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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.

Until we get a local crush facility, this is where we (Los Arabis) take our grapes for production and bottling.  About 1/2 the price of anything we could find in Napa. They produce Flowers Pinot in this facility.  Just FYI.

Please mark your calendars to attend the council meeting on Wednesday 18th of November at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers and Community Meeting Room, 335 Rheem Boulevard, Moraga, California.

In the early 1980s a friend and I began to make beer and winemaking soon followed.  We sourced our grapes from a store called Wine and the People in Berkeley – it was very funky but lots of fun.  In 1980 Christie and I had bought our home on Carr Dr and much of its big back yard was undeveloped and needed some landscaping.  As I had begun to take some winemaking classes at UC Davis, I decided to take one on small vineyard development and management.  The young couple teaching the class helped me plan a vineyard and I enlisted the help of our extended family to do the work.

I chose to plant Chard, Merlot and Cab initially based on climate data I obtained from EBMUD – Lamorinda has roughly 2450 degree days during the growing season and that mimics the town of Napa, so why not Chard and Bordeaux varietals?  The vineyard was planted in 1987 but we lost more than 50% of the vines the first year due to a supplier problem and had to replant in 1988.  I tried hard to make an acceptable Chard but never felt it was very good,  so in 2000 we cut down the Chard and plant Cab and Cab Franc.  We currently have a mix of 80/10/10 Cab, Cab Franc and Merlot, some 15 yrs old and some 27 yrs old.

The 2014 harvest was our biggest to date with 1900 lbs but this latest harvest provided just 450. We continue to purchase fruit from time to time and we make all our wine on site using pretty basic equipment and 30 gallon French and Hungarian oak. Lately we’ve begun naming our wines after our 5 grand daughters.

BARRETTA FAMILY VINEYARD & WINE CAVE

These are photos of our vines and wine cave. We have just under 70 vines of Cab, 337 clone. We are in year two and expect to make wine in 2017. My wife Gina is an artist/graphic designer and will be producing our label in the coming year with the name “Barretta Family Vineyard”.  Russ

Our vineyard was planted in Spring, 2010.  It consists of 201 Cabernet Sauvignon and 23 Syrah vines. We bottled our first vintage in 2014, but it was only 19% sugar.. or 10% alcohol.

Our vines got Eutypa die-back about three years ago. We have lost 14 vines already, having replaced six already.  We will replace the rest this Spring.  We bought 500 lbs. of C/S in 2013, which is aging well.  I brought some to the wine tasting.  I bought 1000 lbs this year.  It is now in malelactic conversion.  I like Cabernet Sauvignon made from grape juice with at least 26% sugar.  It seems to have greater complexity of flavor than lower sugar numbers.

The land in Sleepy Hollow, Orinda, was originally purchased by an Italian American family in the 1950’s. They built the house and planted many pomegranates and olive trees.  When we purchased the house from this family, it only seemed fitting to someday plant some Syrah vines near the top of the terraced landscaping. 

In August 2005, we replaced the home’s existing irrigation to a drip system approved by EBMUD’s Rebate Program. In keeping with the landscaping, a “pocket vineyard” was planted in May of 2007.  Since 2010 the vineyard has been producing about 10 cases per year.

Mimi Liem

Larry and Esther Thal planted their vineyard in Lafayette in early 2010 with their first harvest in 2012. They have over 2,000 vines of which over half are Cabernet Sauvignon with the remainder divided between Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. The original incentive was to provide a drought tolerant and fire resistant solution to a hillside erosion problem. The strong and deep roots of the vines do that exceptionally well. A byproduct of this project has been some very enjoyable and award winning wines, an aesthetic improvement of their property, and participation with a wonderful mixture of fun, entertaining and interesting LWGA members. We have a vineyard manager who helps us take care of the vines and a winemaker who makes our wine.