Hello everyone and Happy Holidays and New Year!

And what a year it was. So many challenges and so much positive energy into overcoming all these challenges. Overall, I had received many compliments from our members for our efforts to stay relevant in these trying times. Behind the scenes, and mostly behind the computer monitors, (Zoom) the board has been actively working hard to plan events and activities for our group. I hope you have taken advantage of everything put forward.

It was great to see our first issue of the newsletter as a source of information and activities of interest. I hope you will enjoy what has been put together for you.

Next year, we are going to create a different format for our General Meetings. We plan to emphasize the social aspect of the meetings, with brief administrative topics as necessity requires and will be creating break out sessions for those who are interested in a deep dive into a topic of choice, at a later designated date. Things like vineyard management, winemaking, etc. will be announced in advance for those that are interested.

I would like to thank all of you who have responded to my call for the harvest information of 2021. It’s great to see how we’re all doing.

2021 has had an overall LWGA yield of 66,363 pounds of grapes! This translates to about 22,000 bottles of wine! The breakdown as follows:

Cabernet S. 18,147 # ; Sauvignon Blanc 1,000 #

Merlot 2,752 # ; Cab Franc 573 #

Pinot Noir 8,835 # ; Tempranillo 953 #

Petite Sirah 8,024 # ; Sangiovese 2,700 #

Chardonnay 5,498 # ; Petit Verdot 1,499 #

Syrah 7,944 # ; Zinfandel 2,200 #

Malbec 1,100 # ; Grenache 1,908 #

Mourvedre 330 # ; Cinsault 290 #

Carignana 310 # ; Cab Franc 100 #

Wow! What a spread of varietals! Should lead to some great wine tastings! And, I would like to remind you that we should submit our wines in for a tasting competition! We are listing them on our website. We’re making great wines and we should have it judged and I’m sure you would be surprised at how well we can do! If you have not yet submitted your harvest information to me, please do so to: 5powderhounds@gmail.com

A quick note about the Board elections. Please be sure to cast a ballot. We depend on your input for what we do and really appreciate your involvement! Please vote.

So let’s start 2022 with real enthusiasm! We have a lot to be thankful for and let’s make the most of it!

Respectfully submitted

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

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. 

In case you didn’t add mycorrhizal fungi when your vines were planted, the good news is that its not too late, and is easy to do with this water soluble formula. Mycorrihizal fungi send filaments off of plant roots to extend the water and nutrient uptake of roots. Cool stuff. https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/mycorrhizal-fungi-natures-key-to-plant-survival-and-success/

Here is a wettable version for sale that is very popular with high end farmers and growers: https://www.groworganic.com/products/mykos-mycorrhizae-wp-22-lb?_pos=4&_psq=my&_ss=e&_v=1.0

And if you want to further improve soil health, adding humus can dial things up. The liquid form Humax is easy to apply around vines and plants.

https://www.groworganic.com/blogs/articles/how-to-use-soil-amendments-humates-humic-acids-and-humus?_pos=1&_psq=humus&_ss=e&_v=1.0

Do you have ideas for future meetings or events for our Lamorinda Winegrowers Association? Would you like to get more involved and/or help out?

Any member who is interested in helping plan educational topics and meeting plans for 2022 is invited to join the Lamorinda Winegrowers Education Committee. The Education Committee will be meeting in December by Zoom to brainstorm and develop plans for meetings and events in 2022. If you are interested in participating, please email gerardvs1@gmail.com

Hi again everyone:

The one thing I forgot to mention in my October Recap message was that the board would like to ask all of you to please let me know how many gross pounds of grapes you harvested this year. We do this every year and it’s good information for our AVA. Please indicate the varietal of your grapes as well.

Please send your result information to:

5powderhounds@gmail.com

Thank you!

Sinceerely;

Daniel

President, LWGA

925-858-7000

Hello LWGA Members:

On Sunday LWGA held a scheduled general meeting at the Wine Thieves in the back area with the picnic tables. The meeting was well attended with 28 people. Everyone brought wine and appetizers enough for all attending.

This was to be a mostly social meeting, and it was great to see everyone there. It was hard to break up all the conversations to begin the meeting.

We began by introducing our new members, Kim Straub of Cinco Ninos Vineyards and Leanne Pilot & Dennis Carlston of Crane Terrace Vineyards.

I also announced to the group our plans for the LWGA AVA celebration on Sunday, April 24, 2022 right there in the parking lot and easements between the Wine Thieves and the new wine tasting room which Larry Thal is undertaking, hopefully completed in time for the event. There will be wine booths selling tastings and wine, food trucks, music and other events & services. Please be sure to put that date on your calendar and spread the word!

We encouraged everyone there to tell us about their harvest. Many folks indicated that their harvest was under par for the year. This is consistent with the information published in various papers from Sonoma and Napa. Factors such as excessive heat and the drought were identified as the causes for the lower yields. A vigorous and entertaining discussion about water consumption ensued. However, the bright spot is that it is anticipated that while the vines have suffered, they tend to produce rich and flavorful vintages!

There was a concern that the rains would interrupt the meeting, but as it turned out, the rain held off for us until the adjournment at 6 PM.

We look forward to seeing you again at the next meeting. The board will publish after it’s next meeting the annual membership meeting schedule for the members.

Hello fellow LWGA members:

As we’re all winding down from our harvesting, it’s good to know that we will be having a LWGA General meeting this Sunday, October 17, at 3 PM. We will meet at the Wine Thieves, in the back area with the tables.

This meeting will be mostly a social meeting, relying on your interesting stories about your harvesting efforts this year. We’re so happy not have dealt with smoke this year! Some of us were badly affected and some not. Still a mystery as to why.

So please join us on Sunday, bring a bottle of wine, your wine glass, and an appetizer to share and let’s hear about your adventures this year.

See ya then.

Daniel

President LWGA

Via my vineyard management business, I have a new client who we just planted a new vineyard this past year.    It will be a couple years before they actually get fruit that they could use to make wine in their vineyard but they’ve asked me to help them this year get started in the winemaking process. 
I am checking to see If any member has grapes or can direct me to some grapes that we can pick and I can use with this client to get them start in the winemaking process 
please let me know

thanks,

John Benson 510-910-8000

How to conduct a Malolactic fermentation (MLF)

I thought this might be of interest this time of year. Hope your winemaking is going well!

1)  Garbage in garbage out! Get the must dialed-in at crush, so that the subsequent wine will be in good shape post alcoholic fermentation for receiving the ML inoculation. A clean, healthy alcoholic fermentation means your ML bacteria will have an easier time getting started and finishing their job when it’s their turn to work in the wine:

• Clean-out any moldy or raisined clusters (the mold makes toxins that can inhibit both yeast and ML bacteria, raisins will reconstitute in the must, boost the ºBrix, and lead to higher finished alcohol levels).
  
   
• Get your sugars and ph/TA% in line so that the finished wine will not have a final alcohol above 15% (around 14% is better), and so that the pH will not be lower than 3.1/3.2 (3.2 is better). 
   
• Make sure that the initial SO2  addition is around 50ppm “total”, or so (ideally you want to finish the fermentation with a maximum of 25–30ppm “total”, and 0–10ppm “free”. Less is better).
   
• Take care of the yeast during the alcoholic fermentation (feed them and keep fermentation temperatures in line (below 85º F, 28º C), this limits their production of compounds that can later be possibly responsible for antagonizing the ML bacteria: H2S and VA, for example. Recent research shows that MLFs actually finish quicker and with less problems in wines made with yeast that are fed a complete set of nutrients during the alcoholic fermentation compared to those that are not. So remember: healthy yeast ultimately means healthy ML bacteria down the line.)

2)  Post Alcoholic Fermentation:

• Wait until the must has reached 0º Brix before inoculating with the ML bacteria. ML bacteria, in the presence of residual sugars will also use this as a food source and one of the by-products of this pathway is VA. Ironically, high levels of VA in a must or wine can actually interfere with the bacteria’s ability to complete a Malolactic fermentation; regardless if they are the one’s who made it in the first place! And, of course, VA in detectible levels is considered a serious wine flaw. This possibility can therefore be greatly reduced by eliminating most of the sugars in the environment before they gain access to it.
   
• Rack-off of the “gross” lees 24 hours post-press before inoculating the wine with the ML culture (As mentioned earlier, there is nothing helpful in the “gross” lees.  Remove them and remove potential problems, as well. There will be enough “light” lees remaining to feed the ML bacteria and you will keep the “being buried alive in the lees” factor to a minimum for the bacteria).

3)  ML inoculation preparation & handling: Prepare the ML culture: Some bacteria are labeled “direct-addition” and can be added to the wine directly from the pouch, while others require a 15–minute hydration period in clean, chlorine-free water before inoculating the wine. However, regardless of these differences all ML bacteria, including the “direct addition” and liquid ones, will benefit from a brief Acti-ML nutrient soak before going into the wine. Therefore we recommend treating any form of ML  bacteria you may be working with as if it required a 15–minute hydration before inoculation. This means that: For every 1 gram of bacteria being added to the wine, you will be adding 20g of Acti-ML to 100mL of distilled water at 77°F (25°C). After sitting for 15 minutes gently, yet, thoroughly stir this solution into your wine. The following example will use the 2.5g (66 gallons of wine) size ML bacteria packet to illustrate this. 

A) In a sanitized container: dissolve 50g of Acti-ML into 250mL of distilled water at 77°F (25°C). 

B)  Add the bacteria (2.5g) to the solution and gently stir/swirl to break up any clumps if needed. Wait 15 minutes.

C) Add the entire bacteria/nutrient solution into your wine and mix it throughout the entire wine volume. (Note: it is a good idea to stir the bacteria starter solution just before adding it into the wine to make sure that any of the nutrients and/or bacteria that may have settled-out during the 15 minute soaking period do not get left behind in the hydration vessel).

Inoculation and handling should take care to limit any oxygen exposure (the bacteria are anaerobic and depending on the strain may react negatively to various amounts of oxygen that may be introduced into the wine. In short, don’t splash when stirring the MLF and flush pumps and lines with inert gas before running a wine undergoing MLF through them. In general, it’s recommended not to rack a wine until the MLF is complete, however).

4) During the ML Fermentation:

• Make sure the wine’s pH is at least around 3.1/3.2 (3.2 is better), if not adjust accordingly (Information on adjusting pH can be found in our Red (BK598) and White (BK597) Winemaking Manuals).
   
• Keep the wine temperatures at around 70º F (20ºC) until the fermentation is complete (see section 5 below).
   
• Stir the lees 1–2 times a week until completion (keep vessels topped-up and avoid oxygen. Flush any headspaces with inert gas).

5) Testing for Completion: Monitor with chromatography* (MT930), and once it seems to be finished, then run the first test. Often a MLF can slow or stop temporarily. If everything in the five elements checks out (alcohol, temperature, pH, SO2, and nutrients) and there is still no more progress within the week, then it’s time to consider adding an ML nutrient (such as Acti-ML) to the wine at a rate of .75–1.0 grams per gallon (possibly with a dose of yeast hulls, as well).

*Note that the sensitivity-threshold for the standard vertical test kit is around 70 mg/l, but it takes around 30 mg/l to be considered truly done. So, a good rule of thumb is to just wait an extra week or two after the test shows that you are done and that should be sufficient for a true completion.

6) Upon completion of the MLF: As soon as the MLF has completed, it is also a good idea to add SO2  immediately in order to stabilize and protect the wine. At this time, the wine should also be re-checked and the pH/TA% adjusted, if needed. If you are working with a red wine, then it is important to rack the wine at this point to counteract any of the reduction that may be remaining from the secondary fermentation. If you are doing a white, however, then you may choose to remain on the lees for more depth and complexity but continue to stir the lees once every 1–2 months.

I learned about this interesting seed company during during recent regenerative agriculture course – that you can use to create a custom mix of cover crop seeds. Basic goal: the more diversity in your cover crop/weeds, the better for your soils.

Here is the website https://smartmix.greencoverseed.com/ And note, that its best to broadcast the seeds just before the first soaking rain, or rake the seeds fully in, otherwise the birds will dig them up and eat them.

Below is the mix just ordered for our new vineyard, all of the species may not take, but we are gonna give them all a go.