I left San Francisco and drove a couple of hours inland to Napa Valley.

I stayed in St. Helena with the Jaffe family. I know the Jaffes as a result of my mother’s work as a professional organizer. My mother worked for this family over the course of several years, and as a result we have remained family friends.

I stayed in the guest house at the Jaffes’ incredible estate. The Jaffe property includes all kinds of features which I would like to have in my own home. These features include such things as…

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a fruit and vegetable garden…

a vineyard…

a swimming pool… an observatory!!...

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which of course includes an enormous telescope!

The Jaffes are perhaps the most refined people I have ever known. They are also incredibly warm and welcoming.

The story of how Pam and Gary met is a beautiful story. They met in a class for serious collectors of fine art. It’s almost like they were meant for each other.

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A couple of samples from their collection are pictured above.

I aspire to be a refined gentleman, but I often find myself falling short. So I spent my time with the Jaffes taking careful notes. I observed that this family has an intense dedication to knowledge and learning. The two girls, Lauren and Vida, were constantly teaching me about the history and culture of St. Helena.

Vida even helped me perform some video interviews. I cannot wait to share these fun and interesting interviews! Of all the people I have ever met, Vida Jaffe is the person who most closely resembles the main character of the book “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” by Jonathan Safran Foer.

I was amazed to learn about the detailed and intricate process involved in the creation of fine wines. Gary and Pam are currently preparing to launch a wine label, using grapes grown on their property. The label is called Metamorphosis. The Jaffes explained to me that they chose this name becauase of the importance of the grapes in the wine-making process.

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The grapes go through several different stages of color before reaching their final destination in the wine bottle. During this process of maturation, the fruit must be cared for and preserved. The Jaffes explained to me that the quality of the grapes is of utmost importance. You can only make high quality wine if you have high quality fruit, they explained.

Because I was so interested to learn about wine-making, the Jaffes invited me to meet their wine-maker, a brilliant man named David DeSantos. DeSantos had finished medical school before deciding to pursue his dream of being a wine-maker. I asked David how long it takes to create a fine wine.

David told me in great detail how a fine wine starts with high quality fruit, grown in good soil, with good water and care. The grapes are harvested and crushed. The grape juice goes through an intricate process and ends up in large barrels. The wine spends three years in these barrels. Then it is transferred to bottles.

When the wine is transferred to the bottles, it experiences “bottle shock,” and so it must remain in the bottles for nine months before it is ready for drinking. Four years after the harvest, the metamorphosis in complete, and the wine is ready for drinking.

David also explained to me that the grapes contain the taste and flavor of the summer when they were grown. Creating wine is the art of capturing summer in a bottle. If you are interested to find out what Summer 2006 in St. Helena was like, you’ll have to wait until 2010, when bottles of 2006 Metamorphosis will be available at fine wine retailers.

I had an amazing visit to St. Helena, and I enjoyed every minute I spent with the Jaffe family. As a result of the experience, I am one step closer to becoming a truly refined gentleman.

Everything in this community reflects a sense of hard work and dedication. Everyone I met in this town was passionate about their work. The chocolate in this town is not just chocolate, it is a masterpiece.

Even the English muffins reflect an attitude of perfectionism.

The people here have an appreciation for the Earth and the good things it provides.

I am so impressed with Pam and Gary, who go to great lengths to understand the wonder and mystery of the world around them.

A few weeks before my visit, the Jaffes had caught a caterpillar in their garden. They cared for it in a special box and watched it create a cocoon. The morning that I left a butterfly emerged from the cocoon. So we went out and set it free in a nearby tree.

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I felt that we had all experienced a small miracle. This little bug had grown beautiful wings. Vida set it loose and it climbed onto the branches of the tree and stayed there while its wings dried. It is incredible to think about the change that occured during the time while that caterpillar was in its cocoon. That little bug experienced an amazing process of transformation.

As I left Napa Valley I thought about the process of change. I thought about the beautiful results of change. I thought about the intense efforts needed to bring about truly significant changes.

I thought about our world, and all the humans in it. I thought to myself that the world is like a little caterpillar, looking for a good spot to form into a cocoon. How long will it take for the world to change? When will we finish our transformation and spread our beautful wings?