Luxuetera — Language of Luxury — Napa Consultants, International

Localvores, a word coined in 2007 in San Francisco, defines a growing trend of eating foods grown in one’s geographical area. The numbers of farmers selling directly to consumers has doubled in the years between 1997 and 2007, and is continuing that doubling trend according to the US Department of Agriculture. This trend has enhanced the economy of local communities. Eating local is considered important as part of a healthy diet.

Part of our luxury real estate marketing research, as we travel to our clients’ marketplaces, includes exploring the local foods. In Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay our clients took us to lunch at Merroir which overlooks the Chesapeake Bay. Merroir (smart branding) is a play on the word “Terroir”. This is a French word term used in wines, chocolate, and coffee to describe the unique attributes of the area’s soil and climatic conditions which gives a distinct taste to that particular wine or food. And, "Mer" means sea in French, as "Terre" means earth.

Merroir is a tasting room for oysters grown locally in different areas of the water. According to co-owner Travis Croxton, “Every oyster is influenced by its marine surrounding, and you can taste those differences.” Three types of oysters are on the menu: Rappahannock River Oysters, Stingray Oysters and Olde Salt Oysters. The Rappahannock River Oysters are raised in the tail end of the river of the same name, where the freshwater meets the saltwater of the bay and are sweeter. Stingrays grown in Mobjack Bay are saltier. The Olde Salt Oyster from the Chincoteague Island is the saltiest of the three. The limited menu includes steamed clams, crab cakes, salads and fried green tomatoes.

We loved the Rappahannock River Oysters. We also ordered crab cakes (grown locally and fresh that morning) and sampled fried green tomatoes. It was gourmet heaven. So if you ever find yourself anywhere near the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, make sure you stop at Merroir‘s. They are open Wednesday through Sunday. We are thankful for all the localvores in America.

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What would you do if you won the lottery and the money took care of all your needs? What would you do with the excess funds? Would you leave a legacy for others to enjoy?

“The relation with the world that I want is to be putting life back into the world, rather than taking life out of it.”—W.S. Merwin

U.S. Poet Laureate and two time Pulitzer winner, W.S. Merwin decided to grow a forest of palm trees on 19 acres of officially designated wasteland on the north shore Maui, Hawaii. He has gathered palm seeds from various botanical gardens worldwide.

The forest has been grown sustainably with recycled water, and solar energy. Within this windswept region of microclimates various specimens of palm are thriving including a rare treasured palm from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Mr. Merwin remarks “I know nothing about Reunion Island, but where a tree grows you have a place.” Botanists have actually catalogued over 2500 species of palms trees globally.

His love of trees began at a young age, Mr. Merwin remarks, ‘My father was very repressive. As a child I didn’t trust the feelings of pretty well anyone except my mother. But I trusted the tree in the backyard. We were friends. If I could talk to it, it would talk to me. But I did not know how”.

“Later in life I was talking to the biologist, E.O. Wilson about that, and he said talking to trees was not silly at all. “The trees gene code is much older than yours,” he said, It’s not withholding anything. If you know how to talk, it will tell you everything you want.”

The Mervin Conservancy is his legacy. Check out the web site and the video as Mr. Merwin takes you on an enchanting tour of the forest.

“In between twenty-five or thirty years I have planted about 850 species of palms, and at least four or five times that many actual trees. I have had no map….We both hope that the whole of this land can eventually become a palm sanctuary. Just being here, with the garden, the `palm forest,’ all around us, day after day, I think has taught me a great deal.” —W.S. Merwin

What will your legacy be?