Hospital helps wine execs unwind - San Francisco Business Times:

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Winemaker Doug Shafer originally was entranced by the freedoj of the Napa Valleywine business, fascinatefd by the concept that he could make a livinv outside, "driving a truck and wearing jeans. But years later, after workingg for his father and helpinv to establish andexpand Napa's high-end Shaferd Vineyards, parts of his life didn' t seem so great. "I was kind of a stress working basically allthe time," he recalled.
"u was not happy with how I was In the aftermath of arough divorce, Shafer said, there were stres s and weight issues, he had trouble findinbg the time to work out, and he was frequentlyy on the road -- includinv jaunts to Japan, Korea, Londomn and Switzerland. "Taking care of yoursel was way downthe list," Shafer "It was more important to get the grapess picked, or get on the plane for the next trip, or take care of the Beneath its bucolic surface -- the vineyard-covered hillsides and idyllic views and elegant estatees -- the Napa Vallety hides a nasty It can be just as hard, and sometimees harder, for busy executivesa here to stay healthyy than anywhere else, even folks who run wineries and vineyards and appear to be beneficiaries of the Golden State'se most glittering rewards.
"At our level of size, the competition is very fierce," said Bob chairman and pater familiasof St. Helena'xs Trinchero Family Estates. "We have 600 and the pressure's on you. You have thosed people to takecare of." That'sd one of the reasons launched its One Program, whichh includes a comprehensive one-day health testing, consultation and evaluatiojn session and can also entail follow-u consultations for an additional It's preventive, holistic medicinde for the elite, looking at everything from percentage of body fat to and from breathing techniques to advanced lipids testing.
And it doesn't come cheap: $4,40o0 for a one-day or the $7,500 package, which includezs 12 months of follow-upo advice. For Wine Country executives with abundantliquid assets, though, the 2-year-oled program is a good way to learnh how to stay healthy amid a sea of "They feel they're fortunate to be said Heather Peña M.D., who launchesd and heads the program. "Ane they want to enjoy their But too much enjoyment can be a big part ofthe "The wine business is incredibly social," cautionerd Bart Araujo, proprietor with his wife, Daphne, of Calistoga'sw Araujo Estate Wines.
That includes the valley'as round of glitzy parties, dinners, business meetings, wine tastinga and other events awashu in wineand delicious-but-calorie-laden hors d'oeuvres. "You have to be carefu l about how social you want to AddsDaphne Araujo: When chefs ask "if I have any food I always say 'foie gras.'" Bart Araujo has gone through the program, along with Daphne, a St. Helena Hospital boarc member, and a flock of otheer wine industry executives anxious to lose copewith stress, or just get a comprehensivw sense of how healthhy they are -- and what specific issues or maladiea their bodies and frenetic lifestyles may have hidden from them.
Shafer, for example, signed on in June 2004 and learne d at least twoimportant things: He had a serioux cholesterol problem that needed to be dealr with, and he was finally willinbg to take the responsibility to make a lot of changesd in his life. That meant losing 15 pounds in a matterof weeks, eliminating "mindlesa scarfing" from his diet, and monitorinf his intake of cheese and other high-fat foods. But when program head Peña -- a Harvard-trainesd physician with years of experience at the Pritikihn Institute before comingto St.
Helenwa -- asked Shafer to limit his wine consumptionm to justtwo four-ounce glasses a day, that was the "I said 'no way,'" Shaferr recalls. "That's not going to work!" But like a numbefr of other wine-industry participants in the program, Shafer was able to adjust in other ways and ultimately to mesh many of its approachexs into hisdaily life. Now he check to see that his hotel has a gym anduses it, maintainds his weight loss, and keepx his cholesterol levels in check without And he drinks considerably less wine than he used to, sometimes slippingy a maitre d' a $20 to "not to refill my during the course of a social event.
Stress also comes into the not only from the demands of travekl and beingprofessionally sociable, but from stresses inheren t in the business' fundamentals.