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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

This is a reminder that we still need more videos for the next Lamorinda Wine Growers Association meeting that will be this Sunday, January 31st at 4pm. We will be taking a virtual tour of member’s unique and interesting winemaking or wine cellars, or wine gadgets, or just plain fun stuff. This is a great opportunity to see how and where our wines are made or stored, and to get to know members better in the process. Here is a link for the zoom meeting: https://zoom.us/j/9252007676.

Before the meeting, please use your smart phone to take a short video for presenting at our next meeting.  The topics for the videos are as follows:

1.      A winemaking gadget that you have designed, manufactured, etc. that is unique or time saving.

2.      A brief tour of your winemaking area showing how you’ve set up the area.

3.      A brief tour of your wine cellar, especially if you constructed it yourself, instead of having a contractor build it for you.

4. A funny video on something related to wine or grapes. In these still dark days, humor is always welcome!

After you take your video, please send it to Gerard van Steyn at gerardvs1@gmail.com

Thanks, and Stay Safe

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

The next Lamorinda Wine Growers Association meeting will be on Sunday, January 31st at 4pm. Please mark your calendar and plan to participate, as this will be a great and interesting meeting! We will be taking a virtual tour of member’s unique and interesting winemaking or wine cellars, or wine gadgets, or just plain fun stuff. This is a great opportunity to see how and where our wines are made or stored, and to get to know members better in the process. Here is a link for the zoom meeting: https://zoom.us/j/9252007676.

Before the meeting, Use your smart phone to take a short video for presenting at our next meeting.  The topics for the videos are as follows:

1.      A winemaking gadget that you have designed, manufactured, etc. that is unique or time saving.

2.      A brief tour of your winemaking area showing how you’ve set up the area.

3.      A brief tour of your wine cellar, especially if you constructed it yourself, instead of having a contractor build it for you.

4. A funny video on something related to wine or grapes. In these still dark days, humor is always welcome!

After you take the video, send it to me via email. If the file is too large to send by email, send me a message without the file attached, and we can work out a way to get it to me, or create a smaller version. My email is gerardvs1@gmail.com and if you need help or to talk with me just call my cell, 707-758-7441

This meeting should turn out to be a great and super interesting Zoom meeting with lots of member interaction and seeing what other people are doing with their winemaking efforts.  I’m sure, like me, many of you wonder where and how some of our members make or store their wine! We will send a reminder email to the membership about the time and date of the meeting, Sunday night, January 31, 2021 at 4:00 p.m.  Mark your calendars and please create and send your short video presentation soon. We likely will get more videos than we have time for, so early submittals will get priority!

I am now reading this pruning book, recently translated from French, that presents a quite intriguing perspective on pruning, vine balance, sap flow and trunk disease. This new pruning approach is growing rapidly in use, in France and now in CA.

Could it be that the pruning techniques now most commonly used are very damaging to our grape vines? The book is well illustrated, which really helps, at least for prune addled me, with understanding the pruning recommendations. 
https://boardandbench.com/products/grapevine-pruning-manual-for-the-prevention-of-trunk-disease?_pos=1&_sid=487efdc95&_ss=r

Hello wine growers and wine makers:

As this year draws to an end, and as I look back at all that has happened in the year 2020, I find myself grateful for all the good things that I have experienced this year. There are many personal good things I could recite, and I hope you will also have some of your own.

The board and I have been working hard all year to make your membership rewarding. We have had many new members signing up this year; We have had many on site visits with membership to help improve pest control; irrigation matters; new vineyards and wine production facility planning sessions; assisted in harvest and many other helpful activities.

The website has had a great deal of activity this year. Many questions and information exchanged on our forums, interesting articles postings, and online seminars with wide ranging various subjects. Please don’t hesitate to contribute yourself.

Our Zoom meetings were well attended and had interesting topics as well as a chance to see each other virtually. We are planning to host more in the coming year until it is safe for us to resume our in person meetings, which I know we are all craving! Stand by for more information about that soon.

Sadly our holiday party had to be cancelled this year, but I know that we have not lost the spirit of our group getting together for a festive occasion.

Real progress is being made at the Lamorinda Wine tasting center in Lafayette and we’re all hoping that the grand opening will coincide with the reopening of in person gatherings.

I hope you will all have a safe and happy holiday this year! We’re all looking forward to a much saner year, but please don’t let your guard down yet. We all want to get to the finish line together!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

President LWGA

Hello LWGA Members:

This notice is to inform you that due to the continuing dangers associated with the Covid-19 Pandemic, we must regrettably inform you that we have cancelled our planned LWGA Holiday Party in December. This year has been an especially difficult year for our members to gather physically and we have relied on Zoom meetings with very good success.

The board and I have been working together to produce a schedule of events for the 2021 year, and we hope that we will be able to provide those for you in the coming year. Stand by for more information on those events.

Please be careful in the coming months with family gatherings!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Hello Fellow Wine lovers

It was so nice to see our members on our recent Zoom meeting on October 25th. 

The main topic of the meeting was to learn how everyone was doing with their harvest and wine making so far this year.  The general consensus was that the fruit has never looked so good!  There was little powdery mildew to deal with, and the animals gave us a break this year.  Maybe it was because of the electric fencing installed recently?   Birds were still there though.

David Hicks mentioned that he had found a very reliable bird fencing system that has worked very well for him.  So I invited him to prepare a presentation so that we can share with all our members.  Stand by for that one!

We talked about fertilization, alternatives to commercial petroleum based products, such as composting and living soils.  Composting will be a topic of one of our upcoming general meeting topics,  so stand by for that one as well.    

We also reviewed how to test the vineyard for deficiencies in nutritional and/or mineral needs.  The advice  given was to take a petiole sample just before flowering and if you want to set up for the following year’s harvest, to take another sample for analysis right at verasion.  The samples are sent in to a lab and they will determine if there are any imbalances to be addressed.  They will even give you exact amounts of the nutrient or minerals to add to achieve your goals!  I will post sources of laboratories  so look at our website under viticulture forum soon for laboratory suggestions and procedures.

Harvest numbers were up this year.  We like to keep track of the LWGA vineyard harvests so please let me know how you did. Please send this information to 5powderhounds@gmail.com   Those of us who make wine as well have completed our harvests and have already started producing the wines.  The good news is that no one has reported any smoke tainting detected,  yet.  I say yet because the smoke taint can present at any time.  Even after bottling!  There are all sorts of articles describing how to test, analyze and predict the effects of smoke tainting, but in the end, no one really knows.  This is a relatively new phenomenon. We might be lucky enough in Lamorinda to have been far enough away from the fires to have dodged the bullet.  Only time will tell us for sure.  So, let’s hope for the best.

The meeting lasted 1.5 hours and was very informative indeed. I hope to see you again at our next meeting!

Sincerely;

Daniel Howsepian

LWGA President

Hello again!

Just a reminder to save the date for our planed Zoom meeting on October 25, @ 4 PM. We want to see you and find out how your harvest came along, and if you’re making wine, how that’s coming along this year. So please join us at:

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

Daniel Howsepian

President LWGA