All posts by Daniel Howsepian

I hope by now you have all harvested your grapes and are now barreled down and less stressed with the harvesting tasks.

As you know, every year we collect information to see how the association is doing with harvest. We have had great input from our members and hope to do the same this year.

I would like to request that you please send me the following information:

Your vineyard name

Amount of your yield in pounds. ie: 1,250 #

Varietal of your grapes. ie. Cab Sauvignon, Merlot, etc

Any comments you may like to share on this year’s harvest

All this information is only to compare year to year LWGA harvest. Your personal information will not be shared and the report will only have data, no names on it and will be shared with the membership only.

Please get this information to me by November 30, 2024

Thank you again for participating! And happy winemaking!😎

Please call me @ 925-858-7000 if you have any questions.

Sincerely:

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA Board Member

Petit Sirah and Grenache Grapes available 2024

Hello fellow LWGA members, we are looking for a winemaker to make wine out of our 2024 PS and G grape harvest! We anticipate a fruit yield of about 500 pounds of Grenache and 1000 pounds of PS.  

The heat has really worked in our favor this year, as here in south Moraga we are usually on the later side of maturity. According to our vineyard manager, we are on course for harvesting in late September/Early October. Unfortunately, professional and personal commitments prevent us from making our own wine this year. Instead, we will be responsible for the harvest, and you can make the wine!

Please contact me for any further info and to discuss details.

Doug Tucker 
cell (510) 913-0930
dtuckermd@gmail.com

Hello fellow LWGA members:

On Sunday, July 14, (also known as Bastille Day), LWGA hosted our bi-monthly general meeting at Daniel & Annemieke Howsepian’s Home and Raisin d’Etre Vineyard in Lafayette. We were all very pleasantly relieved that the weather was perfect for this meeting, especially given what we were dealing with recently.

31 members were present for the meeting which made for a great opportunity to interact with fellow members.
There was a very nice presentation of appetizers and wine offered by our attending members for everyone enjoyment.

Marcy Ryan-Nicol and Bill Saupe, our educational committee members, planned a detailed presentation of about 30 minutes regarding vineyard canopy management. Bill Saupe made the presentation and there was a lively Q&A throughout the presentation. Members walked about the vineyard and into the RDV Wine Production Cellar as well.

We are always happy to see each other at these meeting and look forward to seeing those that could not make this meeting at the next one in September.

Until then,

Respectfully Submitted

Daniel Howsepian

Hello fellow LWGA grape growers:

By now, everyone should have their harvest in for 2023.

Earlier this month, I had sent out a request for your harvest information. Thank you for those that have already responded, but there are many who have not yet responded.

Without getting all our vineyard information, I will not be able to get an accurate tally to compare with previous years as is our goal. I only have this week to complete my report, so if you have not yet sent in your harvest information, by varietal and pounds yielded, please do so by Wednesday, November 30, 2023.

Please send your information directly to me at: 5powderhounds@gmail.com

Thanks!

Daniel

Officially, the end of the growing season for 2023 vintners is over. And what a year! It was the best of vintages, it was the worst of vintages… For some growers and winemakers, this was a remarkable year for quality, and for others not as good. 2023 started late with exceptional moisture and delayed bud break. However, the growing season went along without any major heat waves or disruptions for an excellent extended growing season. I hope you had a good season.

Every year, the LWGA collects member information about your harvests. We would like to know what your gross weight yield in pounds (stems and all) was per varietal. I will accumulate this information anonymously by varietal and have a comparison spreadsheet from prior years to see how we’re doing.

Please send me your information soon so that I might be able to share this information with everyone very soon for an anticipated vigorous discussion.

Thank you!

Daniel Howsepian 5powderhounds@gmail.com

925-858-7000

Did you know that there will be a Local winemaker’s wine tasting opportunity for you to attend on Thursday evening from 5:30 – 7:30. This will be at Hollies Homegrown in downtown Lafayette. 998 Moraga Road

So if you or your friends don’t any other plans, come by and taste some our local wines.

You can get more information at the link below:

https://www.hollieshomegrown.com/events/2022/11/10/an-evening-with-local-lamorinda-winemakers

Hello everyone:

By now, you should be mostly done with harvesting this year. And what a year! The drought, the heat and everything else.

I hope that you had a successful harvest and by all accounts, wine in the tank/barrels fermenting away for another future release of enjoyment!

As you know, every year we like to accumulate the data on our LWGA harvests.

Can you please email me the gross weight of your harvest by varietal. We will not distribute your personal information to anyone.

Thanks again and happy winemaking!

Daniel Howsepian

5powderhounds@gmail.com

Hello everyone.

What a nice meeting we had on Sunday! Great tastings of the award winning wines and seeing everyone again!

Someone forgot their wicker basket at our house. If it’s yours, please call me at 925-858-7000 to arrange a return.

daniel howsepian

As with everything, all things must come to an end. I have been the President of the LWGA for the past two years, and I have reached the end of my term.

I am happy to announce that David Hicks will be the new President of the LWGA. As a grape grower, a fine winemaker, and a great socialite, he will have the the experience and knowledge to take the helm and move us ever forward in our quest to serve our membership and put Lamorinda Wine Growers Association on the map!

Welcome David Hicks to your new position!

I have been very proud to have served as President and I hope that I have helped, together with the board, to improve the vision and services provided in the past and for the future years. I will continue on the board to help make LWGA a positive force in our community. Thank you for the privilege.

Sincerely:

Daniel Howsepian

former President, LWGA

Hello Fellow LWGA Members:

 On January 29, 2022 @ 3 PM,  LWGA held its regular member meeting via Zoom.  I know, we’re all very tired of the Zoom meetings!  Especially when there were some technical problems as we have experienced that day.  We’re very sorry about that!  With the easing of the Covid mandates, there’s a really good chance of our next meeting in March to be in person!  

However, once everything got worked out,  about 15 people logged on.  We were very mindful of the AFC game and we tried to make it brief so that the members could watch the game.  Too bad that our efforts were in vain and not rewarded with a good outcome for our team. 

A brief discussion about the elections for the board by Bill Scanlin was presented.  I am happy to report that all the candidates were elected to the board and we now we also have a new board member, Brian Cherry. Welcome Brian to the Board.

Gerard began his presentation about “What to do in the vineyard in the spring”  and was disrupted by computer problems!  Uhhhh! Gerard followed up with an email to the membership to replace his planned presentation. 

We would like to offer an in person pruning session very soon.  Anyone interested in joining this session please respond to David Hicks message which will be emailed to you very soon. He will set up a time and date that’s convenient for all.  

Larry Thal then spoke briefly about the progress on his Local Vines project. He is currently waiting for his Contractor to start with the work, hopefully March 1! We are all anxiously waiting for the grand opening! 

Sunday, May 1, 2022, from Noon to 6 PM, will be our long awaited public LWGA-AVA Celebration at the rear parking lot of the Wine Thieves! We have been working on this for quite some time and we a lot to be proud for this event. Amy will be sending out an informational message about the event, and also will be reaching out to the membership for volunteers to help out. Should be a lot of fun with food trucks, local wines presented, soft music and some fun things for kids of parents attending the event. We look for seeing everyone there!

 
We look forward to a good springtime season for everyone!  

Best Regards!

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President