Thank you .. ‘Dirt du Jour’

for the glowing review! "Go ask Alice ... where all the best vineyard gardens are. She's an erudite charmer; you'll have fun!"
California Wine Country

DeLoach Vineyards .. Organic / Biodynamic

© Alice Joyce

Our Locavore lunch began with a beautiful table setting…

DeLoach Locavore Lunch  © Alice Joyce

Hospitality in the French style .. memorable!

DeLoach Vinyard’s Jean-Charles Boisset

Light rain could not dampen the delights of a DeLoach Vineyards tour, wine tasting & locavore lunch, in the company of our host, President Jean-Charles Boisset.

DeLoach Insectary  © Alice Joyce

The DeLoach property — on Olivet Road in Santa Rosa — boasts organic culinary gardens that reflect the quality and commitment of the vineyard to organically-grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay cloned grapes: Farming practices that have earned DeLoach CCOF certification.

Organic viticulture is integrated with the biodynamic farming employed not only at DeLoach, but among the Maisons & Domaines of the Boisset Family of wineries, reaching from California to France, Italy to Québec. (In 2009 the DeLoach estate vineyards received biodynamic certification from Demeter.)

DeLoach – Repurposed Wood for Redesign                     

Above: DeLoach Vineyards Garden Fountain ~ One comes away from a visit to DeLoach with the awareness of an overall governing philosophy of sustainability.

DeLoach Biodynamic Gardens © Alice Joyce

Working with Quantum Builders during the estate’s remodel a few years ago, there were doors, windows and tiles repurposed, while reclaimed wood from old wine vats found new life as handsome cabinets for the interior. Our tasting included a select vineyard-designated Chardonnay: Rich and flavorful, and a Hawk Hill Pinot Noir from Maboroshi vineyards – both grown in the loamy soils of the Russian River Valley.

DeLoach Chardonnay Hawk Hill Vineyard

DeLoach Wine Tasting

Hawk Hill Vineyard Soil Sample

DeLoach Wine Tasting

 Another DeLoach standout: a Mendocino County biodynamically farmed Pinot Noir designate from the Masut Vineyard, a lovely clean, full-bodied wine with savory notes of cherry and spice. Below: DeLoach Vineyard Vista ~ Photo Copyright Alice Joyce

The 2006 Masut vintage received accolades for its subtle yet complex melding of cherry, currant, raspberry and chocolate flavors, with a lingering oaky vanilla finish. The appellation-designated 2007 DeLoach Russian River Valley Pinot Noir won praise as One of the Year’s Best from Wine & Spirits.

DeLoach Vineyards Gardens © Alice Joyce

DeLoach Vineyards Organic Garden

4 comments - (Comments are closed)   California Wine Country, Wine Tasting   , ,  
Historic Gardens

Adamson House ~ Malibu

Adamson  Star Pool: Photo © Alice Joyce

Adamson House is known for the historic Malibu Potteries, and its lovely gardens which overlook the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a showcase for colorful tilework, Adamson House is adjacent to the Malibu Lagoon Museum, situated in the house’s attached 5-car garage. Although part of the California State Parks, Adamson House and the surrounding landscape receive loving support from the Friends of the Historic Adamson House & Malibu Lagoon Museum. Architect Stiles Clements designed the house in a Spanish Colonial Revival style for Merritt Huntley Adamson and his wife, Rhoda, the daughter of Frederick and May Rindge.

Photo © Alice Joyce

”Malibu modern history begins around 1802 when Jose Tapia received a Spanish land grant that enabled him to establish the Malibu Rancho – the first large ranch in this area.” The Malibu Lagoon area is believed by many to trace back to a Chumash Indian village, called Pueblo de las Canoas by the Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo in 1542. Adamson House is located adjacent to the Lagoon.

Adamson House  © Alice Joyce

Dating to 1930, the Adamson/Rindge family home and gardens comprise a unique setting, decorated indoors and out with stunning ceramic tiles manufactured by Malibu Potteries. May K. Rindge established the pottery in 1926. The Great Depression and a fire signaled the company’s closure in 1932.

Originally the family’s summer place, the house eventually became the Adamsons’ principal residence. Purchased by the state of California in 1968, plans were to tear down the house and create a parking lot! A concerned community managed to halt the destruction of this unique landmark. Visitors touring the house see the original, beautifully preserved furnishings.

Adamson House Bench with Tilework © Alice Joyce

A venerable California Sycamore — Plantanus racemosa takes center stage on the Wedding Lawn.

California Sycamore Wedding Lawn  Copyright Alice Joyce

You’ll find the Adamson House’s exemplary tilework abetted by a magnificent collection of trees: Bunya-Bunya, Mexican Fan Palms, and rare New Zealand Chaste Tree (Vitex lucens), among the garden specimens.

Peacock Fountain © Alice Joyce

The original site … “a series of large sand dunes –13 acres in size — as construction of the house neared completion, good humus was transported from nearby canyons.

Malibu Potteries © Alice Joyce

Dombeya cayeuxii

The lavishly adorned Dombeya cayeuxiiis known as the Pink Snowball tree.

Peacock Fountain © Alice Joyce

Garden beds 5 to 10 feet deep were graded and landscaped with many exotic and native plants.”  Rhoda Adamson planted several rose and Victory gardens. The brilliantly patterned tilework is a joy to behold.

 Neptune Fountain © Alice Joyce

Entryway Copyright Alice Joyce

Adamson House Copyright Alice Joyce

5 comments - (Comments are closed)   Historic Gardens, Los Angeles, Southern California   , ,  
Landscape Architecture

Garden of the Hesperides .. Valencia

Valencia Garden of the Hesperides Sculpture Photo © Alice Joyce

Valencia offers garden travelers and aficionados of modern landscape architecture a trove of settings to fill their days. Strolling away from the city center along Calle de Quart, you’ll pass through the ancient towers on the way to the botanical gardens, appearing on your right. Across the street from the gardens, I booked a room at a boutique hotel, Hotel Jardin Botanico.
The El Carmen neighborhood is an artistic hub; a place to enjoy a bite to eat in a small cafe frequented by Valencians. My time in Valencia was coming to an end when I experienced an exhilarating finale to my exploration of Spain’s third largest city:
The Garden of the Hesperides, adjacent to the… University’s Jardi Botanic,  but tucked away on Gaspar Bono street.

Valencia Hesperides Garden Rill © Alice Joyce

In Greek mythology, the daughters of the god Hesperus dwelled in an idyllic mountain garden at the edge of the world. Guarded by a dragon, this arcadian realm was known for its tree of golden apples. The nymphs (sometimes called the African Sisters) provided inspiration for what I found to be Valencia’s most surprising public space. Constructed around the Millennium, the ‘Hesperides’ is the work of….
VAM 10 Arquitectura Studio: Designed by Maria Teresa Santamaria, agricultural technical engineer, & architects Antonio Gallud, Carlos Campos, and Miguel del Rey.

Valencia Hesperides Garden Gate Detail  © Alice Joyce

In the contained space of a Hortus Conclusus, the designers called upon symbolic elements to relate to the scented landscapes of early Catalonia. A collection of citrus species hearkens to the admirable horticulture of Valencia’s 15th century. Cypresses are planted as prominent structural forms. Water cascades through channels. Fountains freshen the air.

Valencia Garden of the Hesperides Arbor © Alice Joyce

In the words of the designers, “The garden is a setting for dreams…where…the highest, most generous thoughts come to mind.” In naming the garden, they looked to the nymphs as “the symbol of fertility.” In the sophistication of this public park, the Garden of the Hesperides helps to define the spirit of Valencia in the new Millennium with a refreshingly modern landscape design: A layout animated by the historical significance of its Mediterranean plantings, water features, and sculptural focal point.

Enter the confines of this walled retreat, and you escape from the nonstop traffic of a nearby thoroughfare. Two concrete gates swivel into a locked or unlocked position; the material given textural treatments that set polished surfaces against raw sections.  Inlaid with linear strips of black and cream-colored marble, the gates have a presence that calls to mind vast canvases in an art galley.

Underfoot, the walkway contains subtle leaf patterns suggestive of fossil remains.

Hesperides Pavement Detail  © Alice Joyce

The landscape’s bold geometry caters to botanically inclined visitors with a composition incorporating rows of fragrant lavender and germander shrubs, bisected by walls of emerald green foliage interspersed with palm trees.

Exuberant bougainvillea clad pergolas provide a shady respite, while an espalier of ‘Toscana’ lemons basks in the sun. Water gently flows within the angular outlines of a rill, the channel dipping beneath the ground, and ultimately finding its way into a rectangular pond.

On the expansive terraces, a lovely Salix babylonica weeps, in alliance with  ‘Metamorfosis‘ …a sculpture by Miklos A. Palfy.

Valencia’s Green Zone: the TURIA GARDENS on Alice’s Garden Travel Buzz

One comment - (Comments are closed)   Landscape Architecture, Spain   , , ,  
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