Valley Oaks to Campovida

Aug 11, 2010 by Diane Davis

Saturday, August 7, 2010 the new owners of Campovida unveiled their vision of the former Fetzer Valley Oaks property, now renamed Campovida. Also located on the property is the Magnanimus Wine group.

Our family has a history with the former property. We used to drive over the hill to visit the beautiful gardens and enjoy the lush grounds. Our first family portrait when we moved to California was captured there. It was one of our favorite places to visit. When the property closed, it was a personal loss to us.

It was with great anticipation that we visited the newly re-opened property on Saturday. The grounds are well on their way to being restored to their former glory. The tasting room was still empty, with the exception of a few art prints and the wine bar, even then it was exciting to see the doors open again.

The wine was paired with Thai cuisine.

The tour of the grounds was so much fun. Our first stop was the wine bar that was at the mouth of the garden.

Then we went to the butterfly garden. I learned that Monarch butterflies only like milkweed, so, thought there has yet to be any in the garden, the milkweed is ready for them. We saw a white butterfly and a swallowtail, and neither was in the mood to pose for a portrait.

This is a cork tree. I’ve never seen one before. You can tell the marks on the tree where the cork has been harvested.

Then there were more flowers and exciting things.

In my recent interviews with various vineyard owners, I’ve learned that each varietal of grape has a different shape leaf. I was going to go make a project of photographing each different varietal and I was pleasantly surprised when Campovida had an arbor of grapevines with each different varietal labeled. Here they are.