A couple of months ago I bought a Concept2 indoor rowing machine and I am using it regularly, especially when I don’t feel like running but still want to do an intensive work-out. It seems I am not the only one in Shanghai that likes to row, because a few days ago I came across the 1st Shanghai Indoor Rowing Charity Challenge. This race will be held on Saturday November 13, 2010 from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Shanghai Sharks Practice Facility, Bai Se Road No.1333 (???1333?).

There will both be individual and team races, the individual races are over 500 and 1000 meters and the relays are 4 * 500 meters and 10 * 3 minutes. You can sign up until November 8 at http://www.bohdi.com.cn/concept2challenge.html. All proceeds will go to the charity Roots & Shoots

I am not a big fan of the Chinese nationwide vacations, especially when I am staying at home and when most friends are off to some tropical beaches. The past several days we had the October National Holiday in China and I am glad it’s almost over. After I came back from TechCrunch Disrupt I was full of new ideas that I wanted to share, but because nobody was working I felt I couldn’t do much.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time, because I certainly enjoyed spending more time at home. It gave me the chance to play a lot with the kids, and we had tons of fun together. Elaine now runs around the house on her own and calls out for me when she knows I am working in my study. Scott is a naughty boy and just climbs up the 2 flights of stairs to my study (which he is not allowed to do) when his nanny doesn’t notice. I finally taught Scott how to ride his bike (with side wheels), I had tried it a few times before but after teaching him for 2 days he is finally confident enough to ride on his own. So confident that he now even rides around our living room, which was not really my intention!

Elaine and Scott know my birthday will come up in a few days and both learned to say “Happy Birthday To You” – although Elaine normally just says “Happy To You”. Scott can already sing Happy birthday to you as well (both in Chinese and English), and he is now in charge of choosing a birthday cake for me. I wonder what he will buy me.

Because the weather finally cooled off a bit (temperatures in the mid-20s right now), we put up a tent in the garden for the kids to play in. And two days ago Scott and I even spent the night there! Scott loved it so much that it took quite some time for him to fall asleep, he was excited to be in a tent and to listen to all the strange sounds. Because we went to bed at 9 PM already it also took me some time to fall asleep, and during the night I woke up frequently to make sure Scott was okay. It was very quiet outside actually, the only sound I heard was that of the crickets. And of course the birds woke us up just when it got light (after which I could not sleep anymore…). It was fun to sleep in a tent with Scott and it’s great for father-son bonding.

We also had a BBQ during the holiday, where we invited some friends to catch up, eat a lot of food and drink some wines and beer. Always fun to do, but it’s always difficult to figure out who is in town or not. This time – among others – Sam Flemming dropped by with his family (they just flew back to Shanghai from a short holiday), Jim Feldkamp with wife and son were there (he flew in from a sailing regatta in Xiamen), Alexandre Imperatori and fiancee also joined (Formula 3 driver, he flew in from Japan 2 hours before the BBQ – Scott loved his Porsche 911!), and also Joop Dorresteijn just made it (he flew back from Korea where he was preparing for his wedding). Several of the guests brought their kids, so it was also a big childrens party in our kids play room and in the garden. A great evening!

We had a couple of dinners during the week and also a brunch with the parents of Scott’s classmates. A fun get together at the Green Apple, where the kids could play and we could talk. An interesting group of parents by the way, with many of them C-level executives for multinational companies or running their own businesses. Tonight we’ll have a dinner with friends at South Beauty and then I plan to have a couple of drinks with Gary to catch up on the latest Tudou gossip. All in all not a bad week, but I look forward to going back to the office tomorrow (but not to having to work this weekend as well as compensation for the National Holiday…).

Last weekend I had the chance to visit the Jarvis Winery just outside Napa, one of the top wineries in the US. During the summer Will Jarvis (the son of the owners) had visited both Spil Games and Tudou, so I already heard a lot about the wines before my visit and I was really looking forward to seeing the winery operations.

On Sunday morning I drove over with some friends, it’s a scenic drive to the Jarvis vineyards that are located in the northeastern part of Napa Valley. Once you arrive at the gate to the winery you still don’t see much, just some small vineyards on the mountain slopes but no buildings at all. The reason is simple: the owners built a cave inside the mountain where all operations are located. Even the offices are inside the cave! This winery was the first in the US to tunnel a cave so big that all its operations would fit in there.

I was very honored that Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis (the owners of the winery) would give us a private tour of their cave facilities, it made the visit extra special for me. We met them at the reception at the entrance of the cave and from there we walked around through the whole underground tunnel system that Mr. Jarvis had designed and built. What I saw was very impressive, everything was designed with an eye for detail. There is even a stream and waterfall underground, something I had never seen before in any winery caves.

The wines are also made with attention to every detail. Mr. Jarvis told me for example that the barrels are made out of the very best French wood (they tested many different kinds) and are only used once, unlike most other wineries where they are used several times. This is one of the reasons why their wines are so unique, but of course it also increases the cost (if I remember correctly a barrel costs about USD 900 per piece). The tunnel system has a parabolic shape to make it more stable, and deeper inside the caves there are some huge rooms. One is used among others for their bi-yearly harvest ball and it’s probably big enough to put a few indoor tennis courts.

Because of the attention to detail and only going for the very best quality, the Jarvis wines are among the very best on the market. For example, where normal wineries sometimes have over 2000 vines per acre, Jarvis only has 566 in order to get the very best grapes. Quality is the only thing that counts, and that you can not only see in the whole underground operation, but you can also taste it during their wine tastings.

Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis invited us to a private wine tasting deep inside the caves with some of their very best wines. As regular readers of this blog know I love to drink good wines, so I looked forward to this tasting. I am no real expert (yet), but their wines were incredible. They mainly have reds (Cabernet, Merlot) but also a Chardonnay that totally blew me away. I love Californian Chardonnays and have tried quite a few over the years, but this was probably the best I had ever had.

After the wine tasting Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis invited us for lunch at the newly opened Morimoto in Napa. This restaurant is also highly recommended: we enjoyed our lunch on the terrace next to the Napa river and had among others some wonderful maki sushi. Before driving back to San Francisco we visited the Napa Conservatory that the Jarvis family started in 1995. A very nice theater in the middle of Napa, mainly used for Spanish opera and baroque ballet.

All in all a fantastic day in beautiful Napa Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis, in case you should read this, thank you very much for your hospitality, I enjoyed it very much.

The Jarvis Winery is located at 2970 Monticello Rd., Napa, CA 94558. Phone: 1-800-255-5280 Email: info@jarviswines.com. Winery tours incl. wine tasting only after appointment, you can book online here. Interested to buy some of the excellent Jarvis wines? Here you can order their products online.
Website: http://www.jarviswines.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jarviswines