tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75551853835492734452024-02-19T17:01:42.280-08:00Piña Napa ValleyBlog about growing up in the Napa Valley, the wine industry in general and the Piña family in particular.Trishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00093920440884562842noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-14525463389975280382013-11-07T14:26:00.000-08:002013-11-07T14:26:19.825-08:002013 Growing Season <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwPOD2LOMBU5bvk3imTioGifCkMNdrXzqdxXfXG6h3fFaV5uX42IFe9xHpkXKm0b8RBefxz96sXwyvMQ4dnFyTywqKrmtXYGhwidUo0cA_ilzZslKVeaDwbXnA8dnUX2TJO2-esoAVOVp/s1600/Justin+Leigon++11-07-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFwPOD2LOMBU5bvk3imTioGifCkMNdrXzqdxXfXG6h3fFaV5uX42IFe9xHpkXKm0b8RBefxz96sXwyvMQ4dnFyTywqKrmtXYGhwidUo0cA_ilzZslKVeaDwbXnA8dnUX2TJO2-esoAVOVp/s320/Justin+Leigon++11-07-13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We've got this sharp young kid that has been working with us at Piña Vineyard Management for about a year and a half. Justin is a youngster half my age, married with a 2<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
& </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">½ </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">year</span> old daughter. He continually amazes me with how much he knows about grapes and how much he has learned about the vineyards we care for. In addition to that, he's humble and has a great attitude. Recently, he wrote an in-house summary of the 2013 growing season. I thought it was very well written. He included just enough technical information to satisfy those that need it, but not so much to lose the interest of those that don't. <br />
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See what you think:<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">2013
Growing Season</span></span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><o:p>by Justin Leigon</o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
winter leading up to the 2013 growing season was a repeat of the previous year.
It was exceptionally dry. Of the ~25” of rain that fell from 11/1/12 through 3/31/13,
10.5” fell over five consecutive days: 11/28-12/2. There were a few showers to
follow in December, but after the first of the year we only received ~3-5” of
rain by the end of March. This led to soils drying out much earlier than
normal. In many vineyards, irrigation was started during bud-break in order to
ensure healthy early season growth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Similar
to 2012, bud-break was 5-7 days later than average. Fortunately, the warm
weather in April allowed things to catch up. April had an average daily high temp
of 77°F. Approximately 10 days of April were above 80°F, and on 4/22 we saw
temps in the 90s. There were only a handful of frost days with some areas never
needing to run their wind machines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
nice consistent spring weather led to an early bloom. Most locations were ~7-10
days early. In some of the later areas such as Howell Mountain, Calistoga, and
Pope Valley there was shatter as a result of very cold mornings during the
critical bloom stage. Unusual late season frost damage was even seen in a few
locations because of the mornings of 5/22 & 5/23 where temps reached the
low 30s.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
weather continued to be moderately warm throughout the spring with very little
rainfall. The early season heat helped with grape skin, tannin, and overall
flavor development. Yields appeared to be average to slightly above average
with potential for an exceptional vintage. A brief scare occurred during the last
week of June when temps broke 100°F for a few days. Some areas saw close to
110°F. Fortunately, veraison had yet to begin so the berries were still hard and
protected. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Most
areas were 10-14 days earlier than average for veraison. With the exception of
some minor fruit thinning to balance out vines, the rest of the 2013 season was
thankfully uneventful. Some areas needed to be dialed back on the irrigation in
order to conserve water, but the vines were able to manage throughout the rest
of the season. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Harvest
for Piña began on August 8<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> with Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc. This
was 20 days earlier than 2012. Most areas were ~2 weeks early. Yields were
similar to last year and slightly bigger in some areas while slightly lower in
other areas. The perfect weather allowed winemakers to choose the flavor
profile they were wanting. The warm season led to some vineyards having high
sugars but needing to wait a little longer for the flavors to catch-up. This
was actually a blessing for some winemakers, as the fast & furious harvest
left many wineries with no available tank space. A few windy days during the
middle of September led to accelerated dehydration and a raisin thinning pass
was required in a few areas of the valley. Brief showers occurred around 9/21,
but advantageous weather followed and the fruit that was still hanging dried
out quickly. For a lot of wineries, harvest wrapped up by the end of September.
This was one of the earliest that most winemakers can remember. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calisto MT","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
general consensus is that the 2013 vintage is one for the history books. The
season had days full of beautiful weather and cold nights to maintain grape
acidity. Thick grape skins with rapid sugar accumulation allowed winemakers to
pick based on flavor development. Let’s hope for a repeat in 2014!</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-78187315927430959742013-09-30T08:44:00.000-07:002013-09-30T08:44:57.908-07:00Punching down the cap<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Once our red wine grapes are run through crusher/stemmer, the resulting "Must" is pumped into a fermenting vessel. We have several stainless steel tank fermenters for this purpose, but some of the smaller lots are fermented in bins like those in the pictures below. As the must ferments, the berries will rise to the surface and form the "cap". To extract skin color from the berries, the cap must be churned back into the liquid. This is called punching down the cap and it is done at least twice a day while the wine is actively fermenting. These pictures were taken on Sunday afternoon. Pablo drove from & to Napa to do this 20 minute job. Had I known it needed to be done, I could have saved him the trip.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQ-QXi5NgRqI27Mh_Sxr9ScKnH0De45GBdEijaQ6UnWrroR_GSN-8eBKaiFspn8XtUabNwK3FlGV38XX8FIADOnnkS2W9t-CGnl56d8ApUQjqcOQeGjCkV5zy4TUTyG6qvV_zLmpx8Qjd/s1600/Pablo+punching+down+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQ-QXi5NgRqI27Mh_Sxr9ScKnH0De45GBdEijaQ6UnWrroR_GSN-8eBKaiFspn8XtUabNwK3FlGV38XX8FIADOnnkS2W9t-CGnl56d8ApUQjqcOQeGjCkV5zy4TUTyG6qvV_zLmpx8Qjd/s320/Pablo+punching+down+2.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Our intern "Pablo" punching down the cap</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CdfFrA0OWTI1fK8pq5vy2TVvSeUUQDiJC0ddQv0cRVOBrn7-AQ_eMmpw9cWx8qgB1qCRKaoKEyiAAB1OUwiIk40FdRVpZ0Q82T8uFcSQMbGCvwGu6pYIBsu5hrnBAu1WZfVDPurgygtu/s1600/Pablo+Punching+down+tool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CdfFrA0OWTI1fK8pq5vy2TVvSeUUQDiJC0ddQv0cRVOBrn7-AQ_eMmpw9cWx8qgB1qCRKaoKEyiAAB1OUwiIk40FdRVpZ0Q82T8uFcSQMbGCvwGu6pYIBsu5hrnBAu1WZfVDPurgygtu/s320/Pablo+Punching+down+tool.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Punch down tool</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhik_eCC2VnlG6fYsSR2pdnIqEn-bkJbwS0COzt0gwd3_aVWjM1TnmUDOOf5ZOoMC5QeC_cMFzySEWS66_nk0j4iAPVuGCpbHYHRmnyiAKvAkCe8yiqW9lJ-xS4S7Z9EtOKGruzwQlcxBzc/s1600/Pablo+punching+down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhik_eCC2VnlG6fYsSR2pdnIqEn-bkJbwS0COzt0gwd3_aVWjM1TnmUDOOf5ZOoMC5QeC_cMFzySEWS66_nk0j4iAPVuGCpbHYHRmnyiAKvAkCe8yiqW9lJ-xS4S7Z9EtOKGruzwQlcxBzc/s320/Pablo+punching+down.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mixing up the must</span></div>
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Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-28835078712630653142013-09-19T20:00:00.001-07:002013-09-19T20:00:40.145-07:00Winery Dog Yogi, Part 5 – Long Live Yogi!<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I love this picture:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Yogi making dust at the Wolff Vineyard</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">It's
been over 2 years since I've written about Yogi. Since our visitors to the
winery enjoy seeing him more than me, I thought it was time to give his fans an
update.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">I was
in Wyoming last week. Yogi had a dog-sitter for 6 days. It's the longest we've
been apart in almost 2 years. To say that Yogi is with me 24/7 is only a slight
exaggeration. No, he doesn't get to sleep in my bed. But he does come to work
with me every day and he has a bed in the corner of my small office at the
vineyard management company. He considers me the "Big Dog" and prefers it that
way. When I'm not around, he seems to get anxious and has a hard time relaxing
with the responsibility of protecting those in his presence. It's not a job he
takes lightly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">So for
those 6 days, he was the Big Dog. In addition to the added responsibility, he
didn't get as much exercise as when he is with me. When I got back, I knew he
needed to run and let off some steam. So I took him to the Wolff Vineyard. The
Wolff Vineyard is at the end of State Lane East of Yountville. The vineyard
blocks are on both sides of a hill that is fairly steep in some spots. And Yogi
seems to prefer running up the steep spots, even when he's been exercising
regularly. He started running as soon as his feet hit the ground. He stopped at
the first gate to wait impatiently for me to open it. But as he was waiting, he
spotted wild turkeys on the hillside. Even though Yogi has Lab blood in him,
he's not that interested in birds. But wild turkeys are a different story. They
spend most of their time on the ground and will only fly when forced to
fly. The chase was on and was over as soon as they lifted off and flew over the
vineyard. Yogi barked as if to say “and stay away!”, but they had gotten his
adrenaline flowing. So he continued to run and found more wild turkeys on the
other side of the hill. It was after he made this second flock fly, that he spun
around and headed down through the vineyard again. It was then that I snapped
the picture above. He was kicking up lots of dust but not chasing anything. He
was running for the pure pleasure of running.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">As I
mentioned in a previous post, rabbits are his specialty. When we walk the
vineyards, he is obsessed with finding and chasing rabbits. He has never caught
one, and I don't think he would know what to do if he did. In his younger years,
if a rabbit was within sight, he would be chasing it. But Yogi turned six this
last May. He has learned that if a rabbit has a big head start, he might as well
try to find one that’s a bit closer. At least that’s what I prefer to believe –
not that he’s getting too old, he’s just maturing and getting wiser. So he certainly doesn’t comply with one of my favorite quotes:</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">Age does not always bring
wisdom. Sometimes age comes alone.</span></em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">Garrison Keillor </span> </div>
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Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-17672621707602287072013-08-23T12:35:00.000-07:002013-08-23T12:35:32.118-07:00Pablo Sanz - Our 2013 Winery Intern <br />
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<em>I apologize. Lots of water under the bridge since my last post, but I'm hoping to have more time to dedicate to this blog in the future. Now, on to other topics.</em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As has become the tradition, every year about this time we introduce our harvest intern. I ask them to provide me with an auto-biography that I can include in a post to share with anyone that is interested. This year, I suggested that Pablo read the posts introducing Rachel Simpson (2010), Daniel Brennan (2011) and Sierra Reed (2012), and use them as a guide for his auto-biography. Pablo sent me a very brief bio with 4 pictures and the following message</span><br />
<em></em><br />
<em> "
I try to do my best, but I don't know, I don't feel like
reaching the same level as the other biographies you have there... </em><em>Here's mine, feel free to change something if you see any
mistake and to give better format, or whatever."<o:p></o:p></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I encouraged him to share a family picture with us, and he did so promptly. He had even added a bit to his bio, which as you can see, is still very short. I'll bet he doesn't do Facebook either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I hope to create another post, or two about Pablo in the future, but it may be a challenge getting him to talk. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Pablo is from Spain, the origin of my Dad's folks. And he arrives this Monday...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdENfxSv7x-gBFd2dbMsgiePI0MnSbpbYoUnQmrx540IIMMWNJcHz1mr7Va5UmMET7QsHYlYEJDMo8m4fGejl4Mj5Q-TTJwECfEV4PZ8J9qhdft98kaHbXFFuhyphenhyphencLduR7K4G0pmjr7cIoh/s1600/Pablo+cocacola.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdENfxSv7x-gBFd2dbMsgiePI0MnSbpbYoUnQmrx540IIMMWNJcHz1mr7Va5UmMET7QsHYlYEJDMo8m4fGejl4Mj5Q-TTJwECfEV4PZ8J9qhdft98kaHbXFFuhyphenhyphencLduR7K4G0pmjr7cIoh/s320/Pablo+cocacola.bmp" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I was born in Madrid (Spain), where I grew up and studied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I obtained a Bachelor in Biology and started my specialization, making a
Master in Forensic and Physic Anthropology. After finishing it I decided to
study more seriously one of the family hobbies, the wine. My parents were
always attracted to the world of wine, even more having relatives living in the
center of one of the strongest Spanish appellations. And their interest meant
to me and my brother plenty of chances to get to know how a winery works and
the pride the winemakers had showing people where they work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I made a Master in Viticulture and Winemaking, where, since the first
week of lessons I realized that I was really interested in the oenology,
finding it a lot more challenging than I could have ever expected, and
captivating me instantly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I decided to make Winemaking practices during the Master and I could
arrange them at Bodegas Lleiroso, a small winery (130 tons) placed in the well
know Spanish appellation, Ribera del Duero, where I could be trained almost in
every step of the winemaking process, and where I could work with the strong
variety Tempranillo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Just after finishing my Master in Winemaking, I decided to keep going
and at the same time travel. I was hired by Matua, in New Zealand. I worked
there as cellar hand, learning another totally different way of working, taking
into account that this winery was completely different (28.000 tons), working
with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir among other varieties.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I could also meet people from all around the world, some of them sharing
my love for the wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This experience encouraged and trained me to take the next step and keep
travelling making wine.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">My next stop California, looking forward to it!</span><br />
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Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-90345842758257348382012-09-21T08:23:00.000-07:002012-09-21T08:23:34.600-07:00The Continuing Adventures of Sierra Reed<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I apologize for this delayed post. At my urging, Sierra wrote the following on Wednesday, Sept 12th:</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A few months ago I was in Australia fresh out of harvest and a 2 month trip through south east <span id="misspell-6" style="right: auto;">Asia</span> where wine was <span id="misspell-7" style="right: auto;">unfortunately</span> nowhere to be found or drinkable for that matter. I started to get the bug again for making wine and I began to think of home and my father. Here I was, a year of <span id="misspell-8" style="right: auto;">traveling</span> around the world from one vintage to the next and where did I want to go? I wanted to go to the one iconic wine region of my country....Napa. Now I <span id="misspell-3" style="right: auto;">wouldn't</span> say my <span id="misspell-11" style="right: auto;">father</span> was the reason I decided to become a winemaker but growing up drinking some of the best <span id="misspell-4" style="right: auto;"><span style="right: auto;">Cabernets</span></span> from N<span id="misspell-13" style="right: auto;">apa</span> certainly did have its influences. I can recall a recent thanksgiving a few years back where my whole family was locked up in <span id="misspell-14" style="right: auto;">Arizona</span> on a cold winter day having a beautiful meal and celebrating the merriment of the holidays. My grandpa was rich with humor from all the margaritas and <span id="misspell-6" style="right: auto;">Texas</span> Hold Um he had been participating in all afternoon with my father. My sister however and grandmother were butting heads that day and as the last dish was placed on the table <span id="misspell-7" style="right: auto;">everything</span> came to a head. Now before I tell you the punch line I must tell you my father prides himself in his rare <span id="misspell-8" style="right: auto;">Cabernet</span> that he so willingly loves to share with us on holidays. So when people <span id="misspell-9" style="right: auto;">don't</span> appreciate him parting with his babies due to being preoccupied with arguing you can only imagine what would come next. My father is a soft spoken great listener who feels he only really should raise his voice if he is truly passionate about a situation and this was on of those few times that the voice came out. So my sister starts up with my grandma and I even think I somehow got dragged in there as my grandpa began throwing one liners on the side line, which although very funny, did not help the <span id="misspell-10" style="right: auto;">situation</span>. Then a loud voice from the end of the table bellows out and says,"If we all cant get along then you don't deserve to be drinking my good wine." He grabbed the bottles from the table and held them hostage as everyone went silent and <span id="misspell-12" style="right: auto;"><span style="right: auto;">instantly</span></span> everyone made up because we knew we were not going to miss out on those bottles. Moral of the story being..If <span id="misspell-13" style="right: auto;">Cabernet</span> made my father passionate enough to speak up, I would have to be <span id="misspell-14" style="right: auto;">passionate</span> about learning how to make it!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> So there I was Ipad in hand flicking off emails and resumes to Napa f<span id="misspell-17" style="right: auto;">rom</span> Australia with the taste of <span id="misspell-18" style="right: auto;">Cabernet</span> in my mouth. A taste that always brings me back to the great moments I have shared with my family as a young girl and I wanted to now <span id="misspell-19" style="right: auto;"><span style="right: auto;">discover it</span></span>. So after a week of many <span id="misspell-20" style="right: auto;">opportunistic</span> offers in Napa, I came across this Email from Anna Monticelli, the winemaker at Pina Cellars and her response to my resume was like nothing I had ever experienced. She wrote me two pages about her past and her journey to becoming a winemaker and her time at Pina. This obviously moved me very much and after reading about the wines at Pina, we planned a date to speak from two opposite ends of the world to see if I was a good fit. It only took about five minutes before I realized that Pina was my destiny for the upcoming summer and I packed my bags and was headed for Napa.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span class="tab"><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="right: auto;"> <span style="right: auto;"> <span style="right: auto;"> I landed and the next I was off to work and met Macario Montoya, the <span id="misspell-29" style="right: auto;"><span style="right: auto;">assistant</span></span> winemaker at Pina. I was brought up to speed in a few w<span id="misspell-31" style="right: auto;"><span style="right: auto;">eeks</span></span> walking all the vineyards with <span id="misspell-32" style="right: auto;">Macario</span> and picking Anna's brain about what was to come. They both gave me the freedom to learn and think <span id="misspell-33" style="right: auto;">independently</span> and do things in the industry that I never had the chance to participate in. I never could have imagined that, here we are just two weeks out till harvest and not one grape crushed. But I have already learned more here in one month about <span id="misspell-34" style="right: auto;"><span style="right: auto;">wine making,</span></span> than in the year prior. I am inspired by Macario and his insistent ways of making me become a better winemaker everyday without sweating the small stuff and <span id="misspell-36" style="right: auto;"><span style="right: auto;">believing</span></span> in myself. If <span id="misspell-37" style="right: auto;">that's</span> not a great mentor then I <span id="misspell-38" style="right: auto;">don't</span> know who is. Anna's knowledge and belief in me thus far has opened my eyes to the strong females in this industry and made me realize that as a winemaker you have to have many <span id="misspell-39" style="right: auto;">dimensions</span> to fight with the best and she does.</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-31484166499614775022012-09-14T06:32:00.000-07:002012-09-14T06:32:27.435-07:00Sierra Reed - Our 2012 Winery Intern<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Every year before harvest, we bring on a winery intern to help us through the crush. They tend to be young, smart & energetic. Sierra Reed is no exception. And, as I do every year, I ask our intern to provide us with a biography to share on this blog. Sierra suggested I use the cover letter she sent us as her bio. When you read it, you'll see that she is not just another pretty face. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Introducing Sierra Reed </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As a sixteen year old girl I traveled the world modeling and found myself at the doorstep of beautiful New Zealand at twenty three after my stint on survivor. Soon after I was blessed with the dream job of hosting my own wine and food show called "Harvest" for two years. By the twentieth interview I was consumed with bug of wine and left it all behind with the hopes of one day being a winemaker. It really was as simple as that when I made the decision but the journey to get there was challenging and much was sacrificed. Yet the sacrifice was to me was the only one in my life that truly made sense and with all that life experience I know as I venture on my third career at twenty six the hill will be just as hard to climb and I'm ready. I wear my heart on my sleeve and my foot in my mouth and when I reach for the stars it’s not easy but I always manage to lasso one down. Working in TV and modeling was never really as glamorous as it sounds and every new open door or opportunity always had an end no matter how good your work was, it is what it is in the entertainment industry. Wine for me wasn't my escape from this disposable mentality that I had cashed every sparkling paycheck with knowing fully that a part of me was working towards a means to an end. Wine was the answer for me and not just because over fifty percent of my paychecks were spent on wine as a young Italian American but because its something that truly cant leave me. Even if I age my time in the vineyard doesn't run out as it does with vanity driven businesses. Wine becomes the product of its creator and continues to move others and live on long past all of us and that is a magical thing. That is why all the passion and life lessons that have brought me to this moment I hope will one day lead me to become a female winemaker. My time in New Zealand has helped mold the person that I have become today and if there is one thing that I took from my time there it was to be a great observer. Because you never know what magical moment will pass you by that may change the way you live forever and from my time in the winery I feel that rule applies always. I remember my first few days of "Crush" and I think I had imagined that we would be romantic about everything we did and I know now there is no time for that let alone a bathroom break. The romance for me is a mindset that lives in every winemaker or student who hopes to one day earn their strips to becoming winemaker. That romance lives in my heart and even the task of cleaning the press was treated by me as though that one task if done prefect was going to make better wine. I hope to travel the world once again yet this time learning from all the great teachers and appellations that have helped define the drops in our glass that we all know as wine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kind regards, Sierra Reed </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Attached is a link to my show "Harvest" </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30DOP1tqUIM&sns=em"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30DOP1tqUIM&sns=em</span></a><br />
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Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-27162972959326739802012-04-17T12:32:00.000-07:002012-04-17T12:32:28.292-07:00Announcing Alina Ceja Montoya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Saturday, April 7th, Our Assistant Winemaker, Macario Montoya, had this to report:
Alina Ceja Montoya was born at 9:31am today. She weighs 7 pounds 11 ounces and is 19.75 inches tall.
Mommy and baby are doing amazing.
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Congratulations Macario & Griselda!Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-65374326736656082592012-03-05T05:13:00.000-08:002012-03-05T05:13:32.261-08:00Announcing the arrival of Sergio Mario Monticelli<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht7avDfp__FUvd_8JUblHb1eNRDdbY8B3kBrcSOEIGX_1ofmly7Q-OzwZiCp2qpOnn1MloHz8f5r7dP4ssYprTPYLAqdfoh0p3osUxUQohQYq5NCU-5vMGXCP_H4CF1wZ5164ZAvTR7C28/s1600/Little+Sergio.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht7avDfp__FUvd_8JUblHb1eNRDdbY8B3kBrcSOEIGX_1ofmly7Q-OzwZiCp2qpOnn1MloHz8f5r7dP4ssYprTPYLAqdfoh0p3osUxUQohQYq5NCU-5vMGXCP_H4CF1wZ5164ZAvTR7C28/s320/Little+Sergio.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
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Sergio Mario Monticelli<br />
Born 3/1 @ 2:11 am<br />
8 lbs 10 oz<br />
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We're doing great!<br />
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AnnaRanndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-27912782837513163702011-11-23T05:16:00.000-08:002011-11-23T05:16:01.350-08:00Daniel Brennan - Our 2011 Winery Intern... ???<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><em>Our 2011 winery intern (???) is Daniel Brennan. Considering his background and life experiences, you may see why I hesitate to refer to him as an intern. He traveled more before getting out of high school , than I have traveled in my entire life, not to mention his work experience. I think you will find it very interesting reading - Ranndy</em></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Daniel Brennan, in his words:</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I was born in Syracuse, New York, the second son of James & Joyce Brennan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My older brother is James Joseph IV and he is my best friend to this day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother was 18 and my father was 19 years old when ‘Jamie’ was born. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was born 3 years later in October while my father was amidst football season at Syracuse University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all lived together in married housing on the campus of the university.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When my father graduated we moved to Delran, NJ to live with my mother’s parents, Michael and Stella Rodolico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the Rodolico family lived in South Philadelphia and shared a modest summer house in Wildwood, New Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My father’s family is from both the Fairmont section of Philadelphia and West Philadelphia.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When I was in my second year of life my sister, Bethann was born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My sister Theresa was born two years later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10 years and one week after Jamie was born, my sister Kathleen arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I talk, email, text and visit with my sisters, their husbands and their growing families frequently.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I spent my youth in a big family with most of my relatives and extended family nearby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though we have a very close family, there has always been someone from the family in Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was young, my Uncle Michael, my mother’s brother, was a yacht captain and spent most of the year in the Mediterranean and some of the year in the Caribbean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every so often he would dock in Philadelphia and we as kids would get to explore ‘his’ boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandfather Michael Rodolico is the greatest person I have ever known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When my oldest cousin was 12, my grandfather took him to Corfu, Greece to visit my Uncle Michael. As I grew older Michael came home and my cousin Robert moved to Rome and still lives there to this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some think Robert never really came back from that first trip to Corfu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So an eye was always on the old world and my sense of adventure quietly kept me intrigued in the travelers of the family. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRDSViQDwa071FVc9JpG4ztSDh3ff4GbSAKlCSQP71wB2P1RBq-VNfeSjCg1AZ5oZNcrWaKMRWjAfsyQJ3HmA65DtQH2xq4VzFP4hfuI57N7LHuQAT_PG3l7-nZPZh9F2fGgLvbN209Vg/s1600/oceanbeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">My parents had all their children at a young age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had many close friends from their childhood still around as when I was young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our house was action packed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was always something happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all played sports, usually on multiple teams at once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And without actually realizing it, we had a great childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had adventure in the woods, summers in Wildwood, NJ and a rich culture of food from the Sicilian side of the family and hearty laughs from the Irish side of the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was in 8<sup>th</sup> grade, my cousin Jeff <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was hit by a car while riding his bicycle home one afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We lost Jeff that day at the age of nine. It crushed our family, especially my Uncle Timmy, but we all battled through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uncle Tim is my Godfather, one of the funniest people I have ever met and we remain close to this day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I went to St. Peter’s Parochial School in Riverside, NJ. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in 5<sup>th</sup> grade I grew fed up with the education I was receiving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The atmosphere was miserable and I wasn’t feeling challenged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I rebelled and asked to be switched to a new class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The old Catholic school was reluctant to say the least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the end I was granted the opportunity to switch teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew then that this ‘special right’ was granted to me partially because I had excellent grades but mostly because my father stood shoulder to shoulder with me in a firm but fair opposition to the regime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, I was very unhappy and bored and left the school the following year. During those years of 5<sup>th</sup> and 6<sup>th</sup> grade my father took on a new employee at his small trucking company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom Connors Senior had moved up from South Carolina with his son, Tommy, ahead of his wife and 4 daughters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tommy Connors was almost exactly 1.5 years older than me and 1.5 younger than my brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tommy spent most nights at our house with me and my brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He taught me how to play guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started a sort of duo-band and played together at our school’s talent show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We opened and closed the show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m fairly certain that was my musical peak at age 13.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Later that year I transferred to Chester Avenue Middle School for 7<sup>th</sup> grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The school ranged from 6<sup>th</sup> to 8<sup>th</sup> grade, a good range of early adolescence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a great deal of fun at this school and it opened my world up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a big deal for me to switch to the ‘public’ school as the first of my entire family of Sicilian Catholics on my Mother’s side and Irish Catholics on my Father’s side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This included my older brother and three sisters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt the need to do well and prove to them that it was the best move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Classes were more challenging and diverse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I received very good grades and in 8<sup>th</sup> grade, I ran for class president and won.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m very certain that was my political peak at age 15.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I have many friends I still keep in touch with today from my hometown who I met during my middle school years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the next year I was to go to Holy Cross High School in South Jersey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This again opened my world up and my circle of friends grew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was now attending the only parochial school in the largest county of the heavily populated state of New Jersey. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some students commuted up to 60 miles each way. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, however, walked most days as it was actually closer to my house then the public high school in the town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I played football & golf for the high school, basketball in a CYO league, worked at my father’s warehouse or my uncle’s pallet company in the winter, and as a greens-keeper during the summer at Willowbrook Country Club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept very busy throughout the year.</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh31MLgPwjSDCo7bS6RDChY0Z__ypRyS0gp1cV5wnN_iILgQ_ffjoolX_uNVEcr5n1h_B3cpqE6tmwtpPZi8w-GmRishjRqh72L8fct0z9qpgpW58BGo74rKnVbSG_dycJVFd6fIr5X3i2u/s1600/jamieanddannybehindbar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="215" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh31MLgPwjSDCo7bS6RDChY0Z__ypRyS0gp1cV5wnN_iILgQ_ffjoolX_uNVEcr5n1h_B3cpqE6tmwtpPZi8w-GmRishjRqh72L8fct0z9qpgpW58BGo74rKnVbSG_dycJVFd6fIr5X3i2u/s320/jamieanddannybehindbar.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jamie and Danny behind the bar at McCrossen's Tavern<span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></span></span></strong></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When I was a sophomore in high school my father and Uncle Michael (my mother’s brother) partnered up in business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On frequent trips into the city as a kid we either went to our Aunts homes in South Philadelphia to visit my Grandfather’s four widowed sisters <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or </i>we went into the Fairmont area to visit with my Father’s side of the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My father’s Uncle Neil McCrossen owned and ran a bar that had been in the family since prohibition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not really a place for kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was called McCrossens but was better known as ‘The Dustbowl’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No sign was out front on the converted brick row home that was built in 1852 on the corner of 20<sup>th</sup> & Nectarine (just south of Spring Garden St.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our Uncle Neil was a consummate gentleman behind the bar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could settle any argument with a smile, reason and good old fashion Irish diplomacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Uncle Neal was ready to move on with an ailing wife at home and was growing tired of the business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My father, mother and Uncle Michael purchased the bar, the license and the row home next door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The renovation was a family affair and it opened as one of the first gastro pubs in Philadelphia when I was 17.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My brother began to bartend there when I was 18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new reality had arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McCrossen’s Tavern had opened blocks from the Philadelphia Art Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I became </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">cosmopolitan overnight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When I was a junior in High School I traveled to Italy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a rare and amazing journey that took me from Rome, to Salerno, down to Messina and onto the ferry to Sicily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will never forget the ferry ride to Sicily, a truly pacifying moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the exact moment I realized I would travel the rest of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing Mt. Etna, smoking in the distance over the town from the top of the amphitheater was a high I wanted to experience over and over again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmr_73uaY87mrb_Yscm0GpJqrDvApdH_pshFuklXqbIpGxyEC5C5Ct9TRkn5SqSISKFdN83NV3jxjIwz2fjP_WURH7zV3NpGxjMlEjWo9RjsG_gxRr84dJOCNTOdc_WnXHSaMAHXdU03A/s1600/taormina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmr_73uaY87mrb_Yscm0GpJqrDvApdH_pshFuklXqbIpGxyEC5C5Ct9TRkn5SqSISKFdN83NV3jxjIwz2fjP_WURH7zV3NpGxjMlEjWo9RjsG_gxRr84dJOCNTOdc_WnXHSaMAHXdU03A/s320/taormina.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Greek Amphitheater in Taormina, Sicily near Mt. Etna<span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></span></span></strong></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1995 my father and I hustled to work out the financial aid deal of a lifetime for me to attend The Catholic University of America in Washington DC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was awarded some grant money and special consideration because I was a student athlete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was by no means a scholarship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I played in 8 or 9 games as a defensive end for the University football team while experiencing occasional back issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following summer I slipped three discs in my back while working out and my career ended right then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had once again reached the peak of another career. However, this in hindsight was one of the more fortunate occurrences of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suddenly had more free time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began bartending illegally at the age of 19 and eventually got a job at one of the best bars in Georgetown.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1997 I traveled on an exchange to Leuven, Belgium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somewhere along the way in my studies at CUA I went from a business major, to undecided, to a World Politics major with a Philosophy minor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consciously decided to study something that both intrigued me and would not choose as a career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Realizing I would be in financial debt for quite some time, I knew I was not dirty enough for a career in politics and no one has ever made money being a philosopher, especially in their 20s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I applied for an internship with the European Parliament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was before the Euro currency and the expansion of the EU.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a very exciting time and I was living in the heart of Europe, just outside Brussels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I commuted two or three days a week skidding on slick cobblestones on a hard wheeled bicycle wearing a business suit to a train that took me into Brussels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other days of the week I studied European Community history, European Art History and European Economics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered a bit through Europe and even surprised and an old girlfriend in Seville, Spain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw a Flamenco show there and I still remember the entire experience vividly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the best guitar playing I had ever seen or heard.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Throughout college I would visit home and spend many hours either working or hanging out at McCrossen’s Tavern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It always felt exciting to be at McCrossen’s in those early days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new American food movement had begun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until then it was virtually unheard of for a Tavern to have excellent food, especially in Philly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our combination of a cozy tavern atmosphere and finer and comfort cuisine was a big hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We poured strong drinks, served good wine and had some very fun and interesting people working at the establishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quickly knew many people and places throughout the city.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">During my tenure at CUA, I threw two very large parties in my backyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a true team effort of characters that put these debacles together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were not a fraternity, just a group of highly motivated socialites of various talents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a small backyard in Northeast Washington DC, for two consecutive springs season parties, we hosted 3 live bands, 50 kegs of beer, and a giant mess to clean up at the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the business minds involved, we actually managed to handsomely pay three bands, a beer distributor, local liquor store, a portable toilet company, two neighborhood barbequers, pay our rent for two months and of course make a decent amount<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of profit to split between eleven guys .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When all was said in done, no real damage occurred, and the headlining band asked me to become their manager.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5jONCiQiRdR-UcMPq_2gzgITfOY9A1KFB25ROaKcIEaqvUO5bWfiZYFNWnhF9JDS1WPaULASM46hGgiXORMQamfK8xufCBBZxy8Zk_kSqfdgv3nF187AaGr29jM4lHgyDlRTpbqX54A7/s1600/SHirving2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="173" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5jONCiQiRdR-UcMPq_2gzgITfOY9A1KFB25ROaKcIEaqvUO5bWfiZYFNWnhF9JDS1WPaULASM46hGgiXORMQamfK8xufCBBZxy8Zk_kSqfdgv3nF187AaGr29jM4lHgyDlRTpbqX54A7/s320/SHirving2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Seeking Homer shot from backstage at Irving Plaza<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">, New York City, </span></span></span></strong></div><div align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; mso-no-proof: yes;">February 2001.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Photograph by Andrew Kelly.</span></span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">So after a short stint working on an SAP inventory system and helping manage a warehouse for Nabisco in Northeast Philadelphia, I left in 2000 to manage the band Seeking Homer from the Bronx, NY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tommy Connors was the lead guitar player and one of the singers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He, as it turned out, had not hit his musical peak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeking Homer was an Americana Rock and Jam band with 3-part-harmonies, interesting song writing and a tight sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They quickly became known as a great, hard-working touring act throughout the eastern part of the USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2000 we released a live album from the legendary Wetlands in Tribeca, NYC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We toured virtually non-stop doing around 250 shows a year at bars, rock clubs, colleges, high schools, pig roasts, and virtually any place in our path that had a stage and at least a small bit of cash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On their 2<sup>nd</sup> studio album they recorded a version of the National Anthem with acoustic guitars and dramatic finish that was featured on NBC during the US Open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a brief time, we were flung into the national spotlight.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">On September 11<sup>th</sup> 2001, like most people in New York, we all lost many friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a scary and odd time to be in New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still don’t think a large part of the country truly understands that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll never forget driving across the George Washington Bridge on September 13<sup>th</sup>, smelling the burnt air, seeing the rescue efforts light up lower Manhattan and feeling as though at any moment an airplane could crash into the bridge I was crossing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone around NYC during that time had those feelings for months and months.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">As the members of Seeking Homer got older, married and began to have children, I had settled back into a job at McCrossen’s Tavern managing and bartending 6 nights a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been living in the Art Museum area of the city for some years now and was also helping out some other independent musicians in the blooming music scene of Philadelphia. I also began taking classes at The Wine School of Philadelphia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My passion for wine increased and my desire for a new career was increasing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I asked the owner of the WSP what I had to do to become a part of this industry he said one word: Chemistry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began looking for schools throughout the world in early 2007.</span></div><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" id="_x0000_t202" o:spt="202" path="m,l,21600r21600,l21600,xe"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"></path></shapetype><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><shape id="Text_x0020_Box_x0020_2" o:gfxdata="UEsDBBQABgAIAAAAIQC2gziS/gAAAOEBAAATAAAAW0NvbnRlbnRfVHlwZXNdLnhtbJSRQU7DMBBF
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" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" stroked="f" style="height: 20.25pt; margin-left: 351.75pt; margin-top: 119.6pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; v-text-anchor: top; visibility: visible; width: 102pt; z-index: 251660288;" type="#_x0000_t202"></shape><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">During the time I spent working at McCrossen’s I was always intrigued by New Zealand wines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My parents had went there on their very belated honeymoon and 25<sup>th</sup> wedding anniversary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I was jealous that someone in the family had traveled that far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In January of 2008 I moved to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand and began studying full time at the Eastern Institute of Technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a month of my arrival I met my mentor, Jenny Dobson at TeAwa Winery in the Gimbett Gravels where I was working in the restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jenny quickly pulled me into the winery where I became obsessed with the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a strange time at TeAwa though and I will never forget the way the owners treated the employees there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after Jenny left I went to work at Vidal Estate, one of New Zealand’s oldest and respected producers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the summer time when EIT was finished I began working 5 days a week in the winery, 3 nights a week in the restaurant and weekend days in the tasting room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was all I could do to keep my head above water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In April of 2009 my sister Bethann was married while I was working in the receival area at Vidal Winery amidst a 12 hour shift.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlg_9Ut80octZS3m7AgzT00RlW5GxgsRil0H1NkwUmZ8wKIJT7DwM6E0c0tW9tB_8VkKqi8hu7bEGGylHGbd9zr_ydC9GBKW1fjuar1HdoWOnSIoGiWz5CvXRRHYn5pJBEPI_8hBrlEUx/s1600/jenny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGlg_9Ut80octZS3m7AgzT00RlW5GxgsRil0H1NkwUmZ8wKIJT7DwM6E0c0tW9tB_8VkKqi8hu7bEGGylHGbd9zr_ydC9GBKW1fjuar1HdoWOnSIoGiWz5CvXRRHYn5pJBEPI_8hBrlEUx/s1600/jenny.jpg" /></span></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jenny Dobson, Winemaker</span></strong></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I made my first wine in 2008, an un-oaked Chardonnay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it was pretty OK and I brought some home on a trip in December and people really enjoyed it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2009 while working at Vidal, Jenny introduced me to Philip Horn at Unison Vineyard, where she had become the consultant winemaker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They graciously allowed me to make a bit of Malbec in their winery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was there so much that they eventually hired me later that year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was incredibly happy to be working for Jenny again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her ties to the old world, passion for everything wine and her willingness to share it with young winemakers is unmatched.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fBOrsLtb4_EK4VFLhhTzcbX_r4UmdmGNBnkG7dAB91AagAPvIf5Y_6uF8pkwvfud5vE0BURSrA9jgd_0uf1OxxMRmUJp7fuWgoHrc5OTWSSf1cUeV5yulPOMbUNJIaTlYXnZleUEvd79/s1600/oceanbeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fBOrsLtb4_EK4VFLhhTzcbX_r4UmdmGNBnkG7dAB91AagAPvIf5Y_6uF8pkwvfud5vE0BURSrA9jgd_0uf1OxxMRmUJp7fuWgoHrc5OTWSSf1cUeV5yulPOMbUNJIaTlYXnZleUEvd79/s320/oceanbeach.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ocean Beach, Hawkes Bay, my local beach <span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></span></span></strong></div><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I also partnered up with a friend’s father to begin Sauvignon Blanc production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a loose agreement but we sorted it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the while I had been working the emails and phones back to the USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In June of 2009 I released my first two wines at McCrossen’s Tavern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a dream come true and one I look to repeat for the rest of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 2010 I continued my work with Jenny at Unison Vineyard and also finished my 3 year degree at EIT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During my last year I did a research project through EIT on foliar seaweed sprays and their effect on harvest parameters and botrytis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I spent most of December 2010 and January 2011 on the east coast of the USA setting up my business and establishing the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Decibel</i> brand in a few states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to attend my sister Kathleen’s wedding on New Year’s Eve in Philadelphia. But I experienced entirely too many snow storms and shoveled out many cars and driveways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though that wasn’t the only reason why I realized I missed New Zealand very much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlTIAbO4sZLdYpJB8E9vRfx1UovLTHVmhD84sPoZtigTmCODD9HUcFKHFsaQWvm7oOrB0dkNnrJ8W4cU6EBwcvw_0MdAfGGxIuCW4XzgdFIGYRQ17QC-lfbpc3BzrnggkW4QM5V2xOyO1/s1600/malbec+picking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlTIAbO4sZLdYpJB8E9vRfx1UovLTHVmhD84sPoZtigTmCODD9HUcFKHFsaQWvm7oOrB0dkNnrJ8W4cU6EBwcvw_0MdAfGGxIuCW4XzgdFIGYRQ17QC-lfbpc3BzrnggkW4QM5V2xOyO1/s320/malbec+picking.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My Malbec Harvest</span></strong></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSPgDlEmNdqMgcU8MqUIZ85xq_UtBFE-1YM_XUxI2mJMRjv963507k31iRMVs9ZMSUmyKoXURp2fqRY808lTmY1XMY7XCE3cOwt0xCtbSjrpjkszBwtMQ8MCml97PbgJOZJJEMoigKP7Gx/s1600/workingatunison+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSPgDlEmNdqMgcU8MqUIZ85xq_UtBFE-1YM_XUxI2mJMRjv963507k31iRMVs9ZMSUmyKoXURp2fqRY808lTmY1XMY7XCE3cOwt0xCtbSjrpjkszBwtMQ8MCml97PbgJOZJJEMoigKP7Gx/s320/workingatunison+.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><strong><span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Working at Unison Vineyard</span></strong></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I returned on February 1<sup>st</sup> 2011 to New Zealand and moved into a small house with some other young winemakers on the Bridge Pa vineyard in The Triangle region of Hawkes Bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I set up my office at my new residence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harvest was a wet one in most of New Zealand this past year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought a new record player and we began playing vinyl and sitting on the back deck near the vines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As harvest began to wind down I began to apply for intern positions throughout California and Cahors, France.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a fairly short time, I took a position at Piňa Napa Valley where I quickly adjusted to the West Coast of the USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">My experience at Piňa Napa Valley has been a very positive one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I particularly liked the opportunity to work in the various vineyards from which Piňa sources fruit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned a great deal and it has been a joy to work with people who take my input seriously as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a challenging harvest but I think the wines are going to impress those who have the opportunity to drink them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look forward to tasting these wines in a couple of years when they are released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also look forward to keeping in touch with Macario, Anna and all four Piňa Brothers.</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFCDNmdVUR1snbbR9FZErwq8R0inq7nhlAlXP-4mds9bYG8z59r4ffAzQvZaewOXU7tmsPuaUmq-jL1os9AgYexm1cLV8Hu1KbXco8fziymdAETBk2A16X1EXl5u-LQOSOaUVSjxtBx_Y/s1600/sitting+in+backyard+hawkes+bay.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFCDNmdVUR1snbbR9FZErwq8R0inq7nhlAlXP-4mds9bYG8z59r4ffAzQvZaewOXU7tmsPuaUmq-jL1os9AgYexm1cLV8Hu1KbXco8fziymdAETBk2A16X1EXl5u-LQOSOaUVSjxtBx_Y/s320/sitting+in+backyard+hawkes+bay.JPG" width="214" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Enjoying a glass of wine on the back porch at </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the house in The Triangle, Bridge Pa, Hawkes Bay</span></span></div><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Cheers!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
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</div></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-61414084476028927832011-11-03T09:02:00.000-07:002011-11-03T09:02:43.128-07:00Pick grapes, Fight fires, Pick grapes...<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The rain will arrive today. At Pina Vineyard Management, the troops have been working hard and putting in long hours to get the grapes harvested before the rains come. It has been a very difficult farming year for Napa Valley grape farmers. Mother Nature has not been cooperative, but even so, we're wrapping up harvest. Tuesday night, Mother Nature dealt us another blow. Winds were responsible for causing a fire that burned down a house in the Soda Canyon area of the Silverado Trail. Efforts to contain the fire involved over 100 firefighters and many of those firefighters are volunteers with jobs in the wine industry.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguulKn4xX2QeuyKEB3jMcy-4pfKQwOajaMbPGPBYh1qvOGofL1gTixwI0PddcqehMqhoFu7wbcLH_elFQEDLn5dJO73B3RXB5ImwGXcFC2BUYlaCsXKaa_0EfD4AvrnPmLGGwnfilPchyF/s1600/DP+Fire+.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguulKn4xX2QeuyKEB3jMcy-4pfKQwOajaMbPGPBYh1qvOGofL1gTixwI0PddcqehMqhoFu7wbcLH_elFQEDLn5dJO73B3RXB5ImwGXcFC2BUYlaCsXKaa_0EfD4AvrnPmLGGwnfilPchyF/s320/DP+Fire+.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsFTgFTNaYbxPkF_CgRn1tbulR909mDvDYdVTpvNnU1hMOWmdkTVmpQ5gjIQJ7exWb2CqpYG3A1J1-_7NZHg-d3U4H8Nas0ZaDNZQBZ56HuTBuqGGPWWkubPxQtuqE6y2Sd3DbYySKB73/s1600/DP+Fire+%25231.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsFTgFTNaYbxPkF_CgRn1tbulR909mDvDYdVTpvNnU1hMOWmdkTVmpQ5gjIQJ7exWb2CqpYG3A1J1-_7NZHg-d3U4H8Nas0ZaDNZQBZ56HuTBuqGGPWWkubPxQtuqE6y2Sd3DbYySKB73/s320/DP+Fire+%25231.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">My brother, Davie, was one of them. He had worked a long day and was at home when the call came in @ 8:30 PM for the fire. As tired as he was, he got dressed and headed out. He went to the Rutherford Volunteer Firemen's sub-station (about a half mile North of his house) and drove the Water Tender Firetruck to the fire. The water tender is one of the two firetrucks that was parked at Pina Napa Valley for several years (Hence, our </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Firehouse vineyard/label). He was released from the fire at 3:45 AM on Wednesday. Later that day, a KGO film crew caught up to him to record a very brief soundbite.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFeOuxNhUnduxnGHIMKVUWh51fDCvWm_cAFKitdrrYRrYLo4Y607YkYEs9s5wtHm-DV8PNvFfI93LED3bhw6U7XxAQyQ0j_EFZaMIkfMHmrwliOkavvKzIeq8QFhhTujIFSmHBIGMEIla/s1600/DP+Fire+%25232.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="235" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFeOuxNhUnduxnGHIMKVUWh51fDCvWm_cAFKitdrrYRrYLo4Y607YkYEs9s5wtHm-DV8PNvFfI93LED3bhw6U7XxAQyQ0j_EFZaMIkfMHmrwliOkavvKzIeq8QFhhTujIFSmHBIGMEIla/s320/DP+Fire+%25232.bmp" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The interview might have lasted a bit longer if Davie hadn't told them he just didn't have the time. He still had grapes in the field that needed to go to a winery.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Pick grapes, fight fires, pick grapes...</span></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-16238852724369798722011-10-26T04:07:00.000-07:002011-10-26T04:07:07.765-07:00Napa Valley Night Harvesting - While you were sleeping...<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVH0KbH1uRHYadQOTpadfRVxwDus2PCuI7H-GIji6C61oL7x8Zy7fhrfuUXXKMQrxAYnxAW4WJ66XGellea4Uq4bynYQ_cuneGUYcNEQ9DeDupvmaYSWEfS5nvp_NtQuRuifnFhDm9Dtv/s1600/Night+Harvest.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvVH0KbH1uRHYadQOTpadfRVxwDus2PCuI7H-GIji6C61oL7x8Zy7fhrfuUXXKMQrxAYnxAW4WJ66XGellea4Uq4bynYQ_cuneGUYcNEQ9DeDupvmaYSWEfS5nvp_NtQuRuifnFhDm9Dtv/s320/Night+Harvest.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you happen to travel the Napa Valley during darkness these days, you can't help but notice all the bright spots around the valley. Those are nightime harvesting operations in progress. The two videos below were taken at 3:00 in the morning. This particular vineyard is not affiliated with Pina Napa Valley nor Pina Vineyard Management, but it was at a good location for filming, just below the Silverado Trail.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8yft7o0btA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8yft7o0btA</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In the videos, you can hear the generator that runs the flood lights and the tractor running. You can see the pickers with their headlamps, dumping their boxes of grapes. And you can see the tractor driver/leafer, removing the leaves from the harvested grapes.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SiZCEs507o"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SiZCEs507o</span></a></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-82495127221843401862011-10-10T14:27:00.000-07:002011-10-10T14:27:07.799-07:00Armed forces visitors<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I gave a short tasting/tour at the winery last week for a group of 6 people. It was planned weeks in advance. It's not something I do often. I prefer that our visitors get a chance to taste with people that really know their wines... our wine educators.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Two young men in that group are serving in our Armed Forces. One was a veteran of Iraq, the other a veteran of Afganistan. They will both be returning to their respective assignments. I thanked them for serving our country, and one of them gave me this hat. My thanks paled in comparison to what I was given.</span> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9g5l2paBiscDKAGm1m3EeJEr2mSgMoi2aLyuSF4EZq2CHlzGJ9_NB3zjmSJiZLoKbh9_aQyhLBRXQLzuDfTWrQXq3PLe6CTdbIR3cPnIUHeu3YRks9iEnOQmBVtEI92DNAn52_Wp01al/s1600/Iraq+hat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9g5l2paBiscDKAGm1m3EeJEr2mSgMoi2aLyuSF4EZq2CHlzGJ9_NB3zjmSJiZLoKbh9_aQyhLBRXQLzuDfTWrQXq3PLe6CTdbIR3cPnIUHeu3YRks9iEnOQmBVtEI92DNAn52_Wp01al/s320/Iraq+hat.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQ7DVvY4pNptpxDBoCBdGA1l_RzVYD30FbHK362r09DGqCv43-OCReu8nN30Jyt6tSUifLpBofBHc0n1Z3P-Th4CoD_WSHosxwn5MZ-oNaEEOs-OuS86tMX7r0dHK-VI9H0jqG0cqQbf6/s1600/Iraq+hat+lettering.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQ7DVvY4pNptpxDBoCBdGA1l_RzVYD30FbHK362r09DGqCv43-OCReu8nN30Jyt6tSUifLpBofBHc0n1Z3P-Th4CoD_WSHosxwn5MZ-oNaEEOs-OuS86tMX7r0dHK-VI9H0jqG0cqQbf6/s320/Iraq+hat+lettering.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Godspeed, gentlemen. Stay safe!</span></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-10738269890385741202011-09-08T17:28:00.000-07:002011-09-08T17:28:39.507-07:00Wine Club Event - July 23rd, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii95haF97URF-gbK0fuRlfCOP6HRR4TvLhpS_TcdRN05I2HKQLK0LdfH1z80QqgyNtYeLGl0utiFr0solmRVd9Ea7i8qergmEtwDKYyOOJWUL7zD9dMWRnMBcV9d6k5zRL8_zFpEWSNlw5/s1600/Club+invitation+2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="231" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii95haF97URF-gbK0fuRlfCOP6HRR4TvLhpS_TcdRN05I2HKQLK0LdfH1z80QqgyNtYeLGl0utiFr0solmRVd9Ea7i8qergmEtwDKYyOOJWUL7zD9dMWRnMBcV9d6k5zRL8_zFpEWSNlw5/s320/Club+invitation+2.bmp" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think we delivered on those invitation promises. </span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We made a few changes to the event this year. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The biggest change was in the food department. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We had it catered. More on that below.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHo4nySOaICP0okMnEs2tNmi5L17xR1k1-AoWSsGJJy6LkDyjRH-v7RUgD4mJYTFvvhWwfQ73eGFC7p3-dy-y0bzRstWu2uJjVBuBJsw3H9S28JF6_Bn3NNyKPKERv1jh3oOop5Mj5JXv/s320/IMG_0806.JPG" width="320" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Once again, Davie talked "vineyards" on the deck.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjZvaFqUlZOtKJZ8Btsp9mbWr5OrOIn0lMQ8b7cvRztFr0d19Hw7-2BuMPDg1Xx5sx5p0tN_MbEig7WD3oDeD9de5muFN4G0aF_0cbrE0SZ7f3pdvzwJxOQcHQLndJWB1-hh5tGlDG47i/s1600/IMG_0811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjZvaFqUlZOtKJZ8Btsp9mbWr5OrOIn0lMQ8b7cvRztFr0d19Hw7-2BuMPDg1Xx5sx5p0tN_MbEig7WD3oDeD9de5muFN4G0aF_0cbrE0SZ7f3pdvzwJxOQcHQLndJWB1-hh5tGlDG47i/s320/IMG_0811.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">While he gave his presentation</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8bkF5G9qTqzShogVRLSFks5lIUcMsvwKZSCz3I-kFmHDcn4_9n5XOM-FP6fJxPHFDjK7XdUsNfDaL_pxgI0ROq5tCccT-fUDrT4G6hDCf360pf56indQpu6QhomvBl-Bg8Kiaz7v7zsjp/s1600/IMG_0812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8bkF5G9qTqzShogVRLSFks5lIUcMsvwKZSCz3I-kFmHDcn4_9n5XOM-FP6fJxPHFDjK7XdUsNfDaL_pxgI0ROq5tCccT-fUDrT4G6hDCf360pf56indQpu6QhomvBl-Bg8Kiaz7v7zsjp/s320/IMG_0812.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the wine flowed freely.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTGejW_HKpwcoUVLvQgcX7TY0awUQMx0_dorF2y3SabkJ3uUzprOG1ChmzI7cTCiRzRJOyTdhGTt9hqIy5bIdVsO6UEGi1lkQRpeoqhXOlsAT31O14oRFl5jyBCbSnGDxI_7opq9OVGNi/s1600/IMG_0819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTGejW_HKpwcoUVLvQgcX7TY0awUQMx0_dorF2y3SabkJ3uUzprOG1ChmzI7cTCiRzRJOyTdhGTt9hqIy5bIdVsO6UEGi1lkQRpeoqhXOlsAT31O14oRFl5jyBCbSnGDxI_7opq9OVGNi/s320/IMG_0819.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As usual, he brought vines & vine parts to help folks </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">understand what the heck he was talking about.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Due to the weird weather year, he was able to bring pre-bloom, bloom & post bloom samples, and explain the different stages of development.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2BJ-w6QBZxia95waPkOFZ_RdWVukXrd73O2uJTmzGg4VrACe6awqX2zfBzr1KvU0Lm0dJ4SCext5veRfITTr5DGE37D6NUB4zXO0wBHwuP1GMmQXHCHsNLu0UFJdiIv52eX0fp4vI5M6/s1600/IMG_0826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2BJ-w6QBZxia95waPkOFZ_RdWVukXrd73O2uJTmzGg4VrACe6awqX2zfBzr1KvU0Lm0dJ4SCext5veRfITTr5DGE37D6NUB4zXO0wBHwuP1GMmQXHCHsNLu0UFJdiIv52eX0fp4vI5M6/s320/IMG_0826.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4R25tnaaTH_8wNGAFTHWd31VgFgs522zTkSsJjX_ggAkaM1u88QHREeQX6aH3afkIMZ3XXtHoFrTTqknj6ol4kK1nj41oiBerz321uP3sOcZWypTnIPTCs970iPKLv6t1hm55WppPKIs/s1600/IMG_0844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4R25tnaaTH_8wNGAFTHWd31VgFgs522zTkSsJjX_ggAkaM1u88QHREeQX6aH3afkIMZ3XXtHoFrTTqknj6ol4kK1nj41oiBerz321uP3sOcZWypTnIPTCs970iPKLv6t1hm55WppPKIs/s320/IMG_0844.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then it was time to take a walk in the vineyard above the deck.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG5HnemrWCDw4NhNDd5LbaD6s2cpwWIMF10VMSGScqFvTMM3uDt2Xppggb3xHs35mQnKoqBcR3NqyHn6XJRGo0pWXFCSI2NEVFA87SqmCY6zFTMbTR9lt35Eex4V4eSKx-DtmBkK4_8kFl/s1600/IMG_0851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG5HnemrWCDw4NhNDd5LbaD6s2cpwWIMF10VMSGScqFvTMM3uDt2Xppggb3xHs35mQnKoqBcR3NqyHn6XJRGo0pWXFCSI2NEVFA87SqmCY6zFTMbTR9lt35Eex4V4eSKx-DtmBkK4_8kFl/s320/IMG_0851.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpN6tT08X-f90f7Wkeq45Fmgc8mPOPVzzwKPUsiExJNh3B8cMyOvyrnsVEsYVCUsMhe_umKcHzaUD0pFiGUuYoFlJgG6lkgljvEoSraFdnE33ztYQUMe2trxxe393xxQhnSvknTiwPuZVP/s1600/IMG_0853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpN6tT08X-f90f7Wkeq45Fmgc8mPOPVzzwKPUsiExJNh3B8cMyOvyrnsVEsYVCUsMhe_umKcHzaUD0pFiGUuYoFlJgG6lkgljvEoSraFdnE33ztYQUMe2trxxe393xxQhnSvknTiwPuZVP/s320/IMG_0853.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrxr1DGMxd6YCbymc6w7zIfvdi9o8yJ5xmhLcxfCt08urLHus7f0MsSAmhGPy5KEl2MkLUMSFZEx0vwuEm8U9cgX65cXRwuSWgMslt5WmNo_OMFvoMWiZV9p9IKMPvWw399iCDCiZCbq5/s1600/IMG_0861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrxr1DGMxd6YCbymc6w7zIfvdi9o8yJ5xmhLcxfCt08urLHus7f0MsSAmhGPy5KEl2MkLUMSFZEx0vwuEm8U9cgX65cXRwuSWgMslt5WmNo_OMFvoMWiZV9p9IKMPvWw399iCDCiZCbq5/s320/IMG_0861.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It was a hands-on experience.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdAMkUQMMKdGSFNOV_PcA0kHglt_wYC2OIn1xxmSVKbtQvudlhNR87ea5kc4AxNhIo_wVc-9fCWbf9iA2BATOfm93WUJFVnJHiGMfHwfKpuElREC_6lAg_oip0G3JdG98XFaYk8J5bk4L/s1600/IMG_1109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdAMkUQMMKdGSFNOV_PcA0kHglt_wYC2OIn1xxmSVKbtQvudlhNR87ea5kc4AxNhIo_wVc-9fCWbf9iA2BATOfm93WUJFVnJHiGMfHwfKpuElREC_6lAg_oip0G3JdG98XFaYk8J5bk4L/s320/IMG_1109.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-pfsUZiMXLCHttB73cVNwPjOUTJXsTv9-iNcJ2GwUWQ5sGFYSO8NqNlGpZRD6mgYnrE88z6680aqeeAZEU1Ftd-LplmGYEObv_ZeMVI5dLZKq_8j3LT5KDiBXnX2OP9AEqSzRJJhsHh6s/s1600/IMG_0852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-pfsUZiMXLCHttB73cVNwPjOUTJXsTv9-iNcJ2GwUWQ5sGFYSO8NqNlGpZRD6mgYnrE88z6680aqeeAZEU1Ftd-LplmGYEObv_ZeMVI5dLZKq_8j3LT5KDiBXnX2OP9AEqSzRJJhsHh6s/s320/IMG_0852.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxO7KgcHmwBkETmL_Pi3-qlUeLMEXPceBMALNLpUCsvgrQzWAf0MoE9kKJExYD3jqZ9FqvOk3ewuJ7wLVpECRG0wl5Rng2QEGUgv7ys_-naP6NN-RRi8WL5nx4pOLYrIcnLSLWbopdrI5/s1600/IMG_1087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxO7KgcHmwBkETmL_Pi3-qlUeLMEXPceBMALNLpUCsvgrQzWAf0MoE9kKJExYD3jqZ9FqvOk3ewuJ7wLVpECRG0wl5Rng2QEGUgv7ys_-naP6NN-RRi8WL5nx4pOLYrIcnLSLWbopdrI5/s320/IMG_1087.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I was able to attend his presentation for a while and learned a few things myself.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY310R3U76ok8sgFIZab2o8ZthxeYN3vc1XH14I4ejjMpOJpRm3xNUxvOvYbh6L3qpmQdJqCqia_W4tgOl66Rr0iH_Sx-AAUQWq8faYipyNb-qwuM7_wTDhxjv9qhsR4a0I4lERdPQAgYQ/s1600/IMG_1082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="233" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY310R3U76ok8sgFIZab2o8ZthxeYN3vc1XH14I4ejjMpOJpRm3xNUxvOvYbh6L3qpmQdJqCqia_W4tgOl66Rr0iH_Sx-AAUQWq8faYipyNb-qwuM7_wTDhxjv9qhsR4a0I4lERdPQAgYQ/s320/IMG_1082.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But then I had to leave to start the Corn Hole tournament.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9AL8k9ePm0Vlnp-qGHauxa9WZ2smNwGK21rpIeJ-okzt9P-H-tvnZYWwsZ8obqYcoQzp_eLIJDsKBxFJ3iPzO-63G-3jh1CsIovEktTvEG2uQEXri6c8l9l4Bp_Pruf2zoE36gtLRtoV8/s1600/IMG_1120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9AL8k9ePm0Vlnp-qGHauxa9WZ2smNwGK21rpIeJ-okzt9P-H-tvnZYWwsZ8obqYcoQzp_eLIJDsKBxFJ3iPzO-63G-3jh1CsIovEktTvEG2uQEXri6c8l9l4Bp_Pruf2zoE36gtLRtoV8/s320/IMG_1120.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The tournamant prizes were impressive this year:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>1st place was a 3 Liter of the '04 D'Adamo</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>2nd place was a 1.5 liter of the 05 Firehouse</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>3rd place was an '07 Mimbre</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Not bad for 3rd place!</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbhJS0fClg5QlGT9y2EFkm5gxQagzSGNLFS0tWJ5HrivY2sT4tFZx-2whUyciQi3u_Gzcvj516BOjP5Guk2Xlg7Yx4ivuQ0uh00StlxEFzac269G7AnR6khwhRQu5dEreDVKzY3h7icvA/s1600/IMG_0983.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbhJS0fClg5QlGT9y2EFkm5gxQagzSGNLFS0tWJ5HrivY2sT4tFZx-2whUyciQi3u_Gzcvj516BOjP5Guk2Xlg7Yx4ivuQ0uh00StlxEFzac269G7AnR6khwhRQu5dEreDVKzY3h7icvA/s320/IMG_0983.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This shot provides an overall picture of the game with the 2 platforms and a bag sailing through the air.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLng4ZFrzCJdfXCnbSJqSlXJg12TkMHtsTgDhQACqJf2C-SRR03kN1jW_3L5s6o0J4OPD6ScRZa04wUnzxNr9UazlMFn3Xf1O65DM06OPLgmh4360TnPPkcMGn-aUTtech08MEVzlSkX8i/s1600/IMG_0889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="230" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLng4ZFrzCJdfXCnbSJqSlXJg12TkMHtsTgDhQACqJf2C-SRR03kN1jW_3L5s6o0J4OPD6ScRZa04wUnzxNr9UazlMFn3Xf1O65DM06OPLgmh4360TnPPkcMGn-aUTtech08MEVzlSkX8i/s320/IMG_0889.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As you will notice, pitching/lobbing/throwing/hucking & chucking styles varied considerably.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW4rqZGAbvI2x1rshjDwPLWbxvHBrjsuxK21SgOb_IQ8bIOuv0vCf3wwd7DOi7EeNls7fjG1HDStJ6MjsPH0QbG2fr-x8XsYcZzWY3dmz3Tey0TI_pjrhpwQxpJH0fe5IPtOhBoD1JRWrO/s1600/IMG_0894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW4rqZGAbvI2x1rshjDwPLWbxvHBrjsuxK21SgOb_IQ8bIOuv0vCf3wwd7DOi7EeNls7fjG1HDStJ6MjsPH0QbG2fr-x8XsYcZzWY3dmz3Tey0TI_pjrhpwQxpJH0fe5IPtOhBoD1JRWrO/s320/IMG_0894.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gnCrn_Th1YVn9-IvTTFnIHMbGTkv_W38t17qDNS6Gn0TRq8QspOwFXDcUHGv6bYGhTTaH8Rxg-BGdlgZ31SHOGKulpxOUu-r9ivPVM8J019mzOgfiH_u6U35In7FpCs086OPaCaDwnc1/s1600/IMG_0942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gnCrn_Th1YVn9-IvTTFnIHMbGTkv_W38t17qDNS6Gn0TRq8QspOwFXDcUHGv6bYGhTTaH8Rxg-BGdlgZ31SHOGKulpxOUu-r9ivPVM8J019mzOgfiH_u6U35In7FpCs086OPaCaDwnc1/s320/IMG_0942.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDxw3rutAEgezaX-VAxN_NYQxapyxRRoqGwu3-hkicim44scPCpR5-q0kOfZ0RJayGkM8-0i-uFNZOEwFp_nU673z_XMUxrXVnj-9nVYi3domUHr8H2T5OPsPona9IdKJLoCEf-xdtzT2/s1600/IMG_1129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDxw3rutAEgezaX-VAxN_NYQxapyxRRoqGwu3-hkicim44scPCpR5-q0kOfZ0RJayGkM8-0i-uFNZOEwFp_nU673z_XMUxrXVnj-9nVYi3domUHr8H2T5OPsPona9IdKJLoCEf-xdtzT2/s320/IMG_1129.jpg" width="233" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk5aItYj-c-XNihDNaYyEiaWyNk9zuPjfSv-jtPabFmJKgmoyfuzjN34TSKY9l4iY33Nngum2gu4M85fh2Hhiu9utfdeCWvi-TxjvMvc5Jg_Ew8xARa4JsQt7SoWetewsWM6TO_wEg5tuh/s1600/IMG_1157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="224" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk5aItYj-c-XNihDNaYyEiaWyNk9zuPjfSv-jtPabFmJKgmoyfuzjN34TSKY9l4iY33Nngum2gu4M85fh2Hhiu9utfdeCWvi-TxjvMvc5Jg_Ew8xARa4JsQt7SoWetewsWM6TO_wEg5tuh/s320/IMG_1157.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When all was said & done, the four winners were:</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Will, Melody, Larry & Steve</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So if we had 3 prizes, how did we end up with 4 winners?</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That's easy... the tournamant director screwed up and had to make it right.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNibvDAu0cOzv-zuhNz2oQpq9RS-IClpD8j3vEjifQGG3dQBHHN88v1SaIHhjBt2M7kHN3sGapsssZlma380NhcplWo_Uc_lXQ1zGano1wIampjozVTLIHZK4lN1b5teKopCyBZbHLFs3N/s1600/IMG_1164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNibvDAu0cOzv-zuhNz2oQpq9RS-IClpD8j3vEjifQGG3dQBHHN88v1SaIHhjBt2M7kHN3sGapsssZlma380NhcplWo_Uc_lXQ1zGano1wIampjozVTLIHZK4lN1b5teKopCyBZbHLFs3N/s320/IMG_1164.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And Anna was asked to sign my mistake.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOmeTvvki8DJQWyvpNkaQAiSxGaspQyZA4OHDWc7x4HJg_y23Nnbd6cXjJQyJwvkCZSKdSKBhBn7eKS32yhB2TzXhniVEfMwMgpw0xQqF1rBQsyiWM4MmSuM9MLzZXG3uoIu-IwCcBZiT/s1600/IMG_1072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjqN2jeMF7EFBzzj01yRUWHjZ_PRJLGFumZnE4SPCy1wky-8pQarFwI5pUMmkhDnyroi7UxDGGc8LLchlLmzMK1YlV-1oRUqFtgpFCtRdksmsXKDBQwE9ZJ0m53dH32jQi_WHCYVJlJLn/s1600/IMG_0779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjqN2jeMF7EFBzzj01yRUWHjZ_PRJLGFumZnE4SPCy1wky-8pQarFwI5pUMmkhDnyroi7UxDGGc8LLchlLmzMK1YlV-1oRUqFtgpFCtRdksmsXKDBQwE9ZJ0m53dH32jQi_WHCYVJlJLn/s320/IMG_0779.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And in the food department</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyatZdccvF_2I9dvTt2JBjiUF_M5-5f5ph5KU7lSvXemTB0FmP_5pDQ0_gW7LcB62LXpCNpND2JsYQ59K7g1SY0tfu8DJMZDtxCBuzTbDKqpO_RGau0NM17OahGbgiApBbncGFtEB0MJMa/s1600/IMG_0786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyatZdccvF_2I9dvTt2JBjiUF_M5-5f5ph5KU7lSvXemTB0FmP_5pDQ0_gW7LcB62LXpCNpND2JsYQ59K7g1SY0tfu8DJMZDtxCBuzTbDKqpO_RGau0NM17OahGbgiApBbncGFtEB0MJMa/s320/IMG_0786.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">we did our best to convert the cellar appropriately.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIJ9-TkVOtvex_rd-YExLmh7RbknFL58LI_rJiKkkvRC5YlaTByU_wEM-YnJymu-QiNNO3Q8dLn6KZ7Pwisi1ZY36g-tGkgjVXIHxR8iauPHSfI8Iy-XGTIlqG18rkkATl3b94S7OJIUM/s1600/IMG_0921.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVIJ9-TkVOtvex_rd-YExLmh7RbknFL58LI_rJiKkkvRC5YlaTByU_wEM-YnJymu-QiNNO3Q8dLn6KZ7Pwisi1ZY36g-tGkgjVXIHxR8iauPHSfI8Iy-XGTIlqG18rkkATl3b94S7OJIUM/s320/IMG_0921.jpg" width="259" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Rolls & salads and</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oIpDiztOtctYWaHrUiHagLlYTUxST1nETSwbi71VSHn1eS8F8KPKWvAncCYrcGjPlspWpHLmCn7XrgQnm6NVBOPBdDRp0Opw43GX62qNz1sm3I5lXwE95CIH7V7_X9qTDJAz7D_73at-/s1600/IMG_0910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oIpDiztOtctYWaHrUiHagLlYTUxST1nETSwbi71VSHn1eS8F8KPKWvAncCYrcGjPlspWpHLmCn7XrgQnm6NVBOPBdDRp0Opw43GX62qNz1sm3I5lXwE95CIH7V7_X9qTDJAz7D_73at-/s320/IMG_0910.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the Baron of Beef,</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUXT7fQQjF8xPfcVtYCDepxe8IRE8o5waBsG5FffBtQDNpzXWh-QulZsOrh4AdRZEix-r3Q1UWVYTBRzzgjJBtV8nIvx3sWn8ymFFR6lW7dP6ePwQJJA3kfUgoTEZF5_IpJco-kIle2pA/s1600/IMG_0925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUXT7fQQjF8xPfcVtYCDepxe8IRE8o5waBsG5FffBtQDNpzXWh-QulZsOrh4AdRZEix-r3Q1UWVYTBRzzgjJBtV8nIvx3sWn8ymFFR6lW7dP6ePwQJJA3kfUgoTEZF5_IpJco-kIle2pA/s320/IMG_0925.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">all professionally prepared & served by Inez & John.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzalPR3Tsvu_sj36EZEphP29wtlIM3ECXlck3SEf3YBrRbK5weom-WqVn1PbbtoeF6tYkVxn9TOx5RJdH_qJ9sCUdKKQvPOupZ_IzoTk7n7pMZ1OlbutsVOIngUlw2FdB1J74oNCRLVNwZ/s1600/IMG_0923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzalPR3Tsvu_sj36EZEphP29wtlIM3ECXlck3SEf3YBrRbK5weom-WqVn1PbbtoeF6tYkVxn9TOx5RJdH_qJ9sCUdKKQvPOupZ_IzoTk7n7pMZ1OlbutsVOIngUlw2FdB1J74oNCRLVNwZ/s320/IMG_0923.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivROutTVmpb7uVyDx4bi1GWG_gd3mxxSzCt0lkCuDj77X5h6YrZTZV2hugOde7fKK3i4ZR5JSi8r1Zs3X7zpi-14jXjjqri0Of972u_rGHmeTOAhd5uCYSOwr_-SP55SL0dmgKKcfJ04ri/s1600/IMG_1005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivROutTVmpb7uVyDx4bi1GWG_gd3mxxSzCt0lkCuDj77X5h6YrZTZV2hugOde7fKK3i4ZR5JSi8r1Zs3X7zpi-14jXjjqri0Of972u_rGHmeTOAhd5uCYSOwr_-SP55SL0dmgKKcfJ04ri/s320/IMG_1005.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oKdfX2AJjT-G6BfWokzZevVPfprr5btAAfp5FLr3nafMcSNj_LXwv92KMOzW7oqdmM9fx6P62xzmfMok6R9Z6-_dvqKoRjEc4U9rZzyrwTKXlvveNW9GbOc3D6KtKzwWVZEmrX0shsAS/s1600/IMG_0994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="199" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oKdfX2AJjT-G6BfWokzZevVPfprr5btAAfp5FLr3nafMcSNj_LXwv92KMOzW7oqdmM9fx6P62xzmfMok6R9Z6-_dvqKoRjEc4U9rZzyrwTKXlvveNW9GbOc3D6KtKzwWVZEmrX0shsAS/s320/IMG_0994.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD1-vTO5IANNIohkQjBEviog-PUiwVlZ1qN5J-gLuVvTZQkjt0XlAfEyRha9RceAOr1r5UYvovIw48rZyB96MlG_3EaSAeSakdhiiKmq4VPozbYkhLCCyfVa0rQ9YfEL42O1pbz663uBg5/s1600/IMG_0918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD1-vTO5IANNIohkQjBEviog-PUiwVlZ1qN5J-gLuVvTZQkjt0XlAfEyRha9RceAOr1r5UYvovIw48rZyB96MlG_3EaSAeSakdhiiKmq4VPozbYkhLCCyfVa0rQ9YfEL42O1pbz663uBg5/s320/IMG_0918.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Davie thanks John Sorensen for a job well done.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">John runs a large and sophisticated catering company. He also does does amazing Lobster feeds. He get's recruited to cater special events all over the United states, and even a few places off the continent. He was catering several other events that day, but he came personally to our event, and we appreciated it!</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Check out his website: </span><a href="http://sorensencatering.com/"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">http://sorensencatering.com/</span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnHz-jRVx4XqByTfEib2-uP-k2t1nY726pOp62fWldLjxYcvnuu9ca3pBgMHd91FoObEPM9UKqRRgED6BfsAx6R6aDxLiE99BmY9bhsPPyIR2MMstrACgMIN5B5H_NNmRp2xesv3fpz7I/s1600/IMG_0920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="183" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnHz-jRVx4XqByTfEib2-uP-k2t1nY726pOp62fWldLjxYcvnuu9ca3pBgMHd91FoObEPM9UKqRRgED6BfsAx6R6aDxLiE99BmY9bhsPPyIR2MMstrACgMIN5B5H_NNmRp2xesv3fpz7I/s320/IMG_0920.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Katherine, Anna & Larry</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0sespUBsTfP-eddO95Sp2_oNDUs26zF75-Ii1OAuzCw8gHI624uA7iBnmodlO-hBqVney-yVSzIMj6806cjQWyyJ8GmGPNHW9wnWr0s6XCHyjqnWIPL6iH2YzRjTrMiqI8HlwDTkTPR1d/s1600/IMG_1013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0sespUBsTfP-eddO95Sp2_oNDUs26zF75-Ii1OAuzCw8gHI624uA7iBnmodlO-hBqVney-yVSzIMj6806cjQWyyJ8GmGPNHW9wnWr0s6XCHyjqnWIPL6iH2YzRjTrMiqI8HlwDTkTPR1d/s320/IMG_1013.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">John, the old brother... Oops, I meant "Oldest"</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfa1IvQTjYfwz3pGoqwjp3hKbs-hk7n7k5GC24cSgOkt_TKohQfZNSaK3DebRthVtxRDz_tiuUtuJLsGnVGTImxdMxPmanyooJuCyjNrm2Ghz_G4od8sG5YVoS61guhnaZqdXANU_5W88/s1600/IMG_1125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfa1IvQTjYfwz3pGoqwjp3hKbs-hk7n7k5GC24cSgOkt_TKohQfZNSaK3DebRthVtxRDz_tiuUtuJLsGnVGTImxdMxPmanyooJuCyjNrm2Ghz_G4od8sG5YVoS61guhnaZqdXANU_5W88/s320/IMG_1125.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Anna</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSzajJzS25a1jiuaNK_wKXggNBDgu4MZSqXq9Ju0rxDO5uYiX9e5hvjCvVakKUzi-WAJ0TPLPwuo7-cYk4iur3xa8EseOfCqZ4TmQpqJHs7T6IbeokbkWPIabxxfhDAYtsEhmikgxT_Ct/s1600/IMG_1036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSzajJzS25a1jiuaNK_wKXggNBDgu4MZSqXq9Ju0rxDO5uYiX9e5hvjCvVakKUzi-WAJ0TPLPwuo7-cYk4iur3xa8EseOfCqZ4TmQpqJHs7T6IbeokbkWPIabxxfhDAYtsEhmikgxT_Ct/s320/IMG_1036.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Leslie giving out our gift bags that included a rose and a bottle of our Late Harvest Chardonnay.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh463O3tpGzXULSREgrICoO1_QsyJ0jXaT8PSaJ1kusvm0GWqj8BC2W0dEG9DS-l4O3TU3bRBcDSc2QtbEIhba7jVvJ7jeSiEpdKFDYgwOhzuIdiyj6NvJEgEjGGCpIS5RVcpb7l93Zm38v/s1600/IMG_1085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh463O3tpGzXULSREgrICoO1_QsyJ0jXaT8PSaJ1kusvm0GWqj8BC2W0dEG9DS-l4O3TU3bRBcDSc2QtbEIhba7jVvJ7jeSiEpdKFDYgwOhzuIdiyj6NvJEgEjGGCpIS5RVcpb7l93Zm38v/s320/IMG_1085.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Macario & Anna</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqee1M1PWGqmc-Ms-LUr25VeUpED5yBr9YgVhYsZhYOE7xlX-E55XcGmBFs0XhWuTEuUk9X27CzVe6FPdubwEiTCVp5ozsclyGBrBWehxLT9JSTIDrgPbY1hdG-bYOccPDGpkW4VAifhgn/s1600/IMG_1159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqee1M1PWGqmc-Ms-LUr25VeUpED5yBr9YgVhYsZhYOE7xlX-E55XcGmBFs0XhWuTEuUk9X27CzVe6FPdubwEiTCVp5ozsclyGBrBWehxLT9JSTIDrgPbY1hdG-bYOccPDGpkW4VAifhgn/s320/IMG_1159.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ranndy & son, Tyler</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrY77pC1YZ90bJA3mReGNRC_KKOAG4bAjEnaPcsmKvvwaTGc-BRRcimtQ_nPgLxOj1EtO2Cut_nDB-bJqORzgYi-MO01UngspQ4RfXp50SeBDLipCei6Cn5uP_Wl4wJ44_V-wjFL2iLX9W/s1600/IMG_0827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrY77pC1YZ90bJA3mReGNRC_KKOAG4bAjEnaPcsmKvvwaTGc-BRRcimtQ_nPgLxOj1EtO2Cut_nDB-bJqORzgYi-MO01UngspQ4RfXp50SeBDLipCei6Cn5uP_Wl4wJ44_V-wjFL2iLX9W/s320/IMG_0827.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSKpixDrI8mc-z2kiORXUoATEPChyVvViiUPy-ZnapDrLsM6ni2o4b2squrjKCAETUnVUuc-Cahf3gg8rjNcemHYfdgiURs0JvfLOIyiXgie2fj5W9upG7VYjM-ozpuii2bdQaFpf0hZ_/s1600/IMG_1114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSKpixDrI8mc-z2kiORXUoATEPChyVvViiUPy-ZnapDrLsM6ni2o4b2squrjKCAETUnVUuc-Cahf3gg8rjNcemHYfdgiURs0JvfLOIyiXgie2fj5W9upG7VYjM-ozpuii2bdQaFpf0hZ_/s320/IMG_1114.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje7MvlqxhA-NBF8ibaInvxFBB9b7H1h_5Y-lDtUhi-3CCGAVWbyNxr340wf4QJcXr4zK6hck3CziYK3wOwO0Qq3Pd8U4VU1PJiwB8Pt1jEGSa3xTr95_Mvoo6brXnV8idfoZ2YcYLeGzsV/s1600/IMG_0848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje7MvlqxhA-NBF8ibaInvxFBB9b7H1h_5Y-lDtUhi-3CCGAVWbyNxr340wf4QJcXr4zK6hck3CziYK3wOwO0Qq3Pd8U4VU1PJiwB8Pt1jEGSa3xTr95_Mvoo6brXnV8idfoZ2YcYLeGzsV/s320/IMG_0848.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">All of these great pictures were taken by Macario's Mom again this year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My only complaint is that she didn't provide a picture of herself.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So I'm forced to re-use last year's picture:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_JCrgUc85qg9ym4VgLnwCexRwTjDvAWzNjKTwP4XErNcpldR-vVnSHzpsLMX571gToh9VGS92DdPZ50IV1yslLA8PgWLPCzZMaF7xd7RYO9k8GzajfkzEqpPQYIciLUCoeeSTDzTX1EE/s1600/Malaquias%252C+Lezlie+%2526+Macario.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_JCrgUc85qg9ym4VgLnwCexRwTjDvAWzNjKTwP4XErNcpldR-vVnSHzpsLMX571gToh9VGS92DdPZ50IV1yslLA8PgWLPCzZMaF7xd7RYO9k8GzajfkzEqpPQYIciLUCoeeSTDzTX1EE/s320/Malaquias%252C+Lezlie+%2526+Macario.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In the picture above we have our Assistant winemaker </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Macario, his Dad, Malaquias, and his Mom, Lezlie. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>Thanks once again, Lezlie!</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEM2eO4xgZEMWplevuMCjAFNMiBxhCYg-OSeaApySJ_a_CukhYQAePcpWbS9qp1qeLA39o0odO_eizsYjTqXDxmPlXu3bLDs9QE6pZcbpwQ3kB3ciKPDno77DVeVlFLwxm5Qllj4kvEcZ/s1600/IMG_1166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEM2eO4xgZEMWplevuMCjAFNMiBxhCYg-OSeaApySJ_a_CukhYQAePcpWbS9qp1qeLA39o0odO_eizsYjTqXDxmPlXu3bLDs9QE6pZcbpwQ3kB3ciKPDno77DVeVlFLwxm5Qllj4kvEcZ/s320/IMG_1166.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We thank you all for coming!</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Ranndy, Davie, John & Larry</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-91235125790618636772011-08-26T12:56:00.000-07:002011-08-26T12:56:55.132-07:00Dropping fruit on the ground... Intentionally!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg11BDnMborAO29VQ1Eak-w71VCxkb8YaPY6GYSqb07r9pG3bwSamja4TUGGMgNHQE-wIhXd8uEP40LH5f5GWdmh1gec95VVXO2Zeql1uoQEehA6J0dN-b9OjKjk5gHMZ9CZVdsrpWwJKP/s1600/IMG_5102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg11BDnMborAO29VQ1Eak-w71VCxkb8YaPY6GYSqb07r9pG3bwSamja4TUGGMgNHQE-wIhXd8uEP40LH5f5GWdmh1gec95VVXO2Zeql1uoQEehA6J0dN-b9OjKjk5gHMZ9CZVdsrpWwJKP/s320/IMG_5102.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There is an activity underway around the valley that I find mildly disturbing. Workers are cutting grape clusters off the vines and dropping them on the ground, intentionally. It happens every year around this time. There are two major reasons this is done. Fruit that is obviously not maturing on the same schedule as the other clusters is cut off. In the picture above, this would apply to the greenest clusters. But some of those other clusters don't look too bad.</span> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQaGPKRErTpGnzEkzC8Y9ByAMjP_dzVIHdHYXu1An9pbsdg7zRckSH66Iqj0fFE7jsgWBMN4BIBVzyH0CRDzrYMJRFVpxEiRaNJ2vkgA8uJ_Kma-yTRa_IbImeXY9QuRsLmqK7XM7Yqgt/s1600/IMG_5101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQaGPKRErTpGnzEkzC8Y9ByAMjP_dzVIHdHYXu1An9pbsdg7zRckSH66Iqj0fFE7jsgWBMN4BIBVzyH0CRDzrYMJRFVpxEiRaNJ2vkgA8uJ_Kma-yTRa_IbImeXY9QuRsLmqK7XM7Yqgt/s320/IMG_5101.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Those decent looking clusters are being cut off just to reduce the overall crop load. If the overall crop load is too heavy, it will stress the vine and all the clusters may not fully ripen. I think most winemakers would agree their definition of ripeness is not just a measure of color & sugar content anymore. Many years ago, most grapes in the valley were deemed ready to harvest based solely on the % of sugar content. That is no longer the case. I venture to say that most grapes being harvested in the Napa Valley these days are picked when the winemaker is happy with the flavors of the grapes. This is winemaker directed harvesting. It can drive growers crazy when the grapes are at say, 24 or even 25% brix, but the winemaker says "They're not ready yet".</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Several of the vineyards farmed by Piña Vineyard Management for delivery to Piña Napa Valley, will have less fruit dropped on the ground this year. That's the good news. The bad news is that the reason there will be less fruit dropped, is because there is less fruit on the vines than in past years. Vines that were pelted with rain while in their "bloom" stage have a poor fruit "set". For these vineyards, we're anticipating a light harvest this year. It's a gambling business. Always has been. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-83337760358746416752011-08-25T13:53:00.000-07:002011-08-25T13:53:57.557-07:00What did we do to deserve dogs?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58K_UBLriFSinHGxZTjZhJNc2bEK-2xYJzgzNY3nIZKXfsCrTroBJNFj-BZx3yISKXM1ezrVi1ihOh72qgMCtVdQwh0u4TZWyG_l3rrXT37jFv2PyIqPRTZl8FC6-hPkEV65DHVpJ7W4r/s1600/Dog+mourns+at+casket+of+fallen+Navy+SEAL.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58K_UBLriFSinHGxZTjZhJNc2bEK-2xYJzgzNY3nIZKXfsCrTroBJNFj-BZx3yISKXM1ezrVi1ihOh72qgMCtVdQwh0u4TZWyG_l3rrXT37jFv2PyIqPRTZl8FC6-hPkEV65DHVpJ7W4r/s320/Dog+mourns+at+casket+of+fallen+Navy+SEAL.bmp" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hawkeye lays by the casket during the funeral of his owner, </span></div><div class="caption fn" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson, on August 19. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For those of you that haven't read the article and seen the above picture, here is the link:</span><br />
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<a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44271018/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/?GT1=43001">http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44271018/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/?GT1=43001</a><br />
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<div class="txt vcard author contributor" id="byline" itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Person" rel="dc:creator" typeof="v:Person vcard:VCard"><span class="attribution">By <span class="fn" itemprop="name" property="v:name vcard:fn" rel="author">Scott Stump</span> </span><div class="source-org" id="source" rel="dc:publisher"><span class="org" itemprop="affiliation" property="v:affiliation vcard:organization-name" typeof="vcard:Organization"><span>TODAY.com contributor</span> </span></div></div><div id="intelliTXT" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="0"><div class="page i1 txt" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="1" style="font-size: 16px;"><div class="i1" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="18"><br />
</div><div class="i1" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="18">Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson lay in a coffin, draped in an American flag, in front of a tearful audience mourning his death in Afghanistan. Soon an old friend appeared, and like a fellow soldier on a battlefield, his loyal dog refused to leave him behind. </div><div itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="17">Tumilson’s Labrador retriever, Hawkeye, was photographed lying by Tumilson’s casket in a heart-wrenching image taken at the funeral service in Tumilson’s hometown of Rockford, Iowa, earlier this week. Hawkeye walked up to the casket at the beginning of the service and then dropped down with a heaving sigh as about 1,500 mourners witnessed a dog accompanying his master until the end, reported CBS. </div><div itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="17"><br />
</div><div about="http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/tdy-110811-at-sgt-tumilson.grid-3x2.jpg" class="art hmedia grid-3x2 hang" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="16"><div class="img " itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="21" rel="media:image enclosure" style="text-align: center;" type="image/jpeg"><img alt="Image: Jon T. Tumilson" class="photo" height="319" itxtbad="1" itxtnodeid="22" src="http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/tdy-110811-at-sgt-tumilson.grid-3x2.jpg" width="230" /> </div><span class="credit vcard contributor" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="20"><span class="fn" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="24"></span><span class="org" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="23">AP</span> </span><div class="caption fn" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="19">Petty Officer 1st Class Jon T. Tumilson was killed along with other SEALs on Aug. 6 in Afghanistan. </div></div><div itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="15"><span about="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44096046/ns/today-good_news/t/maltese-dog-missing-year-after-car-crash-headed-home/" class="inline external " itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="25"><span class="story" itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="27"></span><span style="color: #336699;"></span></span></div><div itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="14"><br />
</div><div itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="14">The photo was snapped by Tumilson’s cousin, Lisa Pembleton, and posted on her Facebook page in memory of the San Diego resident. Tumilson, 35, was one of 30 American troops, including 22 Navy SEALs, who were killed when a Taliban insurgent shot down a Chinook helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade on Aug. 6. </div><div itxtharvested="0" itxtnodeid="14"><br />
</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">===============================</div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What did we do to deserve dogs? </span><br />
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"My goal is to someday be the person my dog thinks I am." - <span class="text"> <b>Author Unknown</b></span> <br />
Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-80496442124210955222011-08-22T08:14:00.000-07:002011-08-22T08:14:08.517-07:00Winery Dog Yogi, Part 4 – Yogi's window on the world at the beach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6waRvctr8nxTlj8EYF7DlCKACQKk2udId1Luk3TH1JI8y11arqKxKNwqfpJMbB9CqYYOckBXpdhM4F9EEKgZ73yAi26IFFZ8BJDuwZUDTbpLWqAu1C9FaBA-jyD1YDaXfKQLQIiiAo47H/s1600/Little+girl+in+Yogi+hole.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6waRvctr8nxTlj8EYF7DlCKACQKk2udId1Luk3TH1JI8y11arqKxKNwqfpJMbB9CqYYOckBXpdhM4F9EEKgZ73yAi26IFFZ8BJDuwZUDTbpLWqAu1C9FaBA-jyD1YDaXfKQLQIiiAo47H/s320/Little+girl+in+Yogi+hole.bmp" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yogi makes another friend!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwW5me4Zw8NutHEAnN5k69pMJ8cmdNY88pRiKPygpIW16AruajHenocH-FsRSaFgjS8kvHh8soQQuyHmIyDk8VQ-tZI0Q5YtAVdzmcEstpDoMHkHFLg3LeMsCQphOAWuZL0CeACnNyIVw/s1600/Yogi+Orvis+Catalog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="272" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwW5me4Zw8NutHEAnN5k69pMJ8cmdNY88pRiKPygpIW16AruajHenocH-FsRSaFgjS8kvHh8soQQuyHmIyDk8VQ-tZI0Q5YtAVdzmcEstpDoMHkHFLg3LeMsCQphOAWuZL0CeACnNyIVw/s320/Yogi+Orvis+Catalog.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In an earlier post, I mentioned that Yogi was included in an Orvis video with his head sticking out the hole that the little girl is looking through in the top picture.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Our trailer at the beach is located at a busy intersection. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Almost everybody that passes by takes the time to say Hello to Yogi, or give him a pat on the head.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Children will even stop and call for him if he's not there looking out his hole.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipN6_yW7ewyQ5Q5nOrt0y-LS4tvFczhXk5vQz4Z1319VyJGkHgrqO-b0TYjEPb_mDP3OMK1OOyF3ltQw2mn9QuauZaWCXRhNk4QYxl-2INFpc58jqUsW2UQbrj-abYmMG1K-EbEp524Ai0/s1600/Yogi+with+ladies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipN6_yW7ewyQ5Q5nOrt0y-LS4tvFczhXk5vQz4Z1319VyJGkHgrqO-b0TYjEPb_mDP3OMK1OOyF3ltQw2mn9QuauZaWCXRhNk4QYxl-2INFpc58jqUsW2UQbrj-abYmMG1K-EbEp524Ai0/s320/Yogi+with+ladies.JPG" width="223" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He's popular at the winery, too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yogi's a lucky dog, and we're lucky to have him!</span></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-10702974205777218082011-06-16T10:20:00.000-07:002011-06-16T10:20:17.383-07:00The Setting Moon over the Mayacamas Mountains<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51yxGCdlVgTCNkuwxCBDtNfjhWtwOCKJi0diAsuD8QRyq_ouskiBN6UCIkqp5coGX4vYexzFSLZSgccEbg_MGaufT2YIaoS2bXBLZI5f8jaXHlh_ox5bcTQWbzpOJKeDaLpGiW5iCTX7h/s1600/Moon+set+June+16++2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51yxGCdlVgTCNkuwxCBDtNfjhWtwOCKJi0diAsuD8QRyq_ouskiBN6UCIkqp5coGX4vYexzFSLZSgccEbg_MGaufT2YIaoS2bXBLZI5f8jaXHlh_ox5bcTQWbzpOJKeDaLpGiW5iCTX7h/s320/Moon+set+June+16++2011.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Moon over Mayacamas</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Photo courtesy of Joe Bauer</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I was on my way to work at 5:44 this morning when my cell phone rang. I noted that the incoming call was from my good buddy, Joe Bauer. Since Joe is not usually vertical at that time of the day, my first thought was that something bad had happened. I was relieved when he asked me if I had seen the full moon. He said he called me because he knew I'd be up. I briefly thought about taking some pictures but knew that Joe would be taking better pictures than I could. And ain't that a great one? (Be sure to click on it to enlarge)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">According to the Farmers' Almanac, the June full moon is the Full Strawberry moon:</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong>"Full Strawberry Moon – June</strong> This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!"</span></em><br />
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</div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To checkout all the full moon names, click on this link: </span></em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-13323703884109307002011-06-15T15:23:00.000-07:002011-06-15T15:23:06.053-07:00Bottling Day at Piña Napa Valley<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">June 9th was bottling day at Piña Napa Valley. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyexu9dkSHpEUFYQARdjLSonZrT_of0qyriQr8jnRW0_iczLzdnsyEAzl0muCtfjNFwLOE9lGL-qv1VcqfbYC97eqoObzg8sKl3Bll9QEdPXpYMn0xmgh8LXtgLHuGWgNDW-AO5DXOMf0A/s1600/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyexu9dkSHpEUFYQARdjLSonZrT_of0qyriQr8jnRW0_iczLzdnsyEAzl0muCtfjNFwLOE9lGL-qv1VcqfbYC97eqoObzg8sKl3Bll9QEdPXpYMn0xmgh8LXtgLHuGWgNDW-AO5DXOMf0A/s320/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+037.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Since we're not big enough to justify having our </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">own bottling line, </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">the bottling line comes to us.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMAo3DagZP1lxhuTCvBYq8wIRBU2vwtF2De9dO7JHD1ZbYB72DmxdIGYQSQGY1SeCIx02dpw6a3y8eOtJBSk5i1JBdVzRoV1glHLd1kqxs0SZjQDDSKJjLU53_sNZ7a3LDgOrvNTdH5uTs/s1600/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMAo3DagZP1lxhuTCvBYq8wIRBU2vwtF2De9dO7JHD1ZbYB72DmxdIGYQSQGY1SeCIx02dpw6a3y8eOtJBSk5i1JBdVzRoV1glHLd1kqxs0SZjQDDSKJjLU53_sNZ7a3LDgOrvNTdH5uTs/s320/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+002.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Macario on the forklift.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9R63VBhVxuWALhRtjfH47G041uDL7NjgDYSd_15wyaXUq6Z9PFziSNyf66705kMoni_TIrF6X_WglSKO6P3h3mFXenhGxKktxI85Zk_IUplE7fx9mo7szxQxswK73CBwjSfToCTUC7-3/s1600/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9R63VBhVxuWALhRtjfH47G041uDL7NjgDYSd_15wyaXUq6Z9PFziSNyf66705kMoni_TIrF6X_WglSKO6P3h3mFXenhGxKktxI85Zk_IUplE7fx9mo7szxQxswK73CBwjSfToCTUC7-3/s320/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+009.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Inside the trailer, things are a bit tight.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikB4BRbf6TE7c-mb4ucWOnwe7s6fZgqKFN_vHwAfh1ZSjgvhg4MSXw_UaaYZXlgdws0QvBLnqg5YG9Z92Agrx-D1gUStS2cKPn8oS5FWnElY3IwNPKrmL3F8KZoDuo5Yfn7CXnzoYRrQvK/s1600/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikB4BRbf6TE7c-mb4ucWOnwe7s6fZgqKFN_vHwAfh1ZSjgvhg4MSXw_UaaYZXlgdws0QvBLnqg5YG9Z92Agrx-D1gUStS2cKPn8oS5FWnElY3IwNPKrmL3F8KZoDuo5Yfn7CXnzoYRrQvK/s320/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+012.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This machine is putting the foils on the bottle.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmgGpPXkdXwlppoxnuffVRtM7RHg2xCtdE58luZB-tHTIxe84RpcfwaBBkzyyf3VIhZGlROzO44sRNlh57TYh8d5ZmBUtOM02YTD0VFD8xoy6YzhzMyTceE-QGEz3E5C8YT_Y51dWTkqt/s1600/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmgGpPXkdXwlppoxnuffVRtM7RHg2xCtdE58luZB-tHTIxe84RpcfwaBBkzyyf3VIhZGlROzO44sRNlh57TYh8d5ZmBUtOM02YTD0VFD8xoy6YzhzMyTceE-QGEz3E5C8YT_Y51dWTkqt/s320/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+011.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This machine is "spinning" the foils on the bottle.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qMVRTcZRCVi-ZEFuWdSXqoKfU1zvRVSEYc9KgkTTyiEcHBME4nYoUSl38E2fDRj5FaBCljSFc9UF62L6E6vykfgVGGNcFrxJC1YdBreq53vKzEbWM_TsVS5_kEFgQXQgUgMNjLip8T5Q/s1600/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qMVRTcZRCVi-ZEFuWdSXqoKfU1zvRVSEYc9KgkTTyiEcHBME4nYoUSl38E2fDRj5FaBCljSFc9UF62L6E6vykfgVGGNcFrxJC1YdBreq53vKzEbWM_TsVS5_kEFgQXQgUgMNjLip8T5Q/s320/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+026.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We don't have paper labels, or the bottling line </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">would be placing those on the bottles, too.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56JN5QHa9RYua-kGtXINMhICrl4yznP0HWdbvfa3AkmQhJZ4Tsu10Ob6oETh3wEJuTTeCroAvJdbbO9hxpGmCKbZeH62JcCE56MlcGtjEs8XbSbUYc6ZotkAKMfpZPqJpe812MXwbMI6t/s1600/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56JN5QHa9RYua-kGtXINMhICrl4yznP0HWdbvfa3AkmQhJZ4Tsu10Ob6oETh3wEJuTTeCroAvJdbbO9hxpGmCKbZeH62JcCE56MlcGtjEs8XbSbUYc6ZotkAKMfpZPqJpe812MXwbMI6t/s320/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+041.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Here are the large format Mimbre bottles. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Mimbre package design was the </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">first choice of 3 of the 4 brothers </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(Okay, I'm warming up to it).</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn3f9csd0cq3tMXCObEhEPJLQKQUs1m8KYi94e_TAHNFBIhpI4m0SsoWQHM6P7Qid_LyyPMI-Frtxuwjru84E2t5GKDnhvWay_B6jK08qXMH16diq5aiPgZcbGyCNN3-fpGDP-V2_f_hG/s1600/Large+format+bottles+2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn3f9csd0cq3tMXCObEhEPJLQKQUs1m8KYi94e_TAHNFBIhpI4m0SsoWQHM6P7Qid_LyyPMI-Frtxuwjru84E2t5GKDnhvWay_B6jK08qXMH16diq5aiPgZcbGyCNN3-fpGDP-V2_f_hG/s320/Large+format+bottles+2011.JPG" t8="true" width="239" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It's hard to visualize the size of the large </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">format</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> bottles from the pictures, until you </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">place a standard </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">750 ml Cahoots bottle in front of them.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1Bx3VC5STwxzySgz5eJabb2OugmAwczKzeD6b8tJXljfluYC-nRGrmwP0FboYM_McN4-_GawN7qzR30S23R2Qheg8CCb0V-W4iT39SqLoHwsphRsJVKnC-RsMyx8z6oBTAKXpyLb8FcC/s1600/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1Bx3VC5STwxzySgz5eJabb2OugmAwczKzeD6b8tJXljfluYC-nRGrmwP0FboYM_McN4-_GawN7qzR30S23R2Qheg8CCb0V-W4iT39SqLoHwsphRsJVKnC-RsMyx8z6oBTAKXpyLb8FcC/s320/PNV+Bottling+June+9%252C+2011+050.jpg" t8="true" width="212" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Our winemaking team:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Anna Monticelli & Macario Montoya</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Photos provided by John C. Piña</span></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-65578387493833297562011-05-10T08:19:00.000-07:002011-05-10T08:19:14.059-07:00Celebrity Winery Visitors: J.J. Putz & Mr. Incredible<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One of the cooler things about being involved with a winery is that occasionally, you get to meet celebrities. Yesterday we got to meet 2 celebrities: J.J. Putz & Mr. Incredible. For those of you that aren't baseball fans, J.J. Putz is a relief picture for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are "in town" to play our SF Giants and there's a good chance that J.J. will take the mound tonight.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPHHlhUdtssdsv9ctlMVJ1pFN1veQPpUe_ifbnmDAfWmVXYtGDPlgjd2igvHo_5p0M9_Idha2Fuij5Etg0B8mNFgXPsxLZfAD6ErYLTJl2dL3g_7i-jaXmfq7avkaP3EhOG0ClBZcHtG5/s1600/JJ+Putz+data.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="138" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPHHlhUdtssdsv9ctlMVJ1pFN1veQPpUe_ifbnmDAfWmVXYtGDPlgjd2igvHo_5p0M9_Idha2Fuij5Etg0B8mNFgXPsxLZfAD6ErYLTJl2dL3g_7i-jaXmfq7avkaP3EhOG0ClBZcHtG5/s320/JJ+Putz+data.bmp" width="320" /></span></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">J.J. was touring some Napa Valley wineries with two good friends. His friend Larry claims to be a Southwest law enforcement narcotics officer. But what makes Larry a celebrity is that he is the real life character that inspired Mr.Incredible. You DO know Mr. Incredible, don't you? </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-e2kdqq3LHs8VwwT-Sxh8cn6aj65PBIu60F_Krk5Ri30dtjhZKf0anFB1rO5tfRumGUDIDYUtXQHLnOkzq5CseZrFxOUqJ2ynbpvRWFYchd9f_HW4gdDvEzOJ__kqLU2DSqWbnukRsfU/s1600/JJ+Putz+%2526+Mr.+Incredible.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-e2kdqq3LHs8VwwT-Sxh8cn6aj65PBIu60F_Krk5Ri30dtjhZKf0anFB1rO5tfRumGUDIDYUtXQHLnOkzq5CseZrFxOUqJ2ynbpvRWFYchd9f_HW4gdDvEzOJ__kqLU2DSqWbnukRsfU/s320/JJ+Putz+%2526+Mr.+Incredible.bmp" width="320" /></span></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> And for those of you that need proof: </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwISHfnV5RJf39ypB6tkAz_4dfde2ZbpFoaVGtUw-i8S-Nd1-OmDPZFDKH0HeZqTBeVjzxoRZQ1r-l-TpDxEg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I'm sure the other wineries they visited will confirm that they are all very fun loving and entertaining guys, and yes, wild & crazy too. We appreciate that they have a taste for fine wines.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNikPhbKQmLWQaK508vOy22xb1uGRpISaZJb2ofvvwoJutfv3D7gGNGWF2zo6qy9j3XYtdGzwTyP_uu3-570hMeVrx32Y0jyJkKpeElTOMTBmK8BaV9xqHsDEGbmzmDmOfamcN_ZsUvpT8/s1600/IMG_4399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNikPhbKQmLWQaK508vOy22xb1uGRpISaZJb2ofvvwoJutfv3D7gGNGWF2zo6qy9j3XYtdGzwTyP_uu3-570hMeVrx32Y0jyJkKpeElTOMTBmK8BaV9xqHsDEGbmzmDmOfamcN_ZsUvpT8/s320/IMG_4399.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Larry Piña, Larry (Mr. Incredible), J.J. Putz & Davie Piña</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thanks for the visit, gentlemen. It was great fun!</span></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-26227714441779498442011-05-07T10:40:00.000-07:002011-05-08T13:02:08.539-07:00Mother's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYA6AeYWzuzZSGxmP973xSs6EBM9owPO5tjYtlxkL6Vrz8G_pagvyWONUfFC41Bs2iczqyO4WNp4X_kHy61kL-xCW3Ex3JlhHHCg6gnBf_xGD5B0lfW2qj_pNSNeJahOcK9yn6pdZYEF3s/s1600/IMG_4381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYA6AeYWzuzZSGxmP973xSs6EBM9owPO5tjYtlxkL6Vrz8G_pagvyWONUfFC41Bs2iczqyO4WNp4X_kHy61kL-xCW3Ex3JlhHHCg6gnBf_xGD5B0lfW2qj_pNSNeJahOcK9yn6pdZYEF3s/s320/IMG_4381.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My goal was to finish this deck by Mother's Day</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTxwHWg40BCSByUciBmzR98ElgR_xsUQegZN1jxTMKNEoESpo-olDFgWqOzCDpxd4us1JAPUdffc_tU8qVbVB0ZiXf92_b8kixsuP0tzU8llfEdKgwfTwdxkH-E5vTDYmChEWGBg-gIET/s1600/IMG_4397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTxwHWg40BCSByUciBmzR98ElgR_xsUQegZN1jxTMKNEoESpo-olDFgWqOzCDpxd4us1JAPUdffc_tU8qVbVB0ZiXf92_b8kixsuP0tzU8llfEdKgwfTwdxkH-E5vTDYmChEWGBg-gIET/s320/IMG_4397.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And, I made it - Here's remembering you, Mom!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9vtRn-ZJR8tV6Pp8WqU4gnag4H0Xhd22gUzs929C0vrY2pe7Py3raV0KgKKPv_IFxXEGuizLs8syLJ6iFrWR3f5GjSaE7dHEa92y9dDw7vcrQDY7HCFZjTpeHjcFUVZXHFb3FPFzGaM3/s1600/IMG_4384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9vtRn-ZJR8tV6Pp8WqU4gnag4H0Xhd22gUzs929C0vrY2pe7Py3raV0KgKKPv_IFxXEGuizLs8syLJ6iFrWR3f5GjSaE7dHEa92y9dDw7vcrQDY7HCFZjTpeHjcFUVZXHFb3FPFzGaM3/s320/IMG_4384.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From the deck you can see open fields with mounds on each side.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsr2QM42S24jDRw0MuceVJn_C2FiUx1V08m_r4SgTaN5fuqR9dVnYaGsApam2Fd2lOVHVKO2RqHdVh1s5dNpw9DpQQYPJwn0b5rG6-37Y9UIhkOfEMu_pOM5sPlg82K3z9eYW7BYBKDWZ/s1600/IMG_4385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsr2QM42S24jDRw0MuceVJn_C2FiUx1V08m_r4SgTaN5fuqR9dVnYaGsApam2Fd2lOVHVKO2RqHdVh1s5dNpw9DpQQYPJwn0b5rG6-37Y9UIhkOfEMu_pOM5sPlg82K3z9eYW7BYBKDWZ/s320/IMG_4385.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Those mounds are really stacks of vines that were removed by Piña Vineyard Management.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Those fields are being prepped for replanting. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We've been doing more vineyard redevelopment this year than last. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We think it's a good sign that the economy is improving.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Happy Mother's Day from the Piña brothers and staff!</span></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-92070854982060895072011-05-07T10:20:00.000-07:002011-05-07T10:20:50.035-07:00Rutherford Passport Weekend - May 7th & 8thMay 7th & 8th is the Rutherford Passport weekend, and we are participating. <br />
<h1>Rutherford Appellation Wineries</h1><span><strong><span style="color: #92191c;">The Rutherford Passport Weekend</span></strong></span> is the premier consumer event sponsored by wineries residing in this historical appellation. Experience the wineries of the Rutherford Appellation as never before. Passport Weekend allows Passport holders exclusivity to special pourings, barrel and tank tastings, paired food and wines, and conversations with the winemakers - all of which will make for a memorable time in beautiful Napa Valley<em>. </em><br />
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<strong>Rutherford Appellation Wineries </strong>was established to educate consumers on the significance of the Rutherford appellation as Napa Valley's preeminent grape-growing area. This consumer-focused organization was created to promote the uniqueness of the area and encourage visitors to experience personally the quality of the wines produced in this special place.<br />
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<strong>Proceeds from the passport events</strong> benefit a local Napa Valley Charity. Some recipients in the past are the Rutherford Volunteer Firefighters, the Rutherford flood project, Queen of the Valley hospital and others. In 2010, the <a href="http://www.rutherfordgrange.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">Rutherford Grange</span></a> was the recipient of $10,000.00 to help in the restoration project. Some of our member wineries will be pouring at the Grange this year and hope that our participants in this years' event take the time to see the Grange while it is being retrofitted and remodeled.<br />
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Click here to visit thewebsite: <a href="http://rutherford-appellation-wineries.com/index.php">http://rutherford-appellation-wineries.com/index.php</a>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-40976215643208856792011-04-27T18:34:00.000-07:002011-04-27T18:34:31.784-07:00Big Steaks & Big Cabs<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Every year we donate an auction item to the Taste of Howell Mountain fundraiser.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">This is what the promotional ad for the event looked like for last year:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISdlqad3qWURwnrNnJJ-t6LFz7bsM-7vFymhJ8r9Efw9IH19w-ygukvgw-oYteK1lv3tSwQnXnYxS-wQNfubsUkGmmPOmHU_0Kv4Sds_u8qSc390xgkajDhFbJwVtMyjCxVAX1VNPGeB0/s1600/TOHM.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISdlqad3qWURwnrNnJJ-t6LFz7bsM-7vFymhJ8r9Efw9IH19w-ygukvgw-oYteK1lv3tSwQnXnYxS-wQNfubsUkGmmPOmHU_0Kv4Sds_u8qSc390xgkajDhFbJwVtMyjCxVAX1VNPGeB0/s320/TOHM.bmp" width="215" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">And, as the last lines notes: All proceeds benefit the Howell Mountain Elementary School.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Prior to last year, our auction lots were typically dinners for 20 - 24, served in the cellar.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">But last year, we decided to offer a more intimate experience:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4P9EKWboJifUq_QmxFwi-74rgsrRT8J6mH3mMcIW2KtJMIMNbOivhKIY5mEoQotJcGeNUrkq54YCB7OrX8N1TIBUPHu4J0rS3h6RZKKvBRFbv9_PPV0dC4N3_sAXPxGVxkEUSwSTGWFsn/s1600/BS+%2526+BC.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4P9EKWboJifUq_QmxFwi-74rgsrRT8J6mH3mMcIW2KtJMIMNbOivhKIY5mEoQotJcGeNUrkq54YCB7OrX8N1TIBUPHu4J0rS3h6RZKKvBRFbv9_PPV0dC4N3_sAXPxGVxkEUSwSTGWFsn/s320/BS+%2526+BC.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">The winning bid came from Lorna Wood & Bob Long. The date agreed upon was April 16<sup>th</sup>, 2011. Their group of 7 folks arrived at the winery right on time and we transported them to a new deck I built on the hillside above Piña Vineyard Management. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafpctzkmo8Gu4Bw4_RZTn5Aclq9dPdfybs0xVeF_MJ2thf5PBDQ9See1mQ4-wrw8H8dTtQDl3pZHzDC3-a7hvxIjqlI0Na6ViDfHXdhIRdtDONYDt8RgrSg0G-kSYwl_6lTGAlfsyCyuE/s1600/1+IMG_4181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhafpctzkmo8Gu4Bw4_RZTn5Aclq9dPdfybs0xVeF_MJ2thf5PBDQ9See1mQ4-wrw8H8dTtQDl3pZHzDC3-a7hvxIjqlI0Na6ViDfHXdhIRdtDONYDt8RgrSg0G-kSYwl_6lTGAlfsyCyuE/s320/1+IMG_4181.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"> The deck site was chosen because of the extraordinary views. This was the first “official” use of the deck that is not yet even completed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoe0da7RFrqT3kP4B6LG6YwqosOZndzw318hLPCtugqUbk07UoXtvFRErkhcLWyzsXMWwaKW6ByCXIaEicbBzmZqf_qBajJ-DFNcZ_0oEkb1N_FysG3xMxPzHg0d00hD5eYvpP3AWu5ow/s1600/2+IMG_4182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoe0da7RFrqT3kP4B6LG6YwqosOZndzw318hLPCtugqUbk07UoXtvFRErkhcLWyzsXMWwaKW6ByCXIaEicbBzmZqf_qBajJ-DFNcZ_0oEkb1N_FysG3xMxPzHg0d00hD5eYvpP3AWu5ow/s320/2+IMG_4182.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">In the above picture, Davie is pointing out points of interest to the group. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">One point of interest is the group of trees & buildings just over the folks in the picture. That is Plumpjack Winery.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEifBKk0jGRr88N2q15zeM4Kb_qaP8K9bcCYfjfoa9orOqWQKzHw8Erls5pZjs-Z7qD1AByGNZrdLrDayNVRGQDph2iq3TANQ29igic9OzFaaKxfz9jYmR0z6FNqav60hp_5Jp12kU2ph/s1600/Mt.+Eden+Ranch+home.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEifBKk0jGRr88N2q15zeM4Kb_qaP8K9bcCYfjfoa9orOqWQKzHw8Erls5pZjs-Z7qD1AByGNZrdLrDayNVRGQDph2iq3TANQ29igic9OzFaaKxfz9jYmR0z6FNqav60hp_5Jp12kU2ph/s320/Mt.+Eden+Ranch+home.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">In the enlarged picture above, is the home we grew up in until 1962. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">More info on that is shared in another one of my posts.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgMHRrsoDbekeB-YAN_6ehw6AqD7o16knwqi9ay3lpv0dIi7aYwyJW2EdMY-rLs-qLn7sUGfSiIJWwEBZameGkbZUAZkZXMEpApFX355VZFGudyqXAs4xGvrImylwC4s4l5I2ahgnn6cy/s1600/4+IMG_4184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgMHRrsoDbekeB-YAN_6ehw6AqD7o16knwqi9ay3lpv0dIi7aYwyJW2EdMY-rLs-qLn7sUGfSiIJWwEBZameGkbZUAZkZXMEpApFX355VZFGudyqXAs4xGvrImylwC4s4l5I2ahgnn6cy/s320/4+IMG_4184.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Larry grilled sausages and served Piña Cellars Chardonnay. We stayed for the better part of an hour before returning to the winery. </span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwj5c_0rYj-TN68MsET18MD2QmLXpeR5yK2T2Slr1mUkKNbBr-wJeSX2JgCVgAhud45W1SlwAQaaNzYjEtRjhp67Anc-NPhYPyc8RoYBAHuYekmjAQYW19tF0Deq_Haa3nctOcAi8cJNy/s1600/7+Davie+Bocce.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwj5c_0rYj-TN68MsET18MD2QmLXpeR5yK2T2Slr1mUkKNbBr-wJeSX2JgCVgAhud45W1SlwAQaaNzYjEtRjhp67Anc-NPhYPyc8RoYBAHuYekmjAQYW19tF0Deq_Haa3nctOcAi8cJNy/s320/7+Davie+Bocce.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Once back at the winery, Davie & I explained the rules of the game & officiated while our guests played Bocce.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfS0GRwXf4WIeVCJ2xWXyM1Ti11PN5_zl85_dSm0E6_c9hXXhdajKyzDIX0HktwmJutzFsF-iCPs3uSOAkajHVKalRfwi9nHXre5KnD9TDySoVN4QqaHPQevGjLzXx7Y4hzeVaLaA17MP1/s1600/6+Tables+%2526+Bocce.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfS0GRwXf4WIeVCJ2xWXyM1Ti11PN5_zl85_dSm0E6_c9hXXhdajKyzDIX0HktwmJutzFsF-iCPs3uSOAkajHVKalRfwi9nHXre5KnD9TDySoVN4QqaHPQevGjLzXx7Y4hzeVaLaA17MP1/s320/6+Tables+%2526+Bocce.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">We had planned to eat in the cellar, but at Lorna’s request, we set up for dinner under the trees above the bocce court.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5SED-ag-MOC5QJN3fcn3AJcruLG9ARFvlRFyVVi6Oh2IwWG8-Pm57tk8aynf25joRhOl_WUtVWzDgiZ8zHuJL_OE5gAi1S9VOd27EYQQ7zc7Xh9bsrvdIpRm-C0zeb2a1JmmACk7TeDqZ/s1600/10+John+cooking.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5SED-ag-MOC5QJN3fcn3AJcruLG9ARFvlRFyVVi6Oh2IwWG8-Pm57tk8aynf25joRhOl_WUtVWzDgiZ8zHuJL_OE5gAi1S9VOd27EYQQ7zc7Xh9bsrvdIpRm-C0zeb2a1JmmACk7TeDqZ/s320/10+John+cooking.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">As the bocce games continued, John put the steaks & veggies on the grill.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEdJWRKtgNm93CrzqxihoKG0iY4uA56UMWgh5gFG85Vp6pDzdr5-IhyphenhyphenOO0QbVXvsjoFTFS6Tk1fxjFmS6GFs_42rdSfpYmATnyjHysQAIBDgwePb-lZNhzSz9dFBV91SfqqnnusOqgFyj/s1600/IMG_0561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEdJWRKtgNm93CrzqxihoKG0iY4uA56UMWgh5gFG85Vp6pDzdr5-IhyphenhyphenOO0QbVXvsjoFTFS6Tk1fxjFmS6GFs_42rdSfpYmATnyjHysQAIBDgwePb-lZNhzSz9dFBV91SfqqnnusOqgFyj/s320/IMG_0561.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Eventually, we sat down to dinner.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ApMsB0JMeJewhDKGBQAAIVgcD4cQjBYNIzL62HJ6JM27XhjBFltnsWb6shTZyZNsZhn4PhsywQfV2RM4_jP159vlIgplprKJtYGKJ7ItUobJGaRW01hMuNFI4woXRfk2QynCekBOargo/s1600/IMG_0562.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ApMsB0JMeJewhDKGBQAAIVgcD4cQjBYNIzL62HJ6JM27XhjBFltnsWb6shTZyZNsZhn4PhsywQfV2RM4_jP159vlIgplprKJtYGKJ7ItUobJGaRW01hMuNFI4woXRfk2QynCekBOargo/s320/IMG_0562.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">All agreed that it was a perfect evening for dining outside.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRvCFKAPIjqPKTfrEG7cbHulMqkfxTy59OpzsY6CyXkBXbV2gmPZWOZOY5S07AA-KbAQz3i9KoQvxDkznpNSvQadUjpDHdimY0eKTzcLbPU1sCO1nfJ4WAkPXbaiAcn-oubgMcNxtly3c/s200/IMG_0563.jpg" width="200" /> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span><img border="0" height="150" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZ5A01aoasG_LY1g_cF3b07fOJ3YdM3EvDliTvUYnLpLD0mHfdfZLpE7rUkzzDghLRkvjFvqNSb9_I0HnOZo6WrF-nZRlPmMvch4c0WeDACNYlFdfVm7vERLp7eCCv4EV898MAyxrrSdL/s200/IMG_0567.jpg" width="200" /></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">And the dinner received much praise.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Leslie Burma, Jackie Rubin & Javier </span><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Cardieo</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"> helped with all aspects of the dinner.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcG1_D0J7K6fH6oS23Vok96Xr_UPxmvJWann7EzPMGiEZcdpKFFQobq14gCuMscYGEfwXEElLEqU8YVJE9zZTwvym4ZvwMmAp5pdeSXmPhw7a6MPTDgtBcvyiW_6S-Yd6mBjeMvpKUkpiV/s1600/IMG_0565.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcG1_D0J7K6fH6oS23Vok96Xr_UPxmvJWann7EzPMGiEZcdpKFFQobq14gCuMscYGEfwXEElLEqU8YVJE9zZTwvym4ZvwMmAp5pdeSXmPhw7a6MPTDgtBcvyiW_6S-Yd6mBjeMvpKUkpiV/s320/IMG_0565.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">There were many toasts (that’s Bob & Lorna) celebrating our good fortune.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil91aU7Uhs56YyPli7ekRcl_VN1stTxiz4RC4DEf2NGEPVE1pYkCrtkT0mP5OLVIPvHJjg0pusRMKWW55ohPV0DKG73DsbsLxAf_Jp4lr9vTFKah2EycwQKjHLrjNPB3FYNt2ECqcJY848/s1600/Collage.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil91aU7Uhs56YyPli7ekRcl_VN1stTxiz4RC4DEf2NGEPVE1pYkCrtkT0mP5OLVIPvHJjg0pusRMKWW55ohPV0DKG73DsbsLxAf_Jp4lr9vTFKah2EycwQKjHLrjNPB3FYNt2ECqcJY848/s320/Collage.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fXH4itqy-k9OogMCagf4e-o0itIxQBIHAFbP34XZ24CkVhGMk4HzA_tc5TnqLoL3OHUJkLWQBUVu3vyScCPvTQzYD5jp-KI4h2Q5HC5EsF4M-FcISV_hyphenhyphengMFEAkR2vWJGlMbkmanYn2k/s1600/IMG_0569.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fXH4itqy-k9OogMCagf4e-o0itIxQBIHAFbP34XZ24CkVhGMk4HzA_tc5TnqLoL3OHUJkLWQBUVu3vyScCPvTQzYD5jp-KI4h2Q5HC5EsF4M-FcISV_hyphenhyphengMFEAkR2vWJGlMbkmanYn2k/s320/IMG_0569.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Dessert was served with our (soon to be released) </span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Late Harvest Chardonnay, as the sun set.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">The following week, we received a very kind & gracious note from Lorna Wood:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Larry,</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">We all want to thank you and your brothers very much for the fabulous time we had last weekend. Sharing your "mountain" with us, the view, the history, the stories were all tremendous; but then teaching us bocce and cooking up a awesome dinner to have with your first class wines were the creme de la creme. It was an event we all will remember and will be hard to top!</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">I attached some pictures for your album. Thanks again - we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";"></span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif";">Lorna Wood, Bob Long, Erika Vogler, Mel and Rosemary Gafner, & Bob and Jan Polichino </span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?HowellMountainVG/c07ce75fc9/9bd1cfd650/7e1daefbf3/eventid=953260"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK282Y2IECyKBh0wh7zHMr8jjNx4SlkAdKsZ2o6H_CEHogXJiFPIxLOMbp7onSkav5MLZHIAD7Dfy-tbSwdcewE73rSgiei-k37HxJhZLhNhp5z_ntAoVcD__jGiFxgdpqPuQp5y9CDmJs/s1600/TOHM+2011.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK282Y2IECyKBh0wh7zHMr8jjNx4SlkAdKsZ2o6H_CEHogXJiFPIxLOMbp7onSkav5MLZHIAD7Dfy-tbSwdcewE73rSgiei-k37HxJhZLhNhp5z_ntAoVcD__jGiFxgdpqPuQp5y9CDmJs/s320/TOHM+2011.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">We intend to offer the same auction item at this year’s Taste of Howell Mountain, for those of you that might be interested.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As the event gets closer, you will be able to get more information and see the auction lots listed here:</span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.howellmountain.org/"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">http://www.howellmountain.org/</span></a></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">You need not be present to win!</span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">If you want to bid on an auction lot, but cannot attend, please contact: </span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Pristina; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">Claudia J. Chittim</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">Executive Director</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">Howell Mountain Vintners & Growers Assoc.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">2260 First Avenue</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">Napa, Ca 94558</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">707-252-6229 – phone<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";">Email: </span><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:claudiachittim@gmail.com">claudiachittim@gmail.com</a></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif";"></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAryCcNINir5yZL5PeD6lzRUHUdamKakYsg6zG2x7dk4eMTjqU8HA-WY8S_M7rYL6cpumIjBRIgIdG2HWamZgVcWmFXQXe9rk_3Ihy7aaEvmcErp2TfMJIBKtOMxGHW7ftP1WN4lM1XCr/s1600/11+panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAryCcNINir5yZL5PeD6lzRUHUdamKakYsg6zG2x7dk4eMTjqU8HA-WY8S_M7rYL6cpumIjBRIgIdG2HWamZgVcWmFXQXe9rk_3Ihy7aaEvmcErp2TfMJIBKtOMxGHW7ftP1WN4lM1XCr/s320/11+panorama.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Above picture created by Leslie Burma</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-26737478156628027552011-04-19T15:12:00.000-07:002011-04-19T15:12:43.748-07:00The Cork Board: 2008 Buckeye, Howell Mountain Cab Release Day<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On Saturday, April 9th, we released our 2008 Buckeye Vineyard, Howell Mountain Cab. It was very well attended and I've been meaning to write a short post on the event. But my </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">procrastination has paid off. Someone else did it for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Trevor Jonas, of The Cork Board, and his lovely photographer attended the event that day. Trevor wrote about their visit and included several high quality pictures in:</span><br />
<h1 aptureproxy="557" class="entry-title"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><a href="http://www.uncork29.com/blog/2011/04/19/a-recap-of-the-pina-napa-valley-2008-howell-mountain-buckeye-vineyard-release-day/">A recap of the Piña Napa Valley 2008 Howell Mountain Buckeye Vineyard Release Day</a></em></span></h1><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thanks Trevor!</span>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-9660558863753859842011-02-22T07:59:00.000-08:002011-02-22T07:59:23.488-08:00Snow in the Napa Valley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHZ6gbKjZsB64BL9-3LscBnGOuILvmqGLe02KZkEsJLCapQZp1NvUf4FUV0-tlu2uRWYIKwlYK-sCARV5wh4gB4eGtozHISlmYQUyb0Pc9ByDTw66EynmiQ3p13BtIZtVHJus1wqC2nWC/s1600/Mt.+Veeder+Snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHZ6gbKjZsB64BL9-3LscBnGOuILvmqGLe02KZkEsJLCapQZp1NvUf4FUV0-tlu2uRWYIKwlYK-sCARV5wh4gB4eGtozHISlmYQUyb0Pc9ByDTw66EynmiQ3p13BtIZtVHJus1wqC2nWC/s320/Mt.+Veeder+Snow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We don't see a lot of snow here in Napa Valley. So when I was traveling down the Yountville Crossroads last Saturday morning, I stopped to take a picture of the snow on Mt. Veeder. I wasn't going to include this in a post since the great majority of Americans would probably respond with: "You call THAT snow?"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Piña Vineyard Management (not to be confused with Piña Napa Valley) cares for lots of vineyards in the valley. There is a foreman assigned to each of the properties. When I got to work this morning, I received the following pictures taken by Jesus Hernandez. Jesus oversees the Pahlmeyer Vineyards east of Napa, and sent these pictures, also taken Saturday morning:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKlYqIlKGLHeWtrZFKeP46OoLIcbStOOn7iTICfIo16ooPDhTVbnfwftRyWV96rB7s_XdfECXumCs0GoAorh7Hj6SMPeIIdivy1CRpTiHUoQ4qxWf-9fjZfwwJosE6ZGxp62PY438f-EY/s1600/Pahlmeyer+Snow+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKlYqIlKGLHeWtrZFKeP46OoLIcbStOOn7iTICfIo16ooPDhTVbnfwftRyWV96rB7s_XdfECXumCs0GoAorh7Hj6SMPeIIdivy1CRpTiHUoQ4qxWf-9fjZfwwJosE6ZGxp62PY438f-EY/s320/Pahlmeyer+Snow+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxP4M4X_nxPKhItwKXwm6DMBDpO4g2j93DT6PMtVZgkt7NtBTgGYxgLEAHlxwJyA0YCots0N7Pic4Vs2wlPvHqCaA6Z8l3DPR3pcQGwJf0EU8CWkOh8_yvkkcBlRInmoaAhrm8DkgYeDx/s1600/Pahlmeyer+Snow+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxP4M4X_nxPKhItwKXwm6DMBDpO4g2j93DT6PMtVZgkt7NtBTgGYxgLEAHlxwJyA0YCots0N7Pic4Vs2wlPvHqCaA6Z8l3DPR3pcQGwJf0EU8CWkOh8_yvkkcBlRInmoaAhrm8DkgYeDx/s320/Pahlmeyer+Snow+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thanks for the pictures, Jesus!</span></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555185383549273445.post-90613316563131078412011-02-09T15:28:00.000-08:002011-02-09T15:28:38.190-08:00Optical Grape Sorter to the Rescue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVrlONHziUjiKkYCnX2gkwLlPq_jRA1Qns5tnEdOAbwJhQl6E4NHwF4mhFxf0llM9i2fj9VKnJVVWoB87iBn0hswlTGoq2icGdN4lhuXL9HMOK85QkDPwqQLlcivMaefPVhH5oFyNfXeEQ/s1600/Optical+Sorter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVrlONHziUjiKkYCnX2gkwLlPq_jRA1Qns5tnEdOAbwJhQl6E4NHwF4mhFxf0llM9i2fj9VKnJVVWoB87iBn0hswlTGoq2icGdN4lhuXL9HMOK85QkDPwqQLlcivMaefPVhH5oFyNfXeEQ/s320/Optical+Sorter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><strong>So what do you think this mechanical monster is and does?</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">2010 was a difficult year for most grape growers in the Napa Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was unseasonably cool through most of the growing season and the grapes were maturing later than usual. Notice that I didn’t say it was an abnormal year. That would imply that some years are normal and it doesn’t seem that we’ve had anything I could refer to as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“normal year” in a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tedious leafing had exposed the grapes to direct sunlight, just as planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just when we were beginning to think that we might make it to harvest without any major concerns, we got hit with a heat wave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an intense heat wave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was as if Mother Nature woke up and decided to make amends for the cool summer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">Things looked bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had grapes turning to raisins, especially on the sunny side of the clusters. I have read, and believe, that the single most important factor for quality wines is a uniform crop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But with the raisins, our crop was less than uniform.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">Anna, our winemaker, suggested a fairly expensive solution to this dilemma. She suggested we use an optical sorter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had to decide between spending lots of money for top quality grapes or producing something less than top quality wines. When we looked at it that way, we had no choice.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">So our good friends at Walsh Vineyard Management had an optical sorter that we could rent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">So what exactly does an optical sorter do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the amazing part.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">An optical sorter looks at each berry and decides if it is worthy of being made into quality wine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Did you catch that … “each berry”? </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">So how does it do that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Thomas Ulrich, in an article for <u>Wines & Vines</u>, described the process like this:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 8pt;">“The destemmer detached berries from the stalks by moving clusters of grapes along a pair of vibrating inline berry separators. The fruit fell onto a notched roller sorting table that pushed the stems and other debris over the side of the machine and moved the berries into the optical sorter. A vibrating table carried them to a rope conveyor made up of 99 parallel cords that aligned what was left of the harvest for a final inspection.<br />
<br />
The optical sorter photographed the berries and extraneous debris as they moved towards the ejection jets located at the end of the rope conveyor. The jets fired as seeds, jacks, raisins and imperfect berries cleared the end of the conveyor, hurtling them toward a waste bin. Momentum from the rope conveyor carried the unblemished grapes past a threshold and into a bin set aside for collecting the harvest.”</span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">In this YouTube video, you can see the optical sorter in operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, you can’t see the air jets actually blasting away at the substandard berries, but you can see the speed at which the berries travel down the conveyor. As you watch the video, keep in mind that each of those speeding berries is closely evaluated before they can make it past the air jets and into the “keep” bin.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/vfHz-ULzlCE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">Technology helped us survive yet another difficult growing year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 10pt;">We’re due for Mother Nature to give us a normal year, whatever that is.</span></div>Ranndy Piñahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07801410226201175920noreply@blogger.com0