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Dear Members,

We hope to see you at our bi-monthly membership meeting that will be held at the Raisin d’Etre Vineyard (Howsepian), 3345 Hermosa Way, Lafayette on Sunday, July 29th at 3pm.

The winners of white and light red wines from the members choice wine judging on April 29th will pour their winning wines and talk about how they were made.

Please bring a bottle of wine and appetizer to share.  Parking is limited so having people carpool would be ideal.

If you haven’t paid your 2018-2019 dues, please make a payment thru the website or bring your checkbook to the meeting.

We hope to see you at the meeting!

LWGA Board

Fellow Winemakers and Winegrowers,

To make our association both more informative and fun, we will now have a meeting every other month, instead of every third month, and the meetings will include new information and resources for improving winemaking and winegrowing.  See below for our new and improved plans for meetings!

Also, mark your calendars and hold the date: the next meeting will be on Sunday, July 29th from 3 pm to 6pm. Location TBD.  At this meeting some of the members choice white and Pinot winners will be pouring tastes of their wines and talking about how the wines were made.  This will be a fun and informative meeting!

New Meeting Schedule:

1. Viticulture and Farming EducationalMeeting – last Sunday, January
   • Topics such as pruning, foliar sprays, organic options, sunlight and leaf pull, irrigation, mildew control, leaves/clusters, soil health, etc
   • Potluck and social
2. Member’s Choice Wine Rating – Last, Sunday, March
   • Members submit wines for judging, with categories for within and outside the AVA
   • All members can taste and rate wines.. all they need do is pick their 1^stand 2^nd choices in any category of wine
   • Everybody gets to taste and broad range of AVA and non-AVA wines and compare notes.
3. Annual AVA Celebration and Dinner/Fundraiser – 4^th Thursday in May
   • Celebrate AVA and generate some funds
   • Promote local AVA wines
   • Examine the unique terrior of different areas within the AVA
   • Eat, drink and be merry.
4. LWGA White and Light Red Wine Member’s Choice Winners – Tasting, Winemaking Explanation and Discussion – last Sunday, July
5. LWGA Red Wine Member’s Choice Winners – Tasting, Winemaking Explanation and Discussion – last Sunday, September
6. LWGA Holiday Party – 1^st Thursday in December
   • Fun potluck/wine/social party!

LWGA Board

Happy Mother’s Day/Sunday Wine and Vineyard Folks!

It’s been a very nice spring, and vines in Lamorinda generally are starting out with more, and larger clusters.  We don’t want to jinx things, but its safe to say we are off to a good start to the 2018 growing season!

Following are the results from the AVA Celebration Wine Tastings.  Thanks to all the members who participated in the judging.  Next year we are thinking to redo the wine judging at a separate meeting devoted just to that.  And to make the judging easier for members, instead of rating each wine, all we will need to do is taste them all and then select your two favorite wines (in each category).  This type of members choice rating format will be more fun and will let more members participate as well!

Now we can get to the fun and informative end-result of the evaluations: 

The next meeting will be on Sunday, July 29, 3 – 6pm.  At this meeting, the makers of winning whites will be pouring samples of their wine and will explain how it was made.  This will be a fun and informative meeting, with lots of great white wines to sample!

And then at the following meeting, which will be on Sunday, September 30^th, the winemakers of winning red wines will be pouring and explaining.  This meeting should be even more interesting, because we will be able to taste and compare side by side more AVA and non AVA wines made from the same grape!  One thing we will be focusing on is what unique characteristics are in AVA wines.

Next will be our annual Holiday party, which will be on Thursday, December 6^th.  Mark your calendars, start getting your party hat designed and dancing shoes shined, cuz this is going to be a fun night.  We will also be sending out more information soon about the new plans for meetings to occur now every other month.

Here is a link to a slideshow from the AVA Celebration: https://lamorindawinegrowers.com/photos/?wppa-occur=1&wppa-slide&wppa-album=16

LWGA Board

Hi Vine/Vino Folks,

Your wine submissions for the 1^st AVA Celebration Wine Rating event are due by end of today.  If you are dropping your wine off tonight, Bill Scanlin will be dressed in his chef’s apron and will be handing out freshly baked cookies.  (okay, the part about the cookies is fake news, and we are not really sure what Bill will be wearing)

We have a good group of judges on board, including Lamorinda’s poet laureate/wine writer and the wine buyer for Diablo foods.  Plus, we have members as judges as well, just so we all can agree to disagree with whatever they say.

So, if you have been playing classical music (or Milli Vanilli) to your bottles of wine, getting them fully prepped for the event, today is the day to get them to Bill, dressed in his apron and all.  (6 Lois Lane, Lafayette)

And if you still need tickets, or more tickets for friends or family, or fans of Milli Vanilli

LINK FOR TICKETS:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-lamorinda-american-viticultural-area-celebration-tickets-44563386288

Important:  Each bottle of wine needs to be labeled with the following:

• Wine/Winemaker name 
• Wine Type and Varietals if a Blend:   ie Cabernet Sauvignon 90%, Cab Franc 10%
• Year of Vintage
• Source of Grapes:  ie:  100% AVA sourced: Orinda  or Non-AVA Napa: Mt. Veeder
• $5 per wine entry, 2 bottles per entry (so Bill can drink one)

LWGA Board

Hello fellow LWGA members.  The AVA Celebration is right around the corner:  this Sunday!  Now we need your wines for the first members choice blind wine rating event.  We encourage everyone to enter at least one wine.  You will get blind feedback from members, which may or may not be accurate, but it certainly will be interesting.

As an added incentive, we are excited to announce that Amy Glynn, the first Lamorinda poet laureate and wine bard will be tasting wines and joining our celebration.  Amy will be impressed by the quality of Lamorinda wines and could help to build the reputation of the Lamorinda AVA by her future articles and community involvement.

All wines entered will be brown bagged and rated by members who wish to participate in the judging.  Who knows how the members judging will turn out, but one thing is certain, it will be fun and informative – and your own private “judging” notes will be given to each submitter at a later meeting. Plus, at future meetings we will get to taste the winning wines and hear how they were made!

Wine Rating Logistics:

All wine entries need to be dropped off by this Friday, April 27^th, so we have time in advance of the wine evaluation event to get everything set for the blind tasting.  Please submit 2 bottles of wine for each entry, as this will provide enough wine for the evaluation and the remainder will be made available for other members and the general public to taste during the AVA Celebration.

Please drop you wines off at Bill Scanlin’s house, 6 Lois Lane, Lafayette CA, along with a check made out to LWGA for $5 per entry to cover costs.  If someone is not home in the Scanlin’s house when you drop by, there will be an ice chest by the front door wherein you can leave your wine and the entry fee.

Important:  Each bottle of wine needs to be labeled with the following:

• Wine/Winemaker name 
• Wine Type and Varietals if a Blend:   ie Cabernet Sauvignon 90%, Cab Franc 10%
• Year of Vintage
• Source of Grapes:  ie:  100% AVA sourced, Orinda  or Non-AVA Napa, Mt. Veeder

Event Details

• When:          4:30 to 5:30pm. Sunday April 29, Lafayette Community Library

To signup to be a wine judge/evaluator, please email gerardvs1@gmail.com or call Gerard at 707-758-7441.  If you have any questions, or wish to volunteer to help out, please email Gerard at the email above or Daniel Howsepian at5powderhounds@gmail.com.  If you want to coordinate your wine drop off with Bill, his email is bscanlin@gmail.com.

We are looking forward to a fun wine tasting event!  If it works out as hoped, this could the first annual!

LWGA Board

If you have not yet purchased your tickets for the 3^rd Annual Celebration of the Lamorinda winegrowing AVA designation, please purchase your tickets before this Monday, April 23.  We really look forward to seeing as many members as possible at the celebration!  Plus, purchasing tickets early will help us better plan for the number of attendees.

Plus, plus, all members who attend can also submit wines and be a judge for our first annual members choice wine judging, which will occur right before the celebration!

The link below will take you to our Eventbrite site where you can buy your tickets and learn more about the Celebration.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-lamorinda-american-viticultural-area-celebration-tickets-44563386288

AVA Celebration Details

• When:          5:30 to 8:00pm – Sunday April 29
• Where:         Lafayette Community Library

Lamorinda wine will be served and food will be provided. On Monday, the ticket price increases from $29 to $35.  Each ticket will also include a Lamorinda AVA Commemorative wine glass.

Looking forward to seeing you there,

LWGA Board

The 3^rd Annual Celebration of the Lamorinda winegrowing area being officially designated as a unique American Viticultural Area will take place in less than two weeks!

Please buy your tickets for this fun and important event as soon as possible.   The link below will take you to our Eventbrite site where you can buy your tickets and learn more about the Celebration.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-lamorinda-american-viticultural-area-celebration-tickets-44563386288

AVA Celebration Details

• When:          5:30 to 8:00pm – Sunday April 29
• Where:         Lafayette Community Library

Lamorinda wine will be served and food will be provided. Your $29 ticket will also include a Lamorinda AVA Commemorative wine glass. Dress is casual.

Hello fellow LWGA members.  We are excited about the upcoming opportunity for members to rate and evaluate AVA and non-AVA wines! This will be a blind tasting of wines, in different categories, such as whites, rose, cabernet, red blends, dessert, etc.  All members can enter wines to be evaluated, and we are encouraging everyone to submit at least one wine.   All members also can be a wine judge, as long as they have also signed up and paid to attend the AVA Celebration and commit to focus on tasting and rating all wines entered (so taking time to evaluate each wine and spitting instead of drinking).

After the AVA Celebration starts, there will be ample wines remaining for everyone else to taste the wines in a fun social setting, so those that judge wines will still not miss out on any of the fun. We will be compiling the wine ratings and notes, so that each wine maker will at a subsequent meeting receive ratings and notes, which should be helpful for future winemaking.

All wine entries need to be dropped off by Friday, April 27^th, so we have time in advance of the wine evaluation event to get everything set for the tasting.  Please submit 2 bottles of wine for each entry, as this will provide enough wine for the evaluation and the remainder will be made available for other members and the general public to taste during the AVA Celebration.  Please drop you wines off at Bill Scanlins house, 6 Lois Lane, Lafayette CA, along with a check made out to LWGA for $5 per entry to cover costs.  If someone is not home in the Scanlin’s house when you drop by, there will be an ice chest by the front door wherein you can leave your wine and the entry fee.

Important:  Each bottle of wine needs to be labeled with the following:

• Wine/Winemaker name 
• Wine Type and Varietals if a Blend:   ie Cabernet Savignon 90%, Cab Franc 10%
• Year of Vintage
• Source of Grapes:  ie:  100% AVA sourced, Orinda  or Non-AVA Napa, Mt. Veeder

Event Details

• When:          4:30 to 5:30pm. Sunday April 29
• Where:         Lafayette Community Library
• Details:        2 bottles of wine per entry; $5 per entry, each wine labeled with Winemaker, Year, Varietals, Source of Grapes (within AVA or not and where more specifically), dropped off at Bill Scanlin’s house no later than April 27^th.

To signup to be a wine judge/evaluator, please email gerardvs1@gmail.com or call Gerard at 707-758-7441.  If you have any questions, or wish to volunteer to help out, please email Gerard at the email above or Daniel Howsepian at 5powderhounds@gmail.com.  If you want to coordinate your wine drop off with Bill, his email is bscanlin@gmail.com.

We are looking forward to a fun wine tasting event!  If it works out as hoped, this could the first annual!

LWGA Board

Last week you should have received an email from Eventbrite announcing the Lamorinda Winegrowers 3^rd Annual AVA Celebration.  It is coming up soon:  Sunday April 29 @ 5:30 PM  at the Lafayette Library Community Hall!

Please click on the link below to buy your tickets.  We are expecting a large turnout and encourage everyone to buy their tickets soon, so we can plan for the number of attendees.  We also encourage you to invite any friends or guests who are interested in learning more about Lamorinda wines to attend this fun night.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-lamorinda-american-viticultural-area-celebration-tickets-44563386288?aff=es2

Lamorinda wine will be served and food will be provided. Your $29 ticket will also include a Lamorinda AVA Commemorative wine glass. Please bring one bottle of Lamorinda wine per person or commercial wine if you can’t bring local wine. Dress is casual, but fun, crazy or wine-themed outfits are encouraged!

As a special feature of this celebration, we will also be holding an informal wine tasting and judging event prior to the start of the AVA Celebration.  More information on this wine judging event will be sent to you soon.  Please keep on the lookout for more informational emails from the LWGA.

So please, buy your tickets now for a fun filled, informative, interactive gathering of the proud Lamorinda Wine Growers Association celebration of the Lamorinda AVA.

Sunday, April 29^th, is almost around the corner!

LWGA Board

Join us to celebrate our hard earned and important AVA designation at the second annual Lamorinda AVA celebration, On Sunday April 29 @ 6 PM  at the Lafayette Library Community Hall.

We’ve got plans for you that evening and we would like you and your guests to attend this fun night.

As a special feature of this celebration, we would like to invite all our members to submit bottles of wines they made from AVA or non AVA grapes for an informal tasting and judging by your peers. $5.00 per bottle to cover costs.  This will be done between the hours of 4-5:30pm on April 29, 2018 as well.  All members will have the opportunity to judge the wines – with each member who wants to be a judge committing to evaluate and rate each wine between 4pm and 5:30pm.  The results will be tabulated and announced at a later date, and the winners will be asked to give a short presentation of how the wine was produced, from the vineyard management perspective; fermentation processes; to the bottling;  at the next membership meetings.  There will be several categories both for AVA and non-AVA wines, depending on the submittals received.

Then we will have a short General meeting for our members, status of our club; and letting you know of all the wonderful plans and activities we have for the membership for the coming year.

For example, we will be proposing to expand the regular meetings to bi-monthly meetings, every year, where we propose to have relevant and timely discussions and activities as well as discussions by the wine judging results, to help all become better grape growers and wine makers, so that the Lamorinda AVA brand will shine!  Look for more info to follow.

For all of the founding members of the AVA, the beautiful AVA certificates with your names on them will be on display and available for distribution.

At 6 PM, the Lamorinda AVA celebration begins.  $30.00 per person entry fee.  There will be food, beverages, music and lots of mingling and talk about our upcoming wine growing season.

So please, save the date for a fun filled, informative, interactive gathering of the proud Lamorinda Wine Growers Association celebration of the Lamorinda AVA.

See you then!

LWGA Board