All posts by Leslie

If you would like to be included or excluded from the Lafayette Community Directory soon to be published , please let me know immediately.  Currently we have:

Deer Hill Vineyards www.deerhillvineyards.com 925.283.2421

Captain Vineyards www.captainvineyards.com 925.631.0714

Parkmon Vineyards www.parkmon.com 925.631.7981

Los Arabis Vineyards www.losarabisvineyards.com 510.406.5680

Bullfrog Creek Vineyard www.bullfrogcreekvineyard.com 925.377.0433

Last One Picked Vineyards www.orindavineyards.com 925.210.0113

Vincenza Ranch and Winery of Moraga www.vincenzaranch.com 925.260.9734

vS Wines

Eleven years ago a friend started making wine from a kit. I thought, if he can do it surely I could as well.  So after reading every winemaking book we could find and getting advice from the winemakers at Oak Barrel in Berkeley, my wife Kathryn and I made our first vintage in 2005 using Napa Valley grapes we picked.  For the next six years we sourced grapes from a high-end vineyard near the top of Mt. Veeder.  The fruit was always concentrated, but did have issues with Ph/acid balance and the uniformity of ripeness.  Using other folks fruit got us thinking that with our own vineyard, we would have nobody else to point to if we had concerns with the fruit!

We were renting at the time in Lafayette and so set about seeking a home. One of my primary criteria was that it would be well-suited for a vineyard and fruit trees.  Kathryn primarily wanted room for her 4 chickens, and secondly our three children.  We found our current home located on Johnson Rd, Lafayette in early 2012 and hired a vineyard manager to plant 620 two-year old vines on a south-facing slope.  The grapes are 70% cabernet and the remainder are Malbec, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. We also planted 40 fruit trees and 30 berry bushes.  This year was our first harvest!

Kathryn and I took over vineyard management this year. Our vineyard manager was doing a decent job, but we felt hands-on would be better.  It has been more work than we anticipated, but we are enjoying the experience and all we have learned. Also, many years after escaping from the dairy farm of my youth, getting back into growing and using our hands has been a nice change.

We are excited about the growth of vineyards and wine in the Lamorinda area and the potential for our collective AVA!

Gerard and Kathryn van Steyn

In accordance with our LWGA Bylaw, this request is sent to all members in good standing who might be interested in serving on the Board of Directors.  There are 5 positions available and it is a 2 year term.  We meet typically the first Monday evening of every month.  Attendance is mandatory, unless prior and appropriate notice is provided to the President.

If interested, please send your Candidacy Statements to Bill Scanlin (bscanlin@gmail.com) who will then add to our website.  You will have the opportunity to introduce yourself to the Membership at the January General Meeting and voting on line will take place the following week.

Hoping to see you all at the Dec.15th Libation!

Established in 2014 by Kindra and Scott Sampson, Cinque Capre Vineyards sits in the heart of beautiful Rheem Valley in Moraga, CA.  Having moved from Connecticut in July 2014, our family of four quickly adapted to life in Lamorinda, enjoying all the unique “amenities” of our new home, which included not only a vineyard, but a barn housing 5 pygmy goats.  It seemed only fitting that we name the vineyard after our beloved new pets, the “Five Goats.”  (Photo Below from Left to Right: Oreo (white & black), Pablo, Billy (standing in the tree), Shadow (black) and Jasper).  Cinque Capre means Five Goats in Italian. Our vineyard sits on a gentle up-slope overlooking the house and consists of 350 Petit Syrah vines that love the warm days and cool nights in Rheem Valley. Like several different Lamorinda wineries, we grow our own grapes and produce and age our wine on the premises.  The first of our vintages (2014) is currently aging in French oak and is big and bold.  It will have aged more than two years in oak, as we expect to bottle it sometime in 2016.  The 2015 harvest yielded 40% fewer grapes, but luckily the decreased production did not impact the quality of the grapes.  Boasting the same beautiful deep purple color, the 2015 vintage is also aging in French Oak and will be ready for bottling in 2017.  We’ve come to appreciate both the work and art of wine making.  We’ve now grown accustom to the rush around harvest, the nights of plunging the cap as must is fermenting, and the weekly sampling of wine to ensure it is aging the right way. Our family is loving life in Moraga and has enjoyed learning about the winegrowing and production.  We felt fortunate to meet the Captain family and Sal and Susan Captain have been tremendously helpful in teaching us the basics of wine making.  Rheem Valley has a long history of agriculture and we are proud to carry on that tradition.  We hope to expand our vineyard in 2016-2017 by planting some additional white varietals on our ten acre property.  We are excited by the prospects that Lamorinda may boast its own AVA designation in the coming months.  We hope that it presents our community with the unique opportunity to further fuel the area into a legitimate wine-growing region.   We were blessed to have family and friends here to help with our 2015 harvest, which we know will continue to be a big part of the reason we will continue to love making wine.

• 1 plant        =      7.70 lbs.
• 1 ton          =      2, 000 lbs.
• 1 pound     =      0.075 gallons
• 1 ton          =      150  gallons
• 1 ton   =    63 to 66 cases
• 1 acre         =      1 ½ to 6 tons  (+or-)
• 1 vine         =      3.2 bottles
• 1 bottle       =     .75 liter (750ml)
• 5 bottles     =      0.990752 gallons
• 1 case        =      2.37753 gallons
• 1 gallon      =      3.785 liters
• 1 barrel       =     25 liters (300 bottles)
• 1 barrel       =     25 cases
• 100 liters = 26.42 gal. = 11.14 cases = 133 bottles
• 5 tons of grapes = 3,985 bottles of wine = 15,940 glasses of wine = 13.5 barrels of wine
• one barrel of wine = 59 gallons of wine = 1,180 glasses of wine = 24.6 cases of wine
• one case of wine = 30 pounds of grapes =48 glasses of wine = 12 bottles of wine
• ONE bottle of wine = 2.4 pounds of grapes
• 5.5 gal carboy =  2.31 cases =  25 1/4 bottles
• 73 lbs of grapes = one carboy
• It takes 6 (5 gal) buckets of grapes to fill a 32 gal fermentor  with grapes. Approx. 150 – l70 lbs of grapes.
• It takes 8 to 9 (5 gal) buckets to fill a 32 gal fermentor with must to the 20 gal step.
• 3 gallon carboy = 3 gallons 18 oz., or 402 oz, = 1.26 cases = 15 bottles
• 5.5 gallon carboy = 5 gallons 48 oz. (3 pints),  or 688 oz
• 1 ton of grapes = 2.7 barrels
• 1 ton of grapes = 66.4 cases, 797 bottles.

Info thanks to Tom Morehouse.

NAZERI VINEYARD IS A SMALL FAMILY–OWNED VINEYARD, ONE OF THE FIRST IN THE CITY OF MORAGA AND COMMUNITY OFLAMORINDA, CALIFORNIA.

SAIED AND NAZZI NAZERI STARTED NV IN 2005 BY PLANTING THREE RED WINE VARIETALS: PINOT NOIR, MERLOT & SYRAH ON THE SOUTH FACING HILL IN THEIR BACKYARD.  WITH A GENERALLY MODERATE CLIMATE AND COOL BREEZY EVENINGS, MORAGA PROVED TO BE AN IDEAL LOCATION FOR THESE WINE GRAPES.  WE HAVE PLANTED APPROXIMATELY 600 VINES HALF OF WHICH ARE SYRAH AND THE OTHER HALF IS SPLIT BETWEEN PINOT NOIR AND MERLOT.

Crop production is allowed without a permit in our open space (OS) zoning district and is allowed with a use permit in our Residential-Very Low Density (RVL) and public space (PS) zoning districts. The applicable Municipal code section can be found here:

 https://www.municode.com/library/ca/orinda/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT17ZO_CH17.11OPSPDI_17.11.3USRE

 https://www.municode.com/library/ca/orinda/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT17ZO_CH17.9PUSEBLUTDI_17.9.2AP

 https://www.municode.com/library/ca/orinda/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT17ZO_CH17.3REDIBAUSRE_17.3.3RVRLRMDIANUSRE

Orinda Planning Department/City of Orinda/22 Orinda Way/Orinda, CA 94563/Phone: 925.253.4210/Fax: 925.253.7719

Rheem Valley Vineyard, owned by long-time Moraga residents, Carol and Larry Haag, was planted in May 2007, with some 450 Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah vines.  Named for scenic corridor, Rheem Valley, Rheem Valley Vineyard is located on flat and steep terrain in the heart of Rheem Valley Manor.  The vineyard, which was inspired to plant by fellow LWGA founding member, Joao Magalhaes, began as a landscaping project to fill-in some of the steep-sloped hill and to provide a backdrop view of the scenic hills of Rheem Valley.

The first harvest in 2009 was decimated by raccoons, including an industrious family of five, who not only enjoyed the grapes, but lounged in the pool late evenings when everyone was asleep.  Subsequent harvests proved more hardy and fruitful. The 2011 and 2012 wines have been bottled and deemed “quite good” by fellow LWGA members, family and friends.

Rheem Valley Vineyard is managed by Corona Vineyard Management, which also planted the vineyard, and the wine is skillfully produced by winemaker and fellow LWGA member, Bill Scanlin.  The Haags joined LWGA in 2008 and Carol has served on the LWGA Board since 2009 in various capacities.  Membership in LWGA has taken the vineyard from a landscaping project to a rewarding dimension in which to meet new friends, exchange information and socialize with people who share the same respect and love of wine.  The advent of the Lamorinda AVA will take LWGA to new heights and opportunities within the wine community.