All posts by Daniel Howsepian - 3. page

Hello LWGA Members:

Last Sunday @ 4 PM we had what we all hope to be our last LWGA general meeting by Zoom! We will have our next meeting for members who have been vaccinated on Sunday, July 25, 2021 at a location TBD. Most likely at an exterior location. I know we are all anxious to see each other again!

We had a good turn out for our meeting. After a short social conversation, I mentioned that I was having a problem with ground squirrels and that I had found an effective trap for that problem. The trap is called “The Squirrelinator”. You can find it at www.ruggedranch.net; look for traps and get the one with the basin. Use birdseed for the bait. It really works!

We also had a short conversation about the heavy rainfall some of us experienced three weeks ago which occurred right at flowering. Not the best timing for that to happen! I experienced some damage as a result in shattered flower set. The life of a farmer….

The next topic was about watering and nutrition of the vines in these drought times. Gerard made a wonderful power point presentation which he narrated masterfully! There was a very lively interaction with the participants and a lot of useful information was exchanged. The power point will be posted on our website for reference. A note of appreciation went out to Bill Scanlin for managing our website and for making it possible to access useful information on the platform.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have joined us in all of the recent Zoom meetings throughout the trying times we have all lived through recently with the Covid pandemic. I hope that we have kept you engaged with useful information and connection with other members. We will do our best to resume a more normal activity within our group beginning in July!

Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Hello LWGA Members:

This is a reminder of our scheduled meeting on Sunday, June 6 @ 4 PM. This will be our last meeting by Zoom! Hurray!!! Our next meeting will be in person on July 25, location TBD. So stand by for that one. You can join this Sunday’s meeting through the link below:

https://warriortrading.zoom.us/j/9252007676

The timely topic of this meeting will be about testing your vines to be sure they have the proper nutrients and water they need to produce the best grapes possible.  Gerard VS will be our knowledgeable moderator and will have a very informative presentation and question and answer session.  Also, with the drought this year, it will be very important to know if your vines have enough water  to propagate properly.  They’re tough, but they do need some help.  Without sufficient water, vines would have a tougher time migrating those essential minerals up from the ground.  So be sure to tune in! Also, see interesting post on watering by Ted Rieger in the Viticulture Forum on our website.

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian LWGA President

Hello LWGA members

We need your help. The board is considering having our first in person gathering on July 26 for vaccinated members only and we are looking to hear from our members whether you feel you would be willing to join us.  We know everyone is anxious to get together again, but we want everyone to be comfortable with our plans.

We sent out a very short survey of three questions recently and have had very few responses. We really need to hear from you on this.  

Won’t you please response to our survey link below so that we can all feel confident we are doing the right thing in July. Please respond by June 1, 2021

https://lamorindawinegrowers.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b8dd87c54491d6eb5bb74082a&id=a729e719a1&e=178a8b5efc

Thank you for your assistance!

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Hello Fellow LWGA Members:

I hope everyone is doing well and that everyone is getting vaccinated.

We had a scheduled general meeting for May 30, 2021, @ 4 PM, but we realized that this fell on Memorial Day weekend and may not be very convenient.  As a result, the Board decided to reschedule this meeting for Sunday June 6, 2021, at 4 PM.  In an abundance of caution,  this meeting will be again by Zoom. You can join the meeting at the following link:   

https://warriortrading.zoom.us/j/9252007676

The timely topic of this meeting will be about testing your vines to be sure they have the proper nutrients and water they need to produce the best grapes possible.  Gerard VS will be our knowledgeable moderator and will have a very informative presentation and question and answer session.  With the drought this year, it will be very important to know if your vines have enough water  to propagate properly.  They’re tough, but they do need some help.  Without sufficient water, vines would have a tougher time migrating those essential minerals up from the ground.  So be sure to tune in! Also, see interesting post on watering by Ted Rieger in the Viticulture Forum.

So, with the new updated CDC guidelines having been recently published, we are all feeling a little bit better about getting together if vaccinated.  It’s what we have all been waiting for.  However,  for larger group gatherings, there still are some questions that some members might have.  With that in mind, we have put together a very short, three question survey which we ask you to please complete so that we can decide whether enough of you would like to have our July 26 meeting in person,  something I know we are all anxious to resume as soon as it is safe to do so.  See link below for survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScY8CC0vygDMj7EyVixkDHISR1K7mRyPY-lWCfpewxujPcIRw/viewform?usp=sf_link

We look forward to your responses and to seeing everyone as soon as possible! 

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

President LWGA

On Sunday, March 28, the LWGA celebrated it’s 5th anniversary of the Lamorinda AVA! 

This was a well published event highlighting wine tastings of non commercial wine on line.  There were an estimated 50-60 people who viewed this event online.

The meeting began with a short description of the 3 year effort led by David Rey and other board members in completing the rigorous applications required with the various governmental agencies.  The committee had to demonstrate why the proposed Lamorinda AVA was worthy as follows;

–  Geological-  Characteristics of the uplifted sedimentary rocks and clay stones between the Hayward and the Calaveras fault lines;

– Topography–  Uplifting created variable steep hills, shallow soils and good drainage;

– Aspect–  these hills created many slope aspects which created micro climates throughout the Lamorinda AVA allowing for growing different varietals for winemaking;

–  Micro Vineyards–  These vineyards within the AVA are small vineyards, measured in # of vines, not acres, within suburban setting, where sustainable and organic methods are used;

–  Hand pruned and harvested due to the steep slopes resulting in a much higher quality fruit. 

These, and much more, were used in the successful application we know of today.  Anyone interested in learning more about the AVA application can find it on our website under documents.

Then a brief history of the Lamorinda grape growing and wine making was presented as follows:

– Over 150 years of vineyard history can be found in our Appellation and surrounding areas;

-1880;  Trelut Brothers;  1st, 150 acres in Bollinger Canyon Road, Moraga; “Eagle Hill”

– 1890;  John Muir planted a vineyard in Alhambra;

– 1897;  Theodore Wagner vineyard in Orinda;

–  1907; Rossi Family Vineyard in Lafayette

No doubt that vineyards are in our history and contributes to the successful winemaking today!

With all this knowledge, we all sampled the wonderful wines of:

Brian Cherry;  Cherry Family Winery;  Pinot Noir

Joao Magalhaes;  Magalhaes Vineyards; Pinot Noir

Bill Davidson; Davidson Vineyards; 2016 Merlot

David Rey;  Reliez Valley Vineyard;  Cabernet Sauvignon

Mel Haas; Haas Vineyards;  Cabernet Sauvignon

Gerard van Steyn;  vS Vineyards;  2018 Cabernet Sauvignon

There was a very nice amount of discussion between each tasting with interesting information about the vineyards, wine making and history of the vineyards.  Joao gave us a very interesting view of the origins of the LWGA and his vision of what could be for the Lamorinda AVA together with the LWGA.  Creating our region into exclusive and high quality grape growing and wine making appellation as found in the prominent regions in France.  A worthy goal indeed!

Larry Thal gave us an update of the much anticipated Wine Tasting / Production and catering facility in the works.  Permitting is moving along at a glacier’s pace, but is expected to be completed very soon.

Larry also expressed his desire to find a way to showcase commercial AVA and non commercial AVA wines at the tasting room. 

Everyone expressed their appreciation to Amy Scofield and Leslie Ward, and to the contributing winemakers who made this very pleasant event  possible.

The meeting was conclude at about 5:45 PM

I am reaching out on behalf of Rhys and his sister.  They applied for a grant of $1,000 from Sustainable Lafayette where they have proposed placing a bee hive in a public place in Lafayette and holding meetings four times a year to teach the community about bee keeping and show how easy it is to try and get more people to consider getting a hive.

They have received a lot of great feedback from the group and need to present in early April. 

One issue is they have not secured a location that would host the hive and allow the meetings. 

I thought maybe there is a vineyard in Lafayette that might be willing to host a hive (with all maintenance done by Rhys and his sister Sloan) that would also allow them to hold meetings four times a year?  

We have reached out to the Lafayette Garden and have not heard back from them- they already have two hives.  

I thought I would see if you had any contacts in the wine industry in Lafayette that you think might be a fit or interested? 

Thank you for any help you can offer. 

Rosalind 925-818-2990

Hello fellow LWGA Members:

I would like to start off with a big Thank You to the members who submitted a video of an informative item to share with the rest of us!

We had 5 videos that Gerard organized for our viewing, all of which were very interesting as follows:

Mel Hass showed us his beautiful vineyard with a fabulous view of Mt. Diablo, his wine cellar, and how he successfully dealt with the racoon problem with his electric fencing set-up;

Leslie Ward also showed us her lovely vineyard and view, and her wine storage facility and shared how important it was to consider how to cool your wine storage facility;

Dave Hicks had some very beautiful pictures of his vineyard overlooking his little piece of paradise on Clear Lake, his very practical work station positioned to avoid bending over, saving his back and showed his wine storage areas as well;

Gerard Van Steyn showed us how a smart winemaker will be able to move about their 30 gallon barrels with ease using his innovative sturdy carts built with purpose in mind. Gerard also showed us his Pomegranate wine which we all we dying to taste!

Daniel Howsepian had a video showing you how you can spend a lot of time to install a cork ceiling which took 39,276 corks, 126 total hours in a span of 30 weeks! Crazy, right! but so nice in the end.

There were lots of questions and was really fun to see! I hope we can do this again and see what else we can come up with to share. I already have my idea in planning.

I hope by now you would have received your survey with the elections e-ballots for you to vote for the LWGA Board candidates presented. Please submit your votes this week.

Thank you all again for being a part of the LWGA and we will continue to provide opportunities for you to participate. We are all looking forward to the 5th year anniversary of the Lamorinda AVA in March! Stay tuned for details.

See you all soon, and stay safe!!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Hello LWGA Members:

Naturally I would like to say that I hope everyone is doing well, and that you have either gotten your Covid vaccine shots or are scheduled to get one.  It’s great that things are moving along on that front, and that we’ll all have the shots soon.  
Our next scheduled meeting is on January 31 @ 4 PM. and sadly we still cannot meet in person. 

Please log in at: https://warriortrading.zoom.us/j/9252007676

We have an exciting agenda for you!  We will be presenting LWGA members videos of special cellar or vineyard gadgets, special tools or methods devised to improve or help in the process.  We already have 4 short videos and if you have not sent in your video to Gerard, you still have a little time.  It would be good to get them by Saturday so that we’ll have the time to prepare for the Sunday meeting.  I’m looking forward to this meeting for sure!

I would also like to remind everyone that we will be holding our annual Board of Directors election as of February 1, 2021.  you will receive an email with the ballots. We have received one more candidate who has submitted his statements and I have it for you as follows:

 My name is Tom Morehouse. I have been a member of LWGA since it was formed and I am a founding member of the club. I have 200 vines consisting of Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache producing a Rhone blend often called GSM. I manage the vineyard and produce my own wine, winning awards both in Contra costa county and at the  Golden State wine Society. I gave wine tastings in Graduate school in Gilroy to pay for college. I have an MBA from San Jose State University. I lived in Europe for 6 years and studied European vineyard and wine making there while working for an American shipping company. I am a member of the Golden Gate Wine Club and a past board member of both LWGA and GGWS. I am now retired and have time to get more involved with our club. I was a member of the AVA committee with David Rey and helped with many of the tasks finally producing an AVA for us and the area. I am interested in getting the club more involved with the area we live in, educating our neighbors and helping to get our name and wines more well known to the community. There are various ways to accomplish this task and I will work hard to bring us into Lamorinda and the community. Recently I gave a talk at the Orinda Rotary club and we served our members wine to the delight of the club members and even sold some to the members. I was part of the tasting panel that we started so that members can see how their wine competes with other wine makers and try to improve their product. I would like to help members to improve their wines by education both in the vineyard and the wine making process. I hope that you will vote for me to be again on our board and will work hard to make LWGA  more inclusive and more fun for the members. Please vote for me. Thank you. 

So good to have such a group willing to be on the board.

You can vote up to 6 candidates on your ballots. We hope you will participate in the elections!

See you on Sunday!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

LWGA will be holding our annual election for the board of directors as of February 1, 2021. All members will receive an email with the ballot.

   Please review the candidate’s statements below and vote for the board. Thanks you!

Bill English.

 While I do not grow grapes, I have been an advocate for Lamorinda winegrowing and specialize in Lamorinda with my winemaking. I have sought to promote better wine growing and better wine making in the AVA.  I served on the AVA committee headed by Dave Rey and two terms on the board. 

LWGA’s stated mission is to provide on-going education and support for its members in the areas of vineyard maintenance and management, and winemaking; foster communication and the exchange of information among its members; encourage sustainable practices, resulting in the production of high quality grapes and wine in an environmentally-friendly and socially responsible fashion; promote the Lamorinda community and its status as a winegrowing region, enhancing the marketability of Lamorinda-grown grapes and Lamorinda-made wine; and cultivate a strong relationship with the local community.

I think we have done a pretty good job of some of this, however we have found that defining and implementing the part about providing on-going education and support for its members in the areas of vineyard maintenance and management, and winemaking has been more difficult than meets the eye.  Over the past two years the board has sought to improve on these areas and, I think, has made some progress. We need to continue to recognize the heterogeneous nature of the group and the need to provide more in-depth support to those with interest in learning winegrowing best practices and winemaking practices without forcing technical details on those who don’t have the need or interest.  With your support, the board would like to continue to find ways to meet all the needs and interests of our membership. We hope that this will not only support current members but attract new members and stimulate past members to rejoin who have interest in these areas.

I request your support to continue on the path we have stated.

David Hicks                                                       

 One of my primary objectives for being on the board is to offer 17 years of grape growing and 14 years of winemaking experience and knowledge to our members to assist them in learning how to be successful growers of wine quality grapes and to learn and/or expand their skill in making award winning wine in their wineries.  Beginning in 2003 I took every viticulture and enology extension course offered at Davis while concurrently planting my own vineyard and building my winery which is located at my second home in the Red Hills AVA on the shore of Clear Lake.  I am also a 42 year resident of Lafayette.  

Starting in 2010 began acquiring grapes from other Lake County growers. Have made 8 red varieties, 3 white varieties, Port, late harvest Sauturn, and Brandy.  Have also made wonderful Chard from Moraga grapes from Jon Leutneker’s vineyard.  I do all the vineyard tending and winemaking myself. Seek help from the Davis extension as needed to stay on top of issues and developments in the industry.  Entered many wine comps, wining several Best of Show, numerous gold, and other awards. 

How I might contribute to the Lamorinda AVA membership as a board member? 

The AVA is passing into a new phase as a result of the founding members achieving the goal of getting the AVA established.  A big task for which I’m sure all members are most appreciative.  For the AVA to continue to prosper and grow, ideas need to be contributed and listened to from all who wish to put them forth.  As a quasi outsider to the AVA I still have a lot to learn about where things are now and how the members and leadership sees things moving forward. 

On a one to one basis I am willing to consult [for wine and food only] on winemaking to members that are growing their own grapes and making their own wine.  Additionally I feel it’s important for all board members to consult among themselves and concurrently and consistently seek input from the general members regarding what the direction of the AVA should be. Amy took a survey a while back on many of these issues and I will need to become familiar with those results.  Moving any organization from start up to steady state is no easy task. I have had experience doing this type of thing in my career in the Software Engineering Consulting business.  There seems to be a lot to do regarding the future of the AVA and I’m willing to contribute my part.

         Daniel Howsepian

As President of the LWGA in the last year, I have been presented with the unusual task of maintaining the interest level of our membership without the usual personal interaction we enjoy so much.  It was so painful to cancel all of our usual meetings since March of 2020! 

Together with the board, we have tried to provide an interesting agenda through Zoom meetings which were well attended and provided much in the way of interesting conversations and topics of interest.

We also managed to trim our expenses to allow for a reduction of the annual dues for this year. 

I am very hopeful that we will all be able to gather once again in the way we have enjoyed in the past very soon! 

I am very much interested in balancing the activities of the LWGA to meet the needs of all the members.  We have members who do not grow grapes, some who are planning a new vineyard, some that make wine, and some that sell their wines.  But we all like to socialize together and that to me is the primary thing.  I  will continue to provide educational venues for those who are interested, and try to educate our neighbors that we exist in the community. 

Looking forward, this virus will be defeated, and we will get back to our social gatherings.  We are already planning ahead to be prepared when this can happen!

Short Bio:

–Raisin d’être Vineyard; (Est. 2012)  350 vines total;  275 Vines of Cabernet Sauvignon and 75 Vines of Merlot

–Brooklyn Technical H/S: Electrical Engineering: Pratt Institute; Electrical Engineering

–City College of NYC @ Queens; BA in Economics; RE Finance @ So Lake Tahoe CC

–Resident of Orinda since 1985 – 2011; Resident of Lafayette since 2011;

–Served as Secretary; then Treasurer,  then President of the Orinda Park Pool; 1988-1994.;

–Working as NSP (National Ski Patrol) Ski Patroller @ Squaw Valley since 1998 ;

–Certified First Responder and an Outdoor Emergency Technician;

–Secretary of the Squaw NSP for two years;

–Squaw Valley Ski Patrol Testing & Training Coordinator for two years;

–Squaw Valley Ski Patrol Patrol Leader & Chair of Board of Directors for six years; 

–Received National Appointment by NSP in 2011;

–Currently on Board of Directors of the Squaw Valley NSP; 

–Currently on LWGA Board for the last four years

–Joined the LWGA in 2012 and have been very happy & proud to be a founding member of the Lamorinda AVA.  

–  Created an outline for the development and access of  grape growing, winemaking, resource and educational opportunities for the membership to use and enjoy;

–  Enthusiastically supporting the LWGA  AVA brand through promotions; exposure; activities to educate, taste  and to guide our members to elevate their wine growing and wine making outcomes to earn a higher level of success and recognition in the region; 

–  Providing a warm social interaction between all members of the organization, by providing a regular schedule of informative and social activities throughout the year. 

I am enthusiastic about our vineyard, enjoy the wine making  and socializing with the LWGA and all that it brings to our lives. I am interested in continuing my participation  with LWGA  Board and would like to see it grow in the future to a level it deserves. 

Hope to have your continued support!

Thank you. 

 My name is Tom Morehouse. I have been a member of LWGA since it was formed and I am a founding member of the club. I have 200 vines consisting of Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache producing a Rhone blend often called GSM. I manage the vineyard and produce my own wine, winning awards both in Contra costa county and at the  Golden State wine Society. I gave wine tastings in Graduate school in Gilroy to pay for college. I have an MBA from San Jose State University. I lived in Europe for 6 years and studied European vineyard and wine making there while working for an American shipping company. I am a member of the Golden Gate Wine Club and a past board member of both LWGA and GGWS. I am now retired and have time to get more involved with our club. I was a member of the AVA committee with David Rey and helped with many of the tasks finally producing an AVA for us and the area. I am interested in getting the club more involved with the area we live in, educating our neighbors and helping to get our name and wines more well known to the community. There are various ways to accomplish this task and I will work hard to bring us into Lamorinda and the community. Recently I gave a talk at the Orinda Rotary club and we served our members wine to the delight of the club members and even sold some to the members. I was part of the tasting panel that we started so that members can see how their wine competes with other wine makers and try to improve their product. I would like to help members to improve their wines by education both in the vineyard and the wine making process. I hope that you will vote for me to be again on our board and will work hard to make LWGA  more inclusive and more fun for the members. Please vote for me. Thank you. 

               Larry Thal          

I am currently serving as LWGA Secretary. I have considerable board experience and look forward to continuing to serve the Lamorinda Winegrowers’ Association and its members, if elected to do so.

My wife, Esther, and I planted approximately 2,300 vines in 2010 and had our ninth harvest this past year. Our varietals consist of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. Thal Vineyards, LLC is bonded with an O-2 license.

I am retired, having done so for the third time (United States Air Force, private practice of optometry and Clinical Professor and Assistant Dean University of California). Some of my other board experience includes serving as President of the California State Board of Optometry on five occasions and serving two years as President of the California Optometric Association. I recently completed two terms on the board of an independent private school in the East Bay, and for over 20 years I have served as president of two homeowners' associations.

I am a strong supporter of our AVA and the quality wines we produce. Esther and I are renovating a downtown Lafayette building as a winery and tasting room which we hope will actively promote local wine and offer a venue to introduce our wines to the public. It can also serve as a focal point for viticulture education and LWGA activity.

         Leslie Ward

Education: B.S. Landscape Architecture & Environmental Design, California Polytechnic, SLO, CA. LEED Accredited Professional since 2004.  Over 25 years of educating communities, construction building trades, and design teams on the benefits and savings of green/sustainable design and building practices. 

Relationship to LWGA: One of the founding members of the LWGA (2005). Past posts with LWGA include President of the Board (2014); Board Member (2013 – 2018); Board Member of the Orinda Chamber of Commerce (2016 – 2019) and Liaison for the LWGA.  Occasional Presenter to the local Rotary, Historical Society and Garden Clubs about the LWGA vineyards and history of winemaking and grape growing here; frequent donator of wine and wine tastings to local schools, hospitals and other charities and non-profits.   

Personal: Our Construction firm, Sausal Corporation builds schools, fire stations and public buildings throughout NO. CA; our Son Josh just took over last year as President.  Successful and thriving Los Arabis Vineyard Pinot Noir (1500 vines in Lafayette) planted in 1999 and commercially sold throughout Lamorinda

Hello fellow Covid fatigued LWGA members:

As we are moving into 2021, I am sure that we all are looking forward to a more positive year ahead. While we must still adhere to  the Covid precautions, even if you get vaccinated, there is light ahead!  We are very hopeful that we will be able to meet in person again soon!

Our next formal LWGA meeting is slated for January 31, 2021, and Gerard has sent out a message about what we have planned for you.  This meeting will feature your videos of a favorite gadget, special set-up for vineyard management, wine making or any other items which you think would be of interest to our members.  We are very excited to see what you have to offer!

January 31 meeting is also the date for your annual Board of Director elections. We have 5 board members whose term will expire.  We will be holding elections after the January 31 meeting from the slate of candidates presented. All LWGA members will receive an email with a ballot for you to complete after the January meeting.   I will be sending out the statements by the candidates next week for your consideration. 

If you are interested in serving on the board, please let me know as soon as possible by email at:  5Powderhounds@gmail.com or call me @ 925-858-7000  and I will get you the information necessary to be a candidate for the Board. 

So, look for the candidate’s statements, and please participate in the elections for the 2021 year.

Thank you for your attention and let’s get 2021 off to a good start!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President