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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

We are approaching the time that we will hopefully announce both a soft opening and a
grand opening for Local Vines, our tasting room featuring commercially available
Lamorinda AVA wines. We anticipate that construction of the Tasting Room, Winery and
apartments will be completed the end of July. We hope that Germinate Kitchen, a
separate, yet connected, commercial kitchen will be complete by the end of 2024. The
one obstacle yet to be overcome is PG&E. We still do not have a completion date for
their work – the subsurface transformer needed to power the entire building. Until the
transformer, or a suitable interim solution, is in place, we cannot get the final approvals
to open.

For those who plan on offering their wine for tasting and sale, you will need the
following: 1) an O-2 or duplicate O-2 license at 3393 Mt. Diablo Blvd.; 2) a signed Joint
Tasting Room Agreement; and 3) evidence of both your TTB Basic Permit and ABC
license. Several local wineries already have submitted all or parts of these
requirements. You should plan that the O-2 licensing process takes up to six months
and duplicate O-2 licenses up to four months to complete! Please contact Larry Thal or
Bill English if you wish assistance or more information.

The schedule below is tentative; however, may provide some useful timelines:

First meeting of the Local Vines Wine Board –July/August 2024
If you intend on selling wine at Local Vines, please submit two bottles of each varietal
and vintage you wish to sell for approval by an independent wine Board consisting of
wine experts, and Sommeliers, whose expertise we are relying on to ensure that the
wines presented at Local Vines serve to enhance the image and reputation of our AVA.
Each wine offered at Local Vines must reflect well on our AVA. Please provide these to
Larry Thal by the end of June.

Marketing – August/September 2024
We will start a promotional campaign during these months to introduce the public to
Local Vines, our AVA, and our local vineyards and winemakers.

Soft Opening – September 2024
This will be our first event for LWGA members, family and friends.

Grand Opening – October 2024
While the first of these events is anticipated for the month of October, this will be the
first of several openings, each aimed at a different demographic, to introduce Local
Vines.

https://www.tinyurl.com/LWGA-April28

Join us for an afternoon of wine tasting, food, and entertainment! Taste Lamorinda AVA wines and wines from AVA makers including:

• Thal Vineyards
• Meadow View Winery
• Raisin d’Etre Vineyards
• Los Arabis Vineyards
• Crossbrook Winery
• Crane Terrace Winery
• St Romedius Wine
• Castillo Vineyards
• Rancho Del Hambre Wine
• Deer Hill Vineyards
• Mount Diablo Cider

Food for purchase from Babo’s Kitchen. Let us introduce you to Rubab, affectionately known as Babo, the culinary virtuoso and a Private Chef rooted in El Cerrito, California. With cuisine as her ultimate canvas, she crafts masterpieces that excite taste buds and ignite creativity. Born in Kuwait, raised in Pakistan, and now proudly a resident of California, Babo’s journey is a fusion of cultures and flavors, blending her passion for design with a love for diverse culinary delights from around the world.

Entry price includes a Lamorinda wine tasting glass and 5 tickets that can be used for tasting or purchasing wine by the glass. Bottles of wine to take home available for sale. Additional tickets are 5 for $20

https://www.tinyurl.com/LWGA-April28

Hello All! 

The annual Lamorinda Wine Growers Association AVA Celebration is right around the corner – Sunday 4/28 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The event this year will be our best yet and we’re all looking forward to it! 

We are looking for volunteers to help with set up and take down (banners, tents, tables, and chairs). 

We still need 3 volunteers each for the morning (10:00 am) and evening (5:00 pm) crew. 

Also, if anyone has a lush flower garden and would be willing to share some blooms for table decorations, we’d really appreciate the contribution. 

If you can volunteer please notify Leanne Pilot at leannepilot@gmail.com or 720-999-3500.

Cheers!

Hello All!

The annual Lamorinda Wine Growers Association AVA Celebration is right around the corner – Sunday 4/28 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The event this year will be our best yet and we’re all looking forward to it!

We are looking for volunteers to help with set up and take down (banners, tents, tables, and chairs).

We need 4 volunteers for the morning (10:00 am) and 4 volunteers for evening (5:00 pm).

Also, if anyone has a lush flower garden and would be willing to share some blooms for table decorations, we’d really appreciate the contribution.

If you can volunteer please notify Leanne Pilot at leannepilot@gmail.com or 720-999-3500.

Cheers!

I am reconfiguring the “Stafford wine cellar” a bit and I have oodles of JK Adams Modular Wine Racks that I will not re-use (at least not all of them). Enough for 1000+ bottles of wine in various size configurations. They are posted for sale on Craigslist/FB Marketplace for $2/bottle – but wanted to mention it here in case anyone is interested in some or all.

Our annual celebration of the Lamorinda Appellation is just around the corner on April 28, so save the date! A link to purchase tickets for members and guests will be shared shortly.

LWGA MEMBERS: March 31st is Easter Sunday and therefore not a viable day to have our membership meeting. It is moved forward one week to the following Sunday April 7th. We will be notifying you of the topical content and location of the meeting no later than March 20th. Please pass this info along?

Thanks, David Hicks President