. Spending an evening surrounded by people who share our loss and also our hopes for the future was magical. You may see Dan on the road a little more this year, touching base and sharing wine with our friends and supporters. Please be sure to reach out and let us know if you would like him to visit your town.

For the more practical minded people reading this, you are probably wondering how is the rebuild moving along? This is the big question and it is difficult to know exactly what the next two years will bring. We are finding the costs to rebuild to be much higher than anticipated and unfortunately our insurance will not cover those costs. We are looking into many different options, trying to find the best solution for our family and future generations.

In the meantime we are working on ideas to offer tastings and events back on the estate some time mid to late summer 2018. Whether this will be a picnic table in the vineyard or something more formal is still unknown. I would personally be thrilled to see small weddings take place at the LOVE sculpture this year.

Thank you to each one of you for being our inspiration. The stories and pictures shared of your time in Paradise is beautiful. For those who have ordered wines and visited us in Kenwood, we definitely feel your love.
Wishing you a year filled with happiness & of course extraordinary wine.

LOVE,

Sonia