Recently (July 18, 2011),   I located two other interesting potential wine-growing investments:

In Argentia, you can buy a 5-acre vineyard for $71,500 (US), and let the resident winery/lodge harvest and market the grapes under its own label.
http://www.gavilanvineyards.com/gavilan/index.html

Also, much closer to home (or rather to Tomi in Mountain View) is a small 10 acreage near Boulder Creek, CA
 http://www.vinesmart.com/wine/real_estate/land_for_sale/vineyard_potential/615_10_acres_perfect_site_for_your_new_vineyard
   While you are developing the land as a potential vineyard, you could live in small cabin home for under $80,000 about 1 mile away in Boulder Creek.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/185-Cliff-Vw_San-Lorenzo-Valley_CA_95006_M12916-84450

See local vineyards and wineries in Santa Cruz County (some near Boulder Creek):
http://www.hwy9.com/Directory/Category/wineries.aspx

Also, in Somona County,  CA,  there is an already producing Pinot Noir vineyard, olive orchard, and custom 4-bedroom, 4-bath home at:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Petaluma_CA_94954_M21086-94933


Original Posting is below:
-----------------------
Here is the set of Argentina vineyards and agricultural land and residential properties on VineSmart.com http://www.vinesmart.com

I was interested in the one with two wineries, 50+ acres, and also the future hotel, restaurant and wine-tasting resort. However there are other much small and less expensive properties.

http://www.vinesmart.com/real_estate/listings/south_america/argentina/argentina_vineyards_for_sale.html

There seems to be more to it than just the land, it appears that you also get deeds and licenses for wine export and import (to the US) as well.


The real estate agent for the above is:
http://www.byronlutz.com/

I would certainly want to speak with him directly by phone or in person. He has a lot of info-mercials about wine in Argentina, and tries to 'prove' that it's a good investment.

By the way, the wine he mentions and so does Forbes Magazine is called 'malbec'. The articles seem to focus on how Argentine wines will be steadily more and more popular. (a con job or true.. I don't know).

Maybe Selby would be interested, but likely, just asking her would get one of two reactions:
A short 'no' - which might mean she's already considering or doing it, or that she's already found out that it a bummer. You're right - global warming may be driving up or changing grape production in that region and the locals (Argentines) can already what is going to happen in 5 - 10 - 25 years.

She might utter a puzzled 'what?' -- Pretending not to know.
But she might be honest (or tricky) and say that she'd like to find out more.


Even if it a good investment, I don't have or want to go into debt to buy a $1.4 lemon or even potential cash cow - that is sitting there now rotting away (the vines may be withering and the grapes turning to raisins on the vine).

Certainly a lot of logistical questions and contractual ones need to be answered.


1) The grapes are certified as organic.

See Mr. Lutz listing here direct:

http://www.byronlutz.com/organic.htm

2) Current production is 200,000 bottles per year, but he 'says' it could have a capacity of up to 2,000,000 bottles (although they are exporting the grapes mainly China and Russia now) - that there is capacity at the 2 wineries to bottle that much annually (either our own wines or for others) with a winery bottling cost of about $0.65 cents each.


So..... we'd have to know how much the various wines actually sell for (retail and wholesale) and what the 'hidden costs' and operating costs are. Lutz details some of that in his advertisement in VineSmart and also on his site.

It sounds interesting but then again.. you know more about wines than I do. But you may not know as much about investing. Do you know anyone who does?


Argentine Vineyards Buyer's Guide

Another site http://www.argentinevineyardsforsale.com/book.html bring us a lot of good questions (which he says he can answer - if you buy his book (like dud!).

Here are just a few of the issues he says you will confront when shopping for a vineyard and are discussed in the book (they want you to buy):

1. Why you need someone who speaks Spanish and your language
2. Why you may need a Vineyard Manager
3. Why you need an Agronomist who provides a Report before you buy
4. Why you should inspect the vineyard with your Agronomist
5. Why you should use a Vineyard Manager to interview Vineyard Worker(s)
6. Why you should inspect a Worker's House
7. How to use a NEW Survey that will evidence CURRENT water rights, boundaries, grapevine quantities, grape types etc.
8. Ghost grapes and why you need to review the "Official" receipts for the prior year's grape yield
9. Reviewing the Vineyard's Registry Documentation
10. Why you should inspect the condition of electricity, gas, water, septic, water well etc. for the Worker's House and all other buildings
11. When to instruct an Escribano to conduct a Title search
12. Can you get and do you need American Title Insurance?
13. Firing a Worker before hiring him, when you need to talk to an Argentine Accountant regarding current and past Vineyard Worker's wages and benefits
14. Why you need to establish Argentine AFIP Form
15. Why you need to open an Argentine Bank Account with AFIP #
16. When you need to have your Escribano create a Boleto (contract) spelling out details of your vineyard purchase
17. Reviewing the Boleto with your Argentine Attorney
18. Signing the Boleto and tendering a 10% – 50% deposit
19. Instructing the Escribano to prepare a "Bill Of Sale" for all vineyard chattels, e.g. tractor, implements etc.
20. The proper protocol to wire money to your new Argentine Bank Account and proof of where the money came from
21. Why you will pay a 2%+ Escribano Fee plus a 2% Transfer Fee based on the vineyard's sale price
22. Closing the deal with your Escribano. A wheelbarrow of cash

P.S. The (hidden) email address is the one to my personal blog: http://dbrooks_tokyo.blogspot.com/
Please use that address with caution (since it posts stuff automatically).

David (otherwise known as Dad)

The Secrets Inside Your Dog\'s Mind

The Secrets Inside Your Dog's Mind

By Carl Zimmer Monday, Sep. 21, 2009

Hare and greyhound pal Bruno take a deserved break.

D.L. Anderson for Time

Brian Hare, assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, holds out a dog biscuit.

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"Henry!" he says. Henry is a big black schnauzer-poodle mix--a schnoodle, in the words of his owner, Tracy Kivell, another Duke anthropologist. Kivell holds on to Henry's collar so that he can only gaze at the biscuit.

"You got it?" Hare asks Henry. Hare then steps back until he's standing between a pair of inverted plastic cups on the floor. He quickly puts the hand holding the biscuit under one cup, then the other, and holds up both empty hands. Hare could run a very profitable shell game. No one in the room--neither dog nor human--can tell which cup hides the biscuit. See pictures of Presidents and Their Dogs.

Henry could find the biscuit by sniffing the cups or knocking them over. But Hare does not plan to let him have it so easy. Instead, he simply points at the cup on the right. Henry looks at Hare's hand and follows the pointed finger. Kivell then releases the leash, and Henry walks over to the cup that Hare is pointing to. Hare lifts it to reveal the biscuit reward.

Henry the schnoodle just did a remarkable thing. Understanding a pointed finger may seem easy, but consider this: while humans and canines can do it naturally, no other known species in the animal kingdom can. Consider too all the mental work that goes into figuring out what a pointed finger means: paying close attention to a person, recognizing that a gesture reflects a thought, that another animal can even have a thought. Henry, as Kivell affectionately admits, may not be "the sharpest knife in the drawer," but compared to other animals, he's a true scholar.

It's no coincidence that the two species that pass Hare's pointing test also share a profound cross-species bond. Many animals have some level of social intelligence, allowing them to coexist and cooperate with other members of their species. Wolves, for example--the probable ancestors of dogs--live in packs that hunt together and have a complex hierarchy. But dogs have evolved an extraordinarily rich social intelligence as they've adapted to life with us. All the things we love about our dogs--the joy they seem to take in our presence, the many ways they integrate themselves into our lives--spring from those social skills. Hare and others are trying to figure out how the intimate coexistence of humans and dogs has shaped the animal's remarkable abilities.

Trying to plumb the canine mind is a favorite pastime of dog owners. "Everyone feels like an expert on their dog," says Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist at Barnard College and author of the new book Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. But scientists had carried out few studies to test those beliefs--until now.

This fall, Hare is opening the Duke Canine Cognition Center, where he is going to test hundreds of dogs brought in by willing owners. Marc Hauser, a cognitive psychologist at Harvard University, recently opened his own such research lab and has 1,000 dogs lined up as subjects. Other facilities are operating in the U.S. and Europe.

The work of these researchers won't just satisfy the curiosity of the millions of people who love their dogs; it may also lead to more effective ways to train ordinary dogs or--more important--working dogs that can sniff out bombs and guide the blind. At a deeper level, it may even tell us something about ourselves.

For the rest of the story, go to TIME Magazine (online):
The Secrets Inside Your Dog\'s Mind

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