...According to some legends, Seraphiel is an angel out of the book of Enoch who has a face of an angel and the body of an eagle. Wikipedia says that Seraphiel is "as tall as the seven heavens" and is "beautiful like lightning and the light of the morning star". The book Archangels & Ascended Masters describes Seraphiel as one who seeks God and a powerful leader who oversees protection of the world from fearful and lower energies. It says that if you're fearful about world events, this angel will bring comfort, protection and intervention. Also, it's reported that Seraphiel will help in our personal lives with love relationships, friends, careers, lost items and our life purpose. This angel has a lot on its plate, or wine bottle, as was the case with me when I purchased a bottle of Serafiel (Spanish spelling) wine from the Guadalupe Valley's Adobe Guadalupe Winery (www.adobeguadalupe.com) in Mexico.
Hugo D'Acosta, a sort of Robert Mondavi of the Guadalupe Valley, makes the 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Syrah blend wine. The wine caught my attention the first time I tried it. But I needed to sample some more to make sure it was what I wanted to purchase. You see, all of their wines were notable, but this one seemed to be calling out to me the most. It probably didn't hurt that the wine consisted of two of my favorite wine varieties, but the coincidence was not lost on me when Josh, our young, friendly tour guide gave us a tour of the only room that was available for the night-the room named Serafiel.
The Adobe Guadalupe winery was the last stop on a day long wine tasting trip that six of us went on. They give wine tasting and tours to visitors but you must make reservations. It's definitely worth taking the time to book an appointment.
It was just beginning to rain when we arrived at Adobe Guadalupe and Josh greeted us with a warm smile as we headed down the brick-lined corridors toward the tasting room. The open land looking out toward the mountains was breathtaking and I think all six of us kept relatively quiet as we took in the view. Angel icons seemed to be all around the building. Even an old water tank had been given metal wings. The tasting room had huge ceilings with bright colored artwork on it along with a massive low-lying metal chandelier. There was a view of the wine barrels to the right of the tasting bar and to the left was a large expanse of land that had vibrantly green grass and grey clouds and mist that made it look magical. The tasting room felt like being in a church or library. I wanted to whisper or not talk at all-just breathe in all the beauty. They had samples of black and green olives, a trend among all the wineries we visited.
Josh was charming and cordial as we prompted him with questions about the wine and the winery. He told us that overnight guests can book horseback rides or spa appointments and the cost of the overnight stay includes breakfast. He walked us through the guest kitchen, main room and media area then pointed to where the owners live. I felt as though I were Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice touring Mr. Darcy's private chateau. It was truly beautiful. Each of us decided to purchase a bottle of wine and so we were led into a room behind some steel wine tanks where they held the wine and then to another purchasing room lined with language books that we later found out were the owner's who speaks seven different languages and is a linguist. A group of three grey weimaraner dogs walked in and out through the rooms with us. Of the four wineries we visited that day, Adobe Guadalupe was my favorite of the large wineries. But, there was an equally enchanting winery that we happened upon that was much smaller in scale but just as delightful.
However, I started this story from the end. We actually began the day from the San Diego Normal Heights area at about 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning and drove toward the East County to enter Mexico through Tecate. Since some of us weren't U.S. citizens we had to check to make sure that we had the right papers to enter back into the U.S. Right now, for US Citizens they're recommending you bring a birth certificate along with an I.D like a driver's license.
Tecate is a cute little town that has a circular square with a park, statues and shops surrounding it. We stopped for pastries at a bakery called El Mejor, where a silver toothed police officer greeted us with a smile, and where it was hard to decide which pastries to pick. I grabbed about three pastries, a couple of cookies and a bag of fresh tortillas and ate a coconut and raspberry roll pastry that morning. From there, we headed to the first winery, L.A. Cetto (www.lacetto.net), which is one of the original wineries in the valley and when we arrived a huge group of people were purchasing wine. We found out that the group was traveling on a cruise and buying quite a bit a wine. We had to be choosy about what wine we bought as we were only allowed to bring back one liter of wine through the border. You have a much larger limit if you're traveling on a cruise. So, most of us bought olive oil and big jugs of green olives from L.A. Cetto.
From there we headed to Dona Lupe Winery, known as the organic winery. I decided not to try the wine there as I had sampled quite a bit at L.A. Cetto. The winery had quite a variety of items like mandarin, apple and mint jams, dried herbs and honey. Then, we decided to try to find the winery Mogor-Badan and drove up a winding driveway toward a hill where about five dogs, large and small, barked and ran along with our cars. At the top was a small home with a pink climbing rose around the door and across from that a hard-to-resist stone wine cellar. No one was around so some of us walked through the cellar to see if anyone was inside. Another couple of us rang the doorbell of the home and a lady in her late 50's greeted us with a smile and asked how many would be tasting wine. There were five of us tasting as one was the designated driver, so she brought out a tray that looked like something I used when I was waiting tables. It was lined with a white cloth and five wine tasting glasses.
Inside the cellar it was cool and slightly bare. On one wall was a gorgeous artistic work of tile that I wanted to purchase. We found that our server and her two partners make tile on consignment. As we sampled the wine, I imagined myself retiring at her age amid this land making artwork and letting my hair grow out. I'd grow grapes and vegetables and spend my day making bread by hand, wine making, cultivating the land and painting and writing. She seemed so content as she asked us to sample some of her that-day roasted sunflower seeds. I think this is where we all sort of got into a Zen-type mode. Drinking in the aroma of wine, smiling at our server and being among friends made my heart open wide. I wanted to hug everyone in the group. Once we were sated and found out the winery we had discovered was the Tres Mujeres Winery (meaning three women) we slowly walked back to our car and hurried to get to our Adode Guadalupe appointment.
On our way home from Enseneda a large Jesus statue with open arms embraced us along the highway. A few miles ahead a red compact car's tire flew off their car and our carpooling crowd decided to stop and help. We stayed for two hours not sure we were helping carjackers who had a California license plate with a 2004 registration and occupants that didn't speak a word of English (another story all together) or if we were being good Samaritans. I suspect, possibly, some of that angel dust from Adobe Guadalupe was still lingering on all of us and so we thought it was the right thing to do. Thanks Seraphiel, wherever you are.
Ray Falkner of Falkner Winery - Photo Courtesy of Valley Business Journal 
