Piña Napa Valley

Daniel Brennan - Our 2011 Winery Intern... ???

2011-11-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

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

Daniel Brennan, in his words:

I was born in Syracuse, New York, the second son of James & Joyce Brennan. My older brother is James Joseph IV and he is my best friend to this day. My mother was 18 and my father was 19 years old when ‘Jamie’ was born. I was born 3 years later in October while my father was amidst football season at Syracuse University. We all lived together in married housing on the campus of the university. When my father graduated we moved to Delran, NJ to live with my mother’s parents, Michael and Stella Rodolico. Most of the Rodolico family lived in South Philadelphia and shared a modest summer house in Wildwood, New Jersey. My father’s family is from both the Fairmont section of Philadelphia and West Philadelphia.

When I was in my second year of life my sister, Bethann was born. My sister Theresa was born two years later. 10 years and one week after Jamie was born, my sister Kathleen arrived. I talk, email, text and visit with my sisters, their husbands and their growing families frequently.

I spent my youth in a big family with most of my relatives and extended family nearby. Though we have a very close family, there has always been someone from the family in Europe. 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. Every so often he would dock in Philadelphia and we as kids would get to explore ‘his’ boat. My grandfather Michael Rodolico is the greatest person I have ever known. 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. Some think Robert never really came back from that first trip to Corfu. So an eye was always on the old world and my sense of adventure quietly kept me intrigued in the travelers of the family.

My parents had all their children at a young age. They had many close friends from their childhood still around as when I was young. Our house was action packed. There was always something happening. We all played sports, usually on multiple teams at once. And without actually realizing it, we had a great childhood. 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. When I was in 8^th grade, my cousin Jeff was hit by a car while riding his bicycle home one afternoon. We lost Jeff that day at the age of nine. It crushed our family, especially my Uncle Timmy, but we all battled through. Uncle Tim is my Godfather, one of the funniest people I have ever met and we remain close to this day.

I went to St. Peter’s Parochial School in Riverside, NJ. However, in 5^th grade I grew fed up with the education I was receiving. The atmosphere was miserable and I wasn’t feeling challenged. I rebelled and asked to be switched to a new class. The old Catholic school was reluctant to say the least. But in the end I was granted the opportunity to switch teachers. 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. Still, I was very unhappy and bored and left the school the following year. During those years of 5^th and 6^th grade my father took on a new employee at his small trucking company. Tom Connors Senior had moved up from South Carolina with his son, Tommy, ahead of his wife and 4 daughters. Tommy Connors was almost exactly 1.5 years older than me and 1.5 younger than my brother. Tommy spent most nights at our house with me and my brother. He taught me how to play guitar. We started a sort of duo-band and played together at our school’s talent show. We opened and closed the show. I’m fairly certain that was my musical peak at age 13.

Later that year I transferred to Chester Avenue Middle School for 7^th grade. The school ranged from 6^th to 8^th grade, a good range of early adolescence. I had a great deal of fun at this school and it opened my world up. 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. This included my older brother and three sisters. I felt the need to do well and prove to them that it was the best move. Classes were more challenging and diverse. I received very good grades and in 8^th grade, I ran for class president and won. I’m very certain that was my political peak at age 15.

I have many friends I still keep in touch with today from my hometown who I met during my middle school years. However, the next year I was to go to Holy Cross High School in South Jersey. This again opened my world up and my circle of friends grew. I was now attending the only parochial school in the largest county of the heavily populated state of New Jersey. Some students commuted up to 60 miles each way. I, however, walked most days as it was actually closer to my house then the public high school in the town. 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. I kept very busy throughout the year.

Jamie and Danny behind the bar at McCrossen's Tavern

When I was a sophomore in high school my father and Uncle Michael (my mother’s brother) partnered up in business. 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 or we went into the Fairmont area to visit with my Father’s side of the family. My father’s Uncle Neil McCrossen owned and ran a bar that had been in the family since prohibition. It was not really a place for kids. It was called McCrossens but was better known as ‘The Dustbowl’. No sign was out front on the converted brick row home that was built in 1852 on the corner of 20^th & Nectarine (just south of Spring Garden St.). Our Uncle Neil was a consummate gentleman behind the bar. He could settle any argument with a smile, reason and good old fashion Irish diplomacy. But Uncle Neal was ready to move on with an ailing wife at home and was growing tired of the business. My father, mother and Uncle Michael purchased the bar, the license and the row home next door. The renovation was a family affair and it opened as one of the first gastro pubs in Philadelphia when I was 17. My brother began to bartend there when I was 18. A new reality had arrived. McCrossen’s Tavern had opened blocks from the Philadelphia Art Museum. I became cosmopolitan overnight.

When I was a junior in High School I traveled to Italy. It was a rare and amazing journey that took me from Rome, to Salerno, down to Messina and onto the ferry to Sicily. I will never forget the ferry ride to Sicily, a truly pacifying moment. It was the exact moment I realized I would travel the rest of my life. 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.

The Greek Amphitheater in Taormina, Sicily near Mt. Etna

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. I was awarded some grant money and special consideration because I was a student athlete. But it was by no means a scholarship. I played in 8 or 9 games as a defensive end for the University football team while experiencing occasional back issues. The following summer I slipped three discs in my back while working out and my career ended right then. I had once again reached the peak of another career. However, this in hindsight was one of the more fortunate occurrences of my life. I suddenly had more free time. I began bartending illegally at the age of 19 and eventually got a job at one of the best bars in Georgetown.

In 1997 I traveled on an exchange to Leuven, Belgium. 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. I consciously decided to study something that both intrigued me and would not choose as a career. 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. I applied for an internship with the European Parliament. This was before the Euro currency and the expansion of the EU. It was a very exciting time and I was living in the heart of Europe, just outside Brussels. 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. The other days of the week I studied European Community history, European Art History and European Economics. I wondered a bit through Europe and even surprised and an old girlfriend in Seville, Spain. I saw a Flamenco show there and I still remember the entire experience vividly. It was the best guitar playing I had ever seen or heard.

Throughout college I would visit home and spend many hours either working or hanging out at McCrossen’s Tavern. It always felt exciting to be at McCrossen’s in those early days. The new American food movement had begun. Until then it was virtually unheard of for a Tavern to have excellent food, especially in Philly. Our combination of a cozy tavern atmosphere and finer and comfort cuisine was a big hit. We poured strong drinks, served good wine and had some very fun and interesting people working at the establishment. I quickly knew many people and places throughout the city.

During my tenure at CUA, I threw two very large parties in my backyard. It was a true team effort of characters that put these debacles together. We were not a fraternity, just a group of highly motivated socialites of various talents. 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. 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 of profit to split between eleven guys . When all was said in done, no real damage occurred, and the headlining band asked me to become their manager.

Seeking Homer shot from backstage at Irving Plaza, New York City,

February 2001. Photograph by Andrew Kelly.

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. Tommy Connors was the lead guitar player and one of the singers. He, as it turned out, had not hit his musical peak. Seeking Homer was an Americana Rock and Jam band with 3-part-harmonies, interesting song writing and a tight sound. They quickly became known as a great, hard-working touring act throughout the eastern part of the USA. In 2000 we released a live album from the legendary Wetlands in Tribeca, NYC. 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. On their 2^nd 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. For a brief time, we were flung into the national spotlight.

On September 11^th 2001, like most people in New York, we all lost many friends. It was a scary and odd time to be in New York. I still don’t think a large part of the country truly understands that. I’ll never forget driving across the George Washington Bridge on September 13^th, 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. Everyone around NYC during that time had those feelings for months and months.

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. 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. My passion for wine increased and my desire for a new career was increasing. 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. I began looking for schools throughout the world in early 2007.

During the time I spent working at McCrossen’s I was always intrigued by New Zealand wines. My parents had went there on their very belated honeymoon and 25^th wedding anniversary. Maybe I was jealous that someone in the family had traveled that far. In January of 2008 I moved to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand and began studying full time at the Eastern Institute of Technology. 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. Jenny quickly pulled me into the winery where I became obsessed with the process. It was a strange time at TeAwa though and I will never forget the way the owners treated the employees there. Shortly after Jenny left I went to work at Vidal Estate, one of New Zealand’s oldest and respected producers. 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. It was all I could do to keep my head above water. 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.

Jenny Dobson, Winemaker

I made my first wine in 2008, an un-oaked Chardonnay. I thought it was pretty OK and I brought some home on a trip in December and people really enjoyed it. In 2009 while working at Vidal, Jenny introduced me to Philip Horn at Unison Vineyard, where she had become the consultant winemaker. They graciously allowed me to make a bit of Malbec in their winery. I was there so much that they eventually hired me later that year. I was incredibly happy to be working for Jenny again. Her ties to the old world, passion for everything wine and her willingness to share it with young winemakers is unmatched.

Ocean Beach, Hawkes Bay, my local beach

I also partnered up with a friend’s father to begin Sauvignon Blanc production. It was a loose agreement but we sorted it out. All the while I had been working the emails and phones back to the USA. In June of 2009 I released my first two wines at McCrossen’s Tavern. This was a dream come true and one I look to repeat for the rest of my life.

In 2010 I continued my work with Jenny at Unison Vineyard and also finished my 3 year degree at EIT. During my last year I did a research project through EIT on foliar seaweed sprays and their effect on harvest parameters and botrytis.

I spent most of December 2010 and January 2011 on the east coast of the USA setting up my business and establishing the Decibel brand in a few states. 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. Though that wasn’t the only reason why I realized I missed New Zealand very much.

My Malbec Harvest

Working at Unison Vineyard

I returned on February 1^st 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. This is home.

I set up my office at my new residence. Harvest was a wet one in most of New Zealand this past year. I bought a new record player and we began playing vinyl and sitting on the back deck near the vines. As harvest began to wind down I began to apply for intern positions throughout California and Cahors, France. After a fairly short time, I took a position at Piňa Napa Valley where I quickly adjusted to the West Coast of the USA.

My experience at Piňa Napa Valley has been a very positive one. I particularly liked the opportunity to work in the various vineyards from which Piňa sources fruit. I learned a great deal and it has been a joy to work with people who take my input seriously as well. It was a challenging harvest but I think the wines are going to impress those who have the opportunity to drink them. I look forward to tasting these wines in a couple of years when they are released. I also look forward to keeping in touch with Macario, Anna and all four Piňa Brothers.

Enjoying a glass of wine on the back porch at

the house in The Triangle, Bridge Pa, Hawkes Bay

Cheers!

Pick grapes, Fight fires, Pick grapes...

2011-11-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

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.

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 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.

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.

Pick grapes, fight fires, pick grapes...

Napa Valley Night Harvesting - While you were sleeping...

2011-10-26T04:07:00.000-07:00

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8yft7o0btA

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SiZCEs507o

Armed forces visitors

2011-10-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

Godspeed, gentlemen. Stay safe!

Wine Club Event - July 23rd, 2011

2011-09-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

I think we delivered on those invitation promises.

We made a few changes to the event this year.

The biggest change was in the food department.

We had it catered. More on that below.

Once again, Davie talked "vineyards" on the deck.

While he gave his presentation

the wine flowed freely.

As usual, he brought vines & vine parts to help folks

understand what the heck he was talking about.

Due to the weird weather year, he was able to bring pre-bloom, bloom & post bloom samples, and explain the different stages of development.

Then it was time to take a walk in the vineyard above the deck.

It was a hands-on experience.

I was able to attend his presentation for a while and learned a few things myself.

But then I had to leave to start the Corn Hole tournament.

The tournamant prizes were impressive this year:

1st place was a 3 Liter of the '04 D'Adamo

2nd place was a 1.5 liter of the 05 Firehouse

3rd place was an '07 Mimbre

Not bad for 3rd place!

This shot provides an overall picture of the game with the 2 platforms and a bag sailing through the air.

As you will notice, pitching/lobbing/throwing/hucking & chucking styles varied considerably.

When all was said & done, the four winners were:

Will, Melody, Larry & Steve

So if we had 3 prizes, how did we end up with 4 winners?

That's easy... the tournamant director screwed up and had to make it right.

And Anna was asked to sign my mistake.

And in the food department

we did our best to convert the cellar appropriately.

Rolls & salads and

the Baron of Beef,

all professionally prepared & served by Inez & John.

Davie thanks John Sorensen for a job well done.

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!

Check out his website: http://sorensencatering.com/

Katherine, Anna & Larry

John, the old brother... Oops, I meant "Oldest"

Anna

Leslie giving out our gift bags that included a rose and a bottle of our Late Harvest Chardonnay.

Macario & Anna

Ranndy & son, Tyler

All of these great pictures were taken by Macario's Mom again this year.

My only complaint is that she didn't provide a picture of herself.

So I'm forced to re-use last year's picture:

In the picture above we have our Assistant winemaker

Macario, his Dad, Malaquias, and his Mom, Lezlie.

Thanks once again, Lezlie!

We thank you all for coming!

Ranndy, Davie, John & Larry

Dropping fruit on the ground... Intentionally!

2011-08-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

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.

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".

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.

What did we do to deserve dogs?

2011-08-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hawkeye lays by the casket during the funeral of his owner,

Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson, on August 19.

For those of you that haven't read the article and seen the above picture, here is the link:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44271018/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/?GT1=43001

By Scott Stump

TODAY.com contributor

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.

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.

Petty Officer 1st Class Jon T. Tumilson was killed along with other SEALs on Aug. 6 in Afghanistan.

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.

===============================

What did we do to deserve dogs?

"My goal is to someday be the person my dog thinks I am." - Author Unknown

Winery Dog Yogi, Part 4 – Yogi's window on the world at the beach

2011-08-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Yogi makes another friend!

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.

Our trailer at the beach is located at a busy intersection. Almost everybody that passes by takes the time to say Hello to Yogi, or give him a pat on the head.

Children will even stop and call for him if he's not there looking out his hole.

He's popular at the winery, too!

Yogi's a lucky dog, and we're lucky to have him!

The Setting Moon over the Mayacamas Mountains

2011-06-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Moon over Mayacamas

Photo courtesy of Joe Bauer

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)

According to the Farmers' Almanac, the June full moon is the Full Strawberry moon:

"Full Strawberry Moon – June 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!"

To checkout all the full moon names, click on this link:

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/

Bottling Day at Piña Napa Valley

2011-06-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

June 9th was bottling day at Piña Napa Valley.

Since we're not big enough to justify having our

own bottling line, the bottling line comes to us.

Macario on the forklift.

Inside the trailer, things are a bit tight.

This machine is putting the foils on the bottle.

This machine is "spinning" the foils on the bottle.

We don't have paper labels, or the bottling line

would be placing those on the bottles, too.

Here are the large format Mimbre bottles.

The Mimbre package design was the

first choice of 3 of the 4 brothers

(Okay, I'm warming up to it).

It's hard to visualize the size of the large format

bottles from the pictures, until you place a standard

750 ml Cahoots bottle in front of them.

Our winemaking team:

Anna Monticelli & Macario Montoya

Photos provided by John C. Piña

Celebrity Winery Visitors: J.J. Putz & Mr. Incredible

2011-05-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

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.

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?

And for those of you that need proof:

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.

Larry Piña, Larry (Mr. Incredible), J.J. Putz & Davie Piña

Thanks for the visit, gentlemen. It was great fun!

Mother's Day

2011-05-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

My goal was to finish this deck by Mother's Day

And, I made it - Here's remembering you, Mom!

From the deck you can see open fields with mounds on each side.

Those mounds are really stacks of vines that were removed by Piña Vineyard Management.

Those fields are being prepped for replanting.

We've been doing more vineyard redevelopment this year than last.

We think it's a good sign that the economy is improving.

Happy Mother's Day from the Piña brothers and staff!

Rutherford Passport Weekend - May 7th & 8th

2011-05-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

May 7th & 8th is the Rutherford Passport weekend, and we are participating.

Rutherford Appellation Wineries

The Rutherford Passport Weekend 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.

Rutherford Appellation Wineries 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.

Proceeds from the passport events 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 Rutherford Grange 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.

Click here to visit thewebsite: http://rutherford-appellation-wineries.com/index.php

Big Steaks & Big Cabs

2011-04-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

Every year we donate an auction item to the Taste of Howell Mountain fundraiser.

This is what the promotional ad for the event looked like for last year:

And, as the last lines notes: All proceeds benefit the Howell Mountain Elementary School.

Prior to last year, our auction lots were typically dinners for 20 - 24, served in the cellar.

But last year, we decided to offer a more intimate experience:

The winning bid came from Lorna Wood & Bob Long. The date agreed upon was April 16^th, 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.

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.

In the above picture, Davie is pointing out points of interest to the group.

One point of interest is the group of trees & buildings just over the folks in the picture. That is Plumpjack Winery.

In the enlarged picture above, is the home we grew up in until 1962.

More info on that is shared in another one of my posts.

Larry grilled sausages and served Piña Cellars Chardonnay. We stayed for the better part of an hour before returning to the winery.

Once back at the winery, Davie & I explained the rules of the game & officiated while our guests played Bocce.

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.

As the bocce games continued, John put the steaks & veggies on the grill.

Eventually, we sat down to dinner.

All agreed that it was a perfect evening for dining outside.

And the dinner received much praise.

Leslie Burma, Jackie Rubin & Javier Cardieo helped with all aspects of the dinner.

There were many toasts (that’s Bob & Lorna) celebrating our good fortune.

Dessert was served with our (soon to be released)

Late Harvest Chardonnay, as the sun set.

The following week, we received a very kind & gracious note from Lorna Wood:

Larry,

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!

I attached some pictures for your album. Thanks again - we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Lorna Wood, Bob Long, Erika Vogler, Mel and Rosemary Gafner, & Bob and Jan Polichino

We intend to offer the same auction item at this year’s Taste of Howell Mountain, for those of you that might be interested.

As the event gets closer, you will be able to get more information and see the auction lots listed here:

http://www.howellmountain.org/

You need not be present to win!

If you want to bid on an auction lot, but cannot attend, please contact:

Claudia J. Chittim

Executive Director

Howell Mountain Vintners & Growers Assoc.

2260 First Avenue

Napa, Ca 94558

707-252-6229 – phone

Email: claudiachittim@gmail.com

Above picture created by Leslie Burma

The Cork Board: 2008 Buckeye, Howell Mountain Cab Release Day

2011-04-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

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 procrastination has paid off. Someone else did it for me.

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:

A recap of the Piña Napa Valley 2008 Howell Mountain Buckeye Vineyard Release Day

Thanks Trevor!

Snow in the Napa Valley

2011-02-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

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?"

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:

Thanks for the pictures, Jesus!

Optical Grape Sorter to the Rescue

2011-02-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

So what do you think this mechanical monster is and does?

2010 was a difficult year for most grape growers in the Napa Valley. 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 “normal year” in a long time. Tedious leafing had exposed the grapes to direct sunlight, just as planned. 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. It was an intense heat wave. It was as if Mother Nature woke up and decided to make amends for the cool summer.

Things looked bad. 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. But with the raisins, our crop was less than uniform.

Anna, our winemaker, suggested a fairly expensive solution to this dilemma. She suggested we use an optical sorter. 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.

So our good friends at Walsh Vineyard Management had an optical sorter that we could rent.

So what exactly does an optical sorter do? This is the amazing part.

An optical sorter looks at each berry and decides if it is worthy of being made into quality wine.

Did you catch that … “each berry”? So how does it do that?

Thomas Ulrich, in an article for Wines & Vines, described the process like this:

“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.

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.”

In this YouTube video, you can see the optical sorter in operation. 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.

Technology helped us survive yet another difficult growing year. We’re due for Mother Nature to give us a normal year, whatever that is.

The Six B's of Exeter

2011-01-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

I want to share a fun response & picture I received in response to my last blog. It's from a fellow blogger, Steve, that I have never met. Steve has provided the most comments on my blog, and I appreciate it.

Ranndy,

Great post. Baseball coaches are second only to farmers for creating what they need. We made this to drag the fields. You can see the picture here. http://sixbeesofexeter.blogspot.com/2011/01/inventors.html The picture is during a parade to honor the school's 100 year anniversary.

I do like the versatility of the vehicle you saw.

Steve

Check out his blog at: http://sixbeesofexeter.blogspot.com/

Farmers as Inventors

2011-01-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

Cindy & I occasionally visit other winery tasting rooms. We’re both big Zin fans, but I have been unsuccessful is convincing my brothers that we should produce a Zin. So we tend to seek out wineries that make Zinfandels. Recently, we visited a winery in Lodi. We enjoyed their wines and talking to one of the owners. We bought several wines, and were headed to our next winery when I spotted this piece of equipment.

As Spock would say: Fascinating! This is a farmer built sulfur dusting machine converted from an old car. I circulated this picture among the Pina Vineyard Management employees. Nick, one of the younger employees, knew a lot more about its origin than I did: “That is a 1931 Model A Ford. The front wheels are 1928-1929 Model A. Very cool!!!!”. I asked Nick how he knew that and he said that his hobby is restoring old cars. It’s nice to see a member of the next generation have an interest in the vehicles of past generations.

Many of you will think: “Who cares? It’s an old piece of junk that should be recycled”. You folks should move on to another website, now. I'll just be wasting your time.

For the rest of you, I’ll point out a few of the things that drew my attention.

The brush guard causes the vine canes (branches) to be lifted up and over the machine when traveling down the vine rows. Without it, the machine would break off many branches. This guard is exceptionally tall due to those giant vines you see in that area.

The sulfur hopper is the “box” where the bags of sulfur are dumped prior to application.

The rear facing headlight illuminates the sulfur dust as it is being dispensed. At night, that’s necessary for the operator to see how much sulfur is being applied. If too much sulfur is applied prior to a very hot day, the leaves can be burned. The builder was very frugal using one of the 2 front headlights for this purpose.

I note the existing sulfur dispensing tube only to mention the opposite tube facing the other side of the row that is missing.

Seeing this machine reminded me of a spray rig that my brother John made over 40 years ago.

This is a very old picture of John sitting in his original creation. He added many upgrades in the following years. It has since been cut up & recycled, but it served us well for many years.

Growing up on a ranch, we didn't have young neighbors to play with. We spent a lot of time looking for activities to keep us busy and entertained. Our dad was probably a bit too lenient in letting us use his tools, even at very young ages. My specialty was disassembly, including electrical stuff. I got shocked more times than I can remember. I was always taking stuff apart to see what made it tick. Reassembly was another matter.

Brother Davie at 7 years of age in his 1960 “Hot Rod”
(Some of you may recognize this picture from an earlier post)

Most farming operations will have a farm shop to do necessary repairs and maintenance on equipment. The shop also allows farmers to fabricate tools & equipment making jobs easier. So, it’s only natural that lots of farmers are also inventors.

Pina Vineyard Management subscribes to a periodical called Farm Show… “For everyone in agriculture interested in latest new products and ideas. Carries no advertising!”

It’s a farmers forum, of sorts, sharing a wide variety of topics related to farming. Here is a sample:

I love to read and contemplate ideas presented by other farmers. Some are really great & creative, and some are really off the wall.

If you decide to use that method to “Unstuck” your tractor, be sure to read & heed the warning.

And who doesn’t need a bowling ball cannon? This is awesome stuff, I tell you!

Farm Show is published bi-monthly and is available only by paid subscription. For those of you that may want to find out more: www.farmshow.com

Starting back in the 1970’s, I subscribed to another great magazine: “Mother Earth News”. In the early years, it seemed a bit more “down home” in nature, and the presentation was a lot less polished than it is today. But, like Farm Show, they also present some unique ideas, and they present them on their website:

Natural Burial: Build an Eco-friendly Coffin and Plan a Green Funeral

Country Lore: Readers’ Tips to Live By
Make Sourdough Bread Like a Pro
Stone Cold — er, Warm!
Get a Handle on Hot Cookies
Newspaper Rolls in the Garden
Footies and Gloves to Go
Super Shakers
Peppermint Discourages Mice in Walls
Pruning Helps Old Fruit Trees Produce More Fruit
A Serving of Veggies in Every Slice
Hiccup Remedy
Think Inside the Box
Cut Down on Construction Waste
Solar Heating Savings
A Cheaper, Easier Face Mask

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/december-2010-january-2011.aspx#ixzz1BJZmKjGA

Happy Reading!

Ranndy

Mustard already? / Trellis systems

2011-01-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is mustard we're seeing already.

It seems to be out early this year, but maybe that is just because it's been so rainy & cold recently. I took these pictures on January 7th.

At one of the vineyards where I take Yogi to chase rabbits, they are in the middle of installing a new trellis system.

Look at all the hardware this new trellising has!

These are the ends of the rows at just one end, and there is a matching set at the other.

Each of the 6 trellis wires will be connected to these ratcheting devices, at each end. This will allow for easy tightening of the trellis wires over the years. Obviously, that convenience comes with a hefty price tag.

The neighboring vineyard shows the vigorous growth capable on the fertile valley floor (can you find Yogi in the picture?). This vineyard is in the process of being pruned.

In the opposite direction is an already pruned vineyard with Mt. St. Helena in the background.

Tha Fall Colors

2010-11-16T12:30:00.000-08:00

Someday I'd like to visit the New England states to enjoy the Fall colors. Until then, I can appreciate the colors I'm seeing daily in the Napa Valley. I snapped these pictures on my hike earlier today.

That string of yellow trees in the center of

the picture borders the Oakville Cross Roads

That's Skellenger Lane in the bottom area of the picture

Skellenger Lane is the closest cross street to

Piña Napa Valley on the Silverado Trail

Digger Pine & Buckeye trees on the left

Old barbed wire converging with older barbed wire

My cheap little camera does a fairly good job,

even taking short videos

and lastly, Yogi Bear enjoying life

And they all came home

2010-11-11T05:58:00.000-08:00

John, Al, Mike & Joe Pina

The above picture carries very special memories for me. I’m sure my brothers and numerous cousins feel the same way. It was proudly displayed in my grandparent’s living room. I hadn’t seen the picture for a very long time, but we recently borrowed it from one of my cousins, to have copies made.

The picture is of my dad (John) and 3 of his brothers. They all served overseas during WWII at the same time.

I don’t remember too many details of the contents of my grandparent’s house. I remember the glass coffee percolator almost as well as the picture. It fascinated me. I used to watch it closely to try to figure out what made the water shoot up to the top of the pot and drain through the coffee grounds. It was magic! So when I saw one for sale in a second hand shop years later, I just had to buy it. Still works great – I used it the weekend before last. Always reminds me of my grandparents. And even though I now know how it works, it’s still magical!

But I remembered the picture for other reasons. Sentiments that I can’t put into words. There were lots of war movies made during that era. Brave men fighting & dying in far-away places. My dad & my uncles had been to those far-away places and had experienced the horrors of war. But they didn’t talk about it much, at least not around us kids. So the war movies fed my imagination about their travels and combat experiences. And the picture symbolized all of it.

They have all passed on now. I wish I knew more about their war time experiences. In the Napa Register obituary for my uncle Al, it states: “During his tour of duty in Germany, he was able to meet up with two of his three brothers that were also serving in the Army.”

To the best of my memory, this is what brought the 3 of them together:

My father was in a tower at a prisoner of war camp in Germany when a storm knocked it down. He was injured and trapped under the framework. The prisoners had to help lift the tower to free him. Somehow, in this pre-cell phone era, his brothers found out that he was in the hospital. And two of them were able to make their way to the hospital to visit him. This was war-time Germany. How does something like that happen? The story may have involved a “borrowed” military jeep or truck and some unauthorized leave of absence, but to my knowledge, the story was never put in writing. And that’s a shame.

* * * * *

One of the reasons our grandfather left Spain in 1911 at the age of 21 was to avoid being drafted into the Spanish Military. At least that’s what we were told.

But in 1942, at the age of 52, my grandfather registered for the draft. He had become an American and was ready & willing to fight for his country.

He didn’t serve during WWII, but 4 of his sons did.

===================================================

The following is from one of my earlier posts:

On October 12, 1911, John M. Pina & Maria (Mary) Pavon (and her family) boarded the British Steamship Willisden at Gilbralter and left Spain. Thirty five years to the month later, the Napa Register would report the following:

Joseph Pina, of Rutherford, is the fourth

Pina boy to return safely from the war.

His three brothers, Alfonso, John Jr. and Mike,

all returned earlier.

Mike, John Jr., Joe, Alfonso

Yes, they all came home

So on this Veteran's Day, to all of our veterans,

our war dead, and those currently serving,

Thank you!

Meet Rachael Anne Simpson, our winery intern

2010-11-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

At one of the brothers meetings a while back, it was suggested that I do a blog about Rachael Simpson, our winery intern. Every year, we recruit an intern to help us through harvest at the winery. It's a big help to us and a great learning experience for them. We thought folks would find it interesting to read about our new, young intern from New Zealand. Well, we got busy with harvest, and now, she will be leaving us soon.

I asked Rachael to provide me with a short autobiography and this is what she wrote. I think you will want to read this. After all, how many (female) Highland dancers do you know that play Rugby on a men’s team and make wine?

* * * * *

My name is Rachael Anne Simpson, I am 23 years old, born and raised in Blenheim, Marlborough. A region of New Zealand well known around the world for growing wine and famous for the Sauvignon Blanc, a region where my family chose to call home. My mother Nicola Anne Simpson, preferred name Nicky, was born in Blenheim and grew up locally whereas my father Bryan Graydon Simpson was born in a town out of Nelson called Motueka. I have an older brother named Jeremy and a younger sister Emily (AKA George). I miss my family only wishing I could share this experience with them.
The town I grew up in is quite small and the town centre wasn’t so far away 15 minutes walking distance or 5 minutes by bike. I started highland dancing when I was four years old after finding ballet was not what I enjoyed. I thoroughly enjoyed Highland as I got to wear a Kilt, also other costumes, also winning a few prizes in national competitions. My mum also enjoyed highland and was a great teacher to myself and my sister when she took it on. Over the years I also took on Jazz, Hip Hop and Rock n Roll. I also love playing sport and being outdoors, I play touch rugby in New Zealand with a social team of friends during the summer months and have recently joined up with a team in St Helena where I am currently living playing twice a week, being the only girl has been a challenge but alot of fun.
It was in primary school where I learnt to speak Maori, New Zealand’s most native language. Finishing primary school and only one College or Secondary School to attend being Marlborough Girls' college I began my secondary education in 2000. I completed 5 years at High School, leaving not knowing where I wanted to go. Working at Montana Brancott Winery/Restaurant as a part time job during my school days gaining some knowledge with wine and knowing someone in the cellar I decided to try a harvest season at montana also known as Pernod Ricard. Thoroughly enjoying my first vintage in 2006 meeting great people from all over the world and loving the work I stayed for a further 10 months before finding a job with Delegats, Oyster Bay winery in Marlborough.

Oyster Bay is Australia’s top selling white wine and is very well known in the United Kingdom and United States of America. Beginning work in December 2006 I have recently finished my fourth harvest for Oyster Bay and fifth harvest since leaving school. When starting at Delegats I felt I had to learn procedures all over again as fittings and equipment were all called something different from Montana, new slang for equipment and different ways of doing things but I loved every minute. I enjoy the team I work with and I have learnt a lot throughout my years in the winery. Its a huge change coming from processing around 20,000 tonnes of fruit to around 50 tonnes, I am loving the hands on work and learning more and more every day.
We have recently blended our part of our Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Wine at 2 Million liters it was an incredibly big job where I was comfortable supervising as last June I was promoted to Lead Cellar hand and remain the youngest in the cellar. I would love to travel the world and meet people and learn new things. Wine making has become more than a job it has become a dream and a dream that I can’t wait to fulfill. I feel I have grown a lot working closely with people from all around the world who share the same interests and taking on a Supervisory Role over 2010 Vintage seen me grow even more.
I decided at the beginning of June 2010 that I wanted to come to America. I started emailing around with my boss putting my name forward for a winery on the Silverado Trail but getting an email reply saying that all vacancies had been filled. I waited to hear from some other places then I got an email from someone named Anna Monticelli from Pina Cellars. She had heard through the "grapevine" that I was looking for a job so after a few emails back and forth I agreed to come to the Napa Valley. Getting my working visa was a lengthy process and I finally received the papers I needed a week before I had to leave.

I love trying new foods but highly dislike cheese. I am a little bit lactose intolerable but love ice cream. I enjoy making home-made pizzas and enjoy cooking full stop, the reward is sitting down to eat it. I am enjoying trying new wines and learning about the world of wine, the huge range of grapes and styles. I would love to be a Wine Maker one day and I am also interested in Wine Marketing and think this would reflect and highlight my creative side.
I decided to come overseas to learn from life experiences and learn so much about myself and my beliefs and the beliefs of others. So far I have got to see a new side of the world, a new culture, music, even food. I am thoroughly enjoying myself and I am having a wonderful time getting to know new people and hearing their stories and telling them mine. I am thoroughly enjoying the company of the Pina Crew and know I will find it hard to leave as I’m having way too much fun but I know it will never be a goodbye just a See Ya Later.

Jeremy, Bryan, Rachael, Nicky & George - My Grandads 70th Birthday

Jeremy & Rachael

Jeremy (Brother) and Bryan (Dad) - They are firefighters in Blenheim as Volunteer and here they are competing in Dunedin NZ as part of the Road Crash Rescue Team. They have multiple events where they cut dummies out of cars and compete against the nation. Blenheim came 3rd.

They got their helmets all specially airbrushed with flames.

Beth is my Best Friend and we are celebrating my 21st in Blenheim, Marlborough.

Myself and George (Sister), In Nelson NZ, Watching a local team Tasman Makos play rugby

Rachael, the Piña brothers join me in wishing you “Happy Trails” - Ranndy

Do you know what they call the September full moon?

2010-09-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

After reading my post "Harvest under a full moon", Lori Bauer (AKA Sis O'Bauer) sent me a question: Do you know what they call the September full moon?

I'm guessing that many of you will come up with the same knee-jerk response to that question that I did: The Harvest Moon. And most often, that is correct, but not always.

The Nasa Science News website states the following:

"The Harvest Moon gets its name from agriculture. In the days before electric lights, farmers depended on bright moonlight to extend the workday beyond sunset. It was the only way they could gather their ripening crops in time for market. The full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox became "the Harvest Moon," and it was always a welcome sight."

Did you notice that nowhere in there does it mention September? That's because the Harvest Moon is not always in September.

Sis (I adopted her as my sister several years ago) also provided me with a link that would answer her question. The link was to the Farmer's Almanac... so I went there and read the following:

"• Full Corn Moon – September This full moon’s name is attributed to Native Americans because it marked when corn was supposed to be harvested. Most often, the September full moon is actually the Harvest Moon.

• Full Harvest Moon – October This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering."

Isn't that fun stuff to know? Turns out that every month has a unique name for their full moons. Can you match the month to the following full moons?:

Full Sturgeon Moon - Full Strawberry Moon - Full Snow Moon - Full Pink Moon - The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon - Full Wolf Moon - The Full Buck Moon - Full Snow Moon - Full Worm Moon - Full Flower Moon - Full Beaver Moon

Every one of those full moon names is explained at the Farmer's Almanac website:

www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/

Now getting back to the Nasa Science News website info, we are told

"Watch out for the Super Harvest Moon

Sept. 22, 2010: For the first time in almost 20 years, northern autumn is beginning on the night of a full Moon. The coincidence sets the stage for a "Super Harvest Moon" and a must-see sky show to mark the change of seasons.

The action begins at sunset on Sept 22nd, the last day of northern summer. As the sun sinks in the west, bringing the season to a close, the full Harvest Moon will rise in the east, heralding the start of fall. The two sources of light will mix together to create a kind of 360-degree, summer-autumn twilight glow that is only seen on rare occasions.

Keep an eye on the Moon as it creeps above the eastern skyline. The golden orb may appear strangely inflated. This is the Moon illusion at work. For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, a low-hanging Moon appears much wider than it really is. A Harvest Moon inflated by the moon illusion is simply gorgeous.

...

The Harvest Moon gets its name from agriculture. In the days before electric lights, farmers depended on bright moonlight to extend the workday beyond sunset. It was the only way they could gather their ripening crops in time for market. The full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox became "the Harvest Moon," and it was always a welcome sight.

This one would be extra welcome because it is extra "Harvesty." Usually, the Harvest Moon arrives a few days to weeks before or after the beginning of fall. It's close, but not a perfect match. The Harvest Moon of 2010, however, reaches maximum illumination a mere six hours after the equinox. This has led some astronomers to call it the "Harvestest Moon" or a "Super Harvest Moon." There hasn't been a comparable coincidence since Sept 23, 1991, when the difference was about 10 hours, and it won't happen again until the year 2029.

A Super Harvest Moon, a rare twilight glow, a midnight conjunction—rarely does autumn begin with such celestial fanfare.

Enjoy the show! "

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/22sep_harvestmoon/

==================

And lastly, for those of you old enough to know who Laurel & Hardy were:

Laurel & Hardy "Shine On Harvest Moon" (1939)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qZZapTHFo

Harvest under a full moon...

2010-09-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

I was on my way to work just before 5:00 this beautiful morning (Wed 9-22) and just had to stop and take a picture of this harvest in progress under the lights and what I thought was a full moon. After checking an online calendar, I see that technically, the full moon won't be until 1:18 AM, tomorrow morning.

The information above was copied from this website:

http://www.sunrisesunset.com/usa/California.asp

As you can see, there's lots of information in that calendar.

Some of it you may not be familiar with, such as Twi, Twi N, Twi A.

Well, this site is kind enough to define those terms for us.

(Click on the above to enlarge)

Hopefully, you've learned something as I did the first time I visited this site.

So if you are in the Napa Valley, please consider getting up in the early morning

hours tomorrow to take a drive and witness night time harvesting under a full moon.

It doesn't happen that often.

The Cornhole Champion and Wine Club members at the Wine Club event

2010-09-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

I'm getting old. I forget stuff.

That last post about the Wine Club event included several pictures

of the Cornhole Tournament, but didn't divulge the overall winner.

Tournament Champion Chris, with his magnum and the 4 Pina brothers.

Congratulations Chris!

Now, on to our other guests...

Allan & Suzanne

Brad & Leanne

Patty & Bruce (Center) with guests Deanna, Chris, Cam & Jeff

Dan & Cindy

Felix & his son, Chris

Fred & Candy

John & Shizuka

Malaquias & Macario Montoya

Erica & Michael (Right) with guests Mike & Heather

Mik & Ann with guest Kathy (left)

Ron & Maybelene

(Nice shirt, Ron!)

Starla & Steve

Tom & Randy

Paula & Virginia

Will & Peggy, son Devon & Talia

Well folks, I think I got everybody, but I could be wrong. If you had your picture taken, but didn't see it here, send me a note. Lezlie Montoya did an excellent job of taking pictures & labeling them. If your picture is missing or labeled incorrectly, it was probably my fault.

Now, for all you folks that read all the way to the end: If you come by the winery before Nov 1st and say that you are a fan of the PNV blog, you can taste for free and get $10 off of a bottle of wine.

Wine Club Event - July 17, 2010

2010-09-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, July 17th, Piña Napa Valley

hosted their Annual Wine Club Party.

We added a vineyard tour to our Wine Club Event this year. We brought in a nice van and took our club members to a vineyard perched on the side of the hill way above the winery.

On the way up & back, Davie explained about our farming practices and answered questions about the various vineyard operations.

Everybody seemed very impressed by the view.

That's Groth to the center-left of the picture.

The tours went on throughout the day as Larry's daughter Katherine

and her husband David (Capponi) prepared a fantasic meal.

In the picture above we have our Assistant winemaker

Macario, his Dad, Malaquias, and his Mom, Lezlie,

who took almost all of the pictures in this post.

Thanks Lezlie!

All the while, lots of wines were tasted.

Our winemaker, Anna, provided barrel samples using a wine thief.

Clare decanted our big reds prior to serving.

Sarah & Katherine

And, of course, there was the ever popular cornhole

tournament with a Magnum of Pina going to the winner.

Yogi got lots of attention from the pretty ladies

John & Macario

Larry's grandson, Giancarlo Capponi, learns to use a wine thief

Davie

Stay tuned... the next blog will have pictures of our wine club members & guests

Davie Piña & Congressman Mike Thompson at the Rutherford Chili Ball

2010-08-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

Davie's been at it again, getting some recognition from our member of the U.S. Congress, Mike Thompson (who grew up in St. Helena), for his efforts at restoring the Napa River. These were taken Sunday night, August 8th, at the annual "Chili Ball," which is put on by the Rutherford Dust Society (a group promoting the wines and viticulture of the area). Davie wore two hats at the event: he's on the board of that organization, and also helped put on a demo by the Rutherford fire dept. This generally involves letting little kids squirt water out of the fire hose!

Go your own way...

2010-06-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

Go your own way . . .

By Ross Workman

There is so much written about wine in the periodicals, and now that the blogosphere is accessible for everybody with a laptop, we are overwhelmed by a sea of conflicting opinions telling us what is right and wrong and how to think about and enjoy wine. For example, I was amazed to learn recently from two impeccable wine pundits that one could never truly understand a wine unless he traveled to the place whence it came and imbibed the atmosphere and culture of the place. Apparently terroir is a broader and deeper concept than we had understood it to be; it affects the drinker as well as the wine. And we mere mortals thought it was what was in the bottle that mattered. And talk about smashing idols, we are also told that the uber wine maven E. Robert Parker himself had written about Spanish wines for years before ever having set foot there! Show me your bullfight tickets before I will read your tempranillo review, or you are just an imposter, according to this newly revealed truth.

I have spent a lot of time with wine drinkers, many of them serious, some obsessed, in Napa Valley tasting rooms, soirees and dining rooms where wine-talk predominates. And I have concluded that, as a law school professor told me long ago, “We all just have to go to hell our own way.” There is just too much variability amongst us mortals for many proffered “truths” about wine to be universally applicable. Some examples might illustrate.

Young wine or old wine? I know two winery proprietors who both love cabernet sauvignon (the California version), but differ completely about when it tastes best to them. One prefers the wines within a year or two after release. The other finds them much better with 8 or 10 years of age, and sometime magical with 15+ years. Both are lifelong winery professionals who fully understand the different charms of a young fresh, vivid cab versus a mature evolved one. They just have different personal preferences. Neither one is wrong; each follows his own lights. It’s like one guy prefers his eggs over easy and the other one scrambled. There is no objective right or wrong here. You go to hell your own way.

Red vs. white. I have recently poured wine for two mature, sophisticated wine drinkers, one of whom said he could only abide red wines and never touched whites. The other exclusively drank whites. Those struck me as pretty limiting stances, but I could not tell either one he was wrong. If I myself had to choose only one type of wine, it would probably be sparkling. Fortunately the choices are myriad.

High alcohol levels. A dinner guest recently told me she didn’t drink high alcohol wines because she didn’t like the taste of alcohol. Since alcohol doesn’t have much taste for me, I asked her what it tastes like. She couldn’t say, but she had been persuaded (probably by an “expert”) that what she didn’t like about a particular wine was the “high” alcohol level. I poured her an un-oaked chardonnay with 14.5% alcohol and a fully ripe, fruit-driven style. She loved it.

Food and wine pairing. What wines “go” with what foods is an absolute minefield of pontification and pseudo-expertise. The myriad possible combinations of food flavors and textures matched with innumerable possibilities of varied wine types and styles produces an infinity of conceivable pairings. Surprisingly, there are “experts” who will pick among these hundreds of possible choices and tell you which ones are “right and wrong.” The forgotten factor in this exercise is your personal preferences and taste memory bank. Your mother fed you different stuff than mine fed me, so we come to the party with different memories and pre-dispositions. Throughout our lives we have accumulated long lists of what tastes good and bad to us. The chances are that your list and mine don’t match exactly. What tastes good to you is all that matters. With your grilled salmon you can drink sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot gris, reisling, gewurtztraminer, pinot noir, syrah, sparkling, zinfandel, or something else, for example. I’ve tried them all and the only one I consistently didn’t like was the chardonnay, but that’s me. Call me a tasteless, undiscriminating Philistine, if you will. But I might call you an elitist out to impose your own preferences on other people.

Chocolate and wine. The proof that wine-food pairing advice is based on subjective personal preference and not on absolute truths comes with the mixing of bold red wines and chocolate. I know equally experienced wine drinkers who say with equal vehemence that the pairing is an abomination or that it is one of the divine gifts given to oenophiles. The middle ground says that the wine can make the chocolate taste better, but the chocolate cannot make the wine taste better. Perhaps. But these mutually exclusive, strongly held opinions cannot all be right for everybody’s palate. We’re all just going to have to go to hell our own way.

Wine isn’t always necessarily the answer. I have a friend who for the last 45 years has made a very good living with tastes. His pre-eminent consulting practice successfully invents food products for a wide variety of clients, so he has an encyclopedic understanding of what combinations of tastes and textures people will opt for. With considerable detail, he can explain just how wine works as a beverage accompanying a broad array of foods. He can afford to drink anything he might want, but his invariable meal beverage of choice is India Pale Ale, a particularly bitter, heavily hopped ale that British colonialists enjoyed in India. It is an unconventional subjective choice, but it is a fully informed one and it works for him. I cannot tell him he is objectively wrong.

Ripe or austere wine styles? Probably the biggest hoorah in the blogosphere at the moment revolves around the difference between the more fully ripened styles of New World (read California) wines versus the more restrained style of Old World (read European) wines. Without a doubt, they are different. And it is similarly certain that the styles differ in large part based on the climates in which the grapes are grown. Napa’s latitude is about the same as Sicily; Bordeaux is about the same as Vancouver. Guess which one picks their grapes riper? Duh!

You can find a great deal of “expert” opinionating on why the Old World style makes better wine. Or you can look at the market and see what people buy. Even the self-appointed tastemakers who condemn New World style wines as being overly-alcoholic and not up to the refined standard of classic Old World wines cannot change the fact that in the last decades the New World style has been eating the lunch of the Old World wines out there where consumers vote with their own dollars and buy the wines that taste better to them.

What’s going on here is the total subjectivity of wine. I used to work for an old-timer who said the luckiest guy is the one whose absolute favorite wine, which he’d rather drink than anything else, is something he buys for less than $10 a bottle. He preferred zin, himself. In a world of 100 point scale ratings, Masters of Wine, sommeliers with an attitude and know-it-all blogger-pundits, here’s a pretty good rule to live by: If it doesn’t please you, don’t drink it. If it violates conventional pairing wisdom, but you like it anyway, go for it. Unless the “expert” is picking up the tab, drink what tastes good to you. We live and drink in a global wine market, so whatever people like is pretty easy to find. Economics tells us free markets work. Cast off your shackles and enjoy the freedom to please yourself. I do.

Cheers!

Ross Workman

Tony's retirement from the Navy

2010-05-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Even though this weekend is dedicated to our fallen heroes, this note and pictures from one of our wine club members, a living hero, is worth sharing:

Denise;

Good day from the right coast. Last week I retired from the Navy after 25 years of service. I remember from our past discussions, you always wondered what I did…so here is a little taste. The attached photos were taken in front of one of my Riverine Assault Boats. The bad ass looking machine gun in the background is a MK-44 GAU electric mini-gun which fires 3000 rounds per minute. My wife Diane and son Jonathan are in the second photo. Enjoy!

Tony

Congratulations Tony & Family!

============================================

For those of you that did not see my Memorial Day posts from a year ago, please click on these:

http://pinanapavalley.blogspot.com/2009/05/there-are-no-words.html

http://pinanapavalley.blogspot.com/2009/05/memorial-day-weekend-2009-at-vets-home.html

Auction lot dinner with a Cornhole tournament

2010-05-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

To go to the Howell Mountain Vintners & Growers Association website, please click on this:

http://www.howellmountain.org/events.html

For the past several years, we have donated a dinner for 12, with games, to the live auction noted above. When our guests arrive, they are treated to a variety of Piña Napa Valley wines as they socialize right in our winery cellar/tasting room. Then, they are served dinner right in our winery cellar/tasting room. Once dinner is over, the tables are cleared and we have a Cornhole Tournament right in our winery cellar/tasting room, as the dessert bar is brought out.

The Cornhole Tournaments have become a regular activity at many of our events.

I've described the game and talked about it in 2 previous posts:

Cornhole Craze Expanding West!

http://pinanapavalley.blogspot.com/2009/08/cornhole-craze-expanding-west.html

AND

“We’re here for a good time”

http://pinanapavalley.blogspot.com/2009/08/were-here-for-good-time.html

We held the latest Auction lot dinner and Cornhole tournament on Saturday, May 22, 2010. We must be doing something right, because many of the folks that contributed to the purchase of this auction lot, have been involved for the last 3 years.

This is what this year's group looked like:

They are diverse, fun loving group with a common thread;

The Oakland Police Department.

The Cornhole Tournament winner this year was Gordy.

Not that he's competitive, but Kyle, last year's winner spent several minutes checking my math on the scoresheet after placing third.

And even though much wine was consumed,

we were not concerned when this group headed home.

Because these two gentlemen (James & Erik) loaded them all into their Escalade limos for the ride home.

James, the business owner, was formerly with the Oakland PD.

We thank them all for supporting the auction that benefits the

Howell Mountain Elementary School.

The Wine Club Deck (Finale)

2010-05-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Joe & Lori (Sis) Bauer

for coordinating the photos and even bringing the various hats & props.

John & Julianne

Placerville

"Make My Day - Pour Me a Chardonnnay"

Good thing that we now have a Chardonnay!

Jason & the 4 foot Paella pan

Cousin Joanne and Omar Cruz

The ever pleasant Jeanine Layland

Yogi and fans

Ranndy with Denise, Our Sales Manager

And with Anna, Our Winemaker

And with Cindy, his Commander in Chief!

The Wine Club Deck, Part 3

2010-05-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

More Club members, friends & volunteers...

Norma & Roger

Woodland Hills

Aletia, Bottle Top (Anna) & Jennifer

The Wild Women of Southwest Ranches, Florida!

Nancy, Michael, Scott

Michael works with us and his folks are from Katy, Texas

Macario (our assistant winemaker) with his lovely wife Griselda,

and the too cute for words, Isa

Nadine & Jay

San Ramon

Dave & Andy

Ithaca NY, San Francisco

Petrus & Liz, Carolina & Art

Bay Area

Carolina & Art

Pablo Ceja (Griselda's Dad), Carolina & Macario

Pablo & Macario

Can't read the names too well, here folks - Guessing:

Tim, Ann, Maurice & Kurt

Brisbane

Volunteers Colby with Father-in-Law Mark

Volunteers Samantha (My cousin Joanne's daughter) &

Dave (My brother Larry's Son-in-Law)

Volunteers Dave & Jeanine

Cousin Craig & his niece Sam

(Stay tuned for the final installment)

The Wine Club Deck, Part 2

2010-05-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

More Smiling Faces from our

Howell Mountain, Buckeye Vineyard Cabernet release party

(Some of the writing was a bit hard to read,

Please correct me if any of the info below is in error)

Alan, Lynn & Tyler

Reno/Napa, Berkeley?

Bill, Sally, Carol, Stan

Mill Valley

(Wine Club Members "Forever")

Ran, T. Man D.

El Dorado

Dev, Tal, Peg, Will

San Ramon

Joanne, John

Roseville

Adele, John

Napa

Rick & Joanne

Gold River, Sacramento

MB, La Patty, PJ, Pest(?), Big Red

Alhambra & San Rafael

Allan & Susan

Benecia

Allan & Susan (2)

Benecia

Vanessa, Dalia, Mom, Belen

(Ceja Vineyards - Napa)

Bill & Stan

Mill Valley

Anna (our winemaker) & Allan

Napa & Benecia

Joe, Tammy & Chuck

Sacramento

Janet, Chris & Felix

Danville

To be continued...

The Wine Club Deck, Part 1

2010-04-29T04:22:00.000-07:00

Almost every Wednesday, the 4 Pina brothers meet to discuss the winery business & operations. At one of these meetings last September, I suggested that we build a deck above the winery for use during our various events for our Wine Club members. We discussed it at length and the brothers gave me the go ahead.

The first step was deciding on a location. I walked the hillside and found a beautiful spot between the two upper vineyards. The view was incredible! And it was even fairly flat, unlike most of the property. But, it was quite a trek to get there and a bit too far from the winery & restroom. So the search continued.

I found a small corner below the vineyard that could handle the 12’ X 12’ deck and marked it out for the brothers to review for input & approval.

Davie suggested I change the orientation slightly so we could put in a bigger deck – a whopping 16’ X 16’! So I did. The brothers checked it out and liked it. Davie sent over a backhoe operator to get the area roughly leveled.

So, I started working on it. I chose to work alone in the early stages, because I needed to spend as much time thinking about the project as working on it, and I’m not comfortable with folks standing around waiting for me to direct them. Once I had the foundation under way, I called on my son Ty to help me. I knew he would be okay with waiting for me to sort my thoughts out. On top of that, he was anxious to learn about construction. We worked well together.

Ty framing the foundation.

Here, the foundation is almost complete. It was about here that brother John jumped in and treated the wood with a high quality sealer. It’s an important job that goes unnoticed - Thanks John!

In this picture, the deck was nearing completion. The rains started and it seems there were few extended dry periods for the next several months. But finally, it was time for the first official use of the deck.

On Saturday, April 24th, we had our Howell Mountain, Buckeye Vineyard Cabernet release party. Our Red Tilde Wine Club members were invited up to the deck for chocolate, pictures and wine tasting.

We opened up magnums of our 2002 Buckeye & 2005 D’Adamo Cabs. And we also poured our new release Chardonnay. They were all well received!

Even though the deck isn't too much higher than the winery, the slight increase in elevation is quite noticable.

Joe Bauer (left) took pictures all day of our Club members while Tom Shirmang poured wine at our Reserve tasting table.

And these silly ladies, Cindy Pina & Lori Bauer, greeted folks, poured wine and kept everything running smoothly on the deck.

Also serving on the deck, my son Tyler, & myself (I'm on the right)

Linda & Randy (Placerville) were the first Club Members to visit the deck

Followed closely by Sandy & Ron (Napa)

There are so many pictures to share that I will be adding additional posts to include them all. Check back for Part 2!