My name is Dave Rey and I am a candidate for the LWGA Board. I have been a Lafayette resident for over 30 years and I have an acre of vines and a winery at my home in the Reliez Valley area. I bottle my wines under the Reliez Valley Vineyards label.
My goal as a winegrower is to grow the best possible grapes from my vineyard location and make the best possible wine from the grapes I grow. I am the first generation in my family to have pursued a non-agricultural career, so having grown up in that world I am very comfortable with the farming aspects of winegrowing. I have an engineering education and I enjoy applying all the technology available to both viticulture and winemaking.
I was an early member of the group but my business travels left me little time to get involved until I retired in 2011. I previously served on the Board from 2011 to 2016. During that time I focused mainly on leading the committee that pursued and secured our AVA designation.
I was elected to the Board again in 2020 and I am currently leading the effort to develop a five year plan for the organization. I would like to serve another term on the Board so that I can complete that project and help see the plan implemented.
My name is Bill Scanlin and I have been on the LWGA board and run the website since 2008, have been President in 2016, 2017 and 2019 and have been Treasurer 2020 and 2021. I have been growing grapes and making wine since 1998 and started my commercial winery Deer Hill Vineyards in 2010.
I have been in technology my entire career and am currently Chief Technology Officer at a fintech startup.
I believe the organization needs to be an important resource for its members to help them grow better grapes and make better wine. We can also educate the Lamorinda community on what we are doing and help them setup their own vineyards and try some of the great wine made here. I think we have made great improvements in meeting these goals and would like to continue to move the organization forward.
I’m Amy and have served on the LWGA Board for the past two years. In that time I have focused on the LWGA’s communications and interactions with the wider community including the Pandemic wines tastings and social media, and with the membership through the newsletter, surveys and the upcoming AVA celebration event. I look forward to the opportunity to continue this work.
Outside of my involvement in LWGA, I am opening Germinate Kitchen, a new shared commercial kitchen space in Lafayette. I still prefer red over white, full bodied over light, and milk over dark.
I’m Gerard van Steyn and I live in Lafayette with my wife Kathryn and our 3 children. We have 600 vines (70% Cabernet and remainder Malbec, Petite Verdot, Merlot and Cab Franc). We also have 60 fruit trees, 45 berry bushes, a large vegetable garden, honeybees, 6 chickens 1 dog and 2 cats. We are farming everything ourselves and have progressed from being organic to now beyond organic which means that in addition to using no chemicals we are focused on maximum soil health and the soil microbiome, including composting.
I have been on the Board for the last four years and have taken a lead role in changing from 4 meetings per year to 6 per year and in setting up educational content for our meetings. There are interesting and exciting plans being developed for further improving your Lamorinda Winegrowers Association, and our local wines and vineyards. I hope to continue to be a positive contributor to our members and to the Association.
My name is Brian Cherry and I live in Orinda with my wife Sara and son Alex. I’ve been making Pinot Noir for the last ten years from my 300 vines in the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood. While my vineyard is not certified organic, I eschew the use of chemical fertilizers and weed killers and try for a sense of terrior in my wines. Next month I will plant another 80 Cabernet Sauvignon vines (Clone 8, 140 rootstock) to continue my work on someday making a great Lamorinda wine. I still have a lot to learn.
I’ve previously served on several non profit boards including the Oakland Museum, the San Francisco Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization and the Institute for Public Utilities at Michigan State University. I look forward to serving on the Board of the LWGA and making our appellation known beyond the borders of Lamorinda itself.
