It was, she decided, close to ideal, owing to its medium altitude, gentle slopes and unself-conscious charm.

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And yet, Ray Emory doesn't look all that happy as he marches up one of Punchbowl's gentle slopes.

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The valley itself, about a 20-minute drive inland from the coast, is idyllic in a fruit-crate-picture sort of way, with gentle spruce- and fir-topped slopes, and vineyards contoured over swelling knolls.

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