Clínica Verde

This past weekend, Clínica Verde hosted Nicarguan architect Alfredo Osorio for a meeting in the Napa Valley. Osorio is our partner in Nicaragua – a fascinating, elegant man who has stories to tell about many of the greats in his field: Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, Calatrava. Osorio recently designed the new U.S. Embassy in Managua, and has designed a plan for the city of Managua that he’s been pursuing with the current Nicaraguan government. His history is long and colorful, and we’re lucky to have him on our side.

Osorio was here primarily to participate in design meetings with our U.S.-based architect Bill Boyd, our project developer Peter Stanley, Nica project manager Johny Siman and other board members. He’s a guy who cuts straight to the center of a problem, with simple, commonsense solutions. Over two days, the design team met to further refine our plans in anticipation of a break-ground date of this spring.

But we also showed Alfredo a couple of highlights in the Napa Valley. The most memorable was a visit to the winery Frog’s Leap. Founded by John Williams in 1981, Frog’s Leap is located among 130 acres of vineyards in Rutherford. They produce 60,000 cases of hand-crafted Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Rutherford. It’s beautiful, the wine is superb and well-priced, but there’s a lot more to Frog’s Leap that makes it something to applaud and admire.

Frog’s Leap grows all it grapes organically, in addition to cultivating an on-site organic vegetable garden. And, in February of 2005, Frog’s Leap became 100% solar powered. One thousand photovoltaic panels collect sunlight that is then converted to a clean and renewable energy source. Its hospitality center is LEED-certified – green certification that is the gold standard in the environmental building industry. Our tour at Frog’s Leap was excellent, leaving the whole team inspired to work towards our own solutions of sustainability for Clinica Verde.

If you’re ever in the area, be sure to check out Frog’s Leap. You can read more about the winery here: Go to Frog’s Leap.

I’ll leave you with Alfredo’s words upon his return to Nicaragua: “Thank you for having the privilege to know so many noble people and the magnificent beauty and tranquility of Napa. I am so grateful to you that I do not have enough words to express it, but it is deep within me. I will never forget this trip.”