This notice is a follow up to remind all members and guests that the 3 PM 49er game Sunday preempted Sundays meeting and we have rescheduled the same program for Feb 4 at 3 PM at Bill Scanlan’s wine room. Kindly pass on this info if required? See you all on the 4th. David Hicks President

TO: LWGA membership,

Dear members, sorry for short notice but due to the 49ers championship game this Sunday conflicting with the exact hours of our meeting at Bill Scanlan’s we have rescheduled the meeting for 3 PM the following Sunday February 4th. Please make note of this short notice change and tell your friends about the new date? After attending CCWG’s annual dinner last weekend their attendance was down 30% and half the attendees had the game on their phones.

We will re-send this notice several more times and hope all of your read it and can make the February 4 change.

David Hicks President

Happy 2024 Dear Wine Folk

Please mark your calendars! The next member meeting will be on Sunday, January 28th, 3pm to 6pm, at Bill and Alissa Scanlin’s beautiful vineyard and wine cellar property, 6 Lois Lane, Lafayette, CA.

Five members of the new LWGA Educational Committee will be hosting a panel discussion on what to do in the vineyard in the Winter and Spring. The panelists, who each manage their own vineyards, are Karen Joy Maggio, Chris Maxwell, Frank Orson, Marci Ryan-Nichol and Bill Saupe. Their passion and capabilities for viticulture and winemaking will ensure that this is an engaging and very informative meeting.

Please bring a bottle of wine and an appetizer to share.

The

Hello fellow LWGA grape growers:

By now, everyone should have their harvest in for 2023.

Earlier this month, I had sent out a request for your harvest information. Thank you for those that have already responded, but there are many who have not yet responded.

Without getting all our vineyard information, I will not be able to get an accurate tally to compare with previous years as is our goal. I only have this week to complete my report, so if you have not yet sent in your harvest information, by varietal and pounds yielded, please do so by Wednesday, November 30, 2023.

Please send your information directly to me at: 5powderhounds@gmail.com

Thanks!

Daniel

BRING OUT THE UGLY SWEATERS!

Some still have grapes on the vine though it’s almost holiday time! Come in your ugliest holiday sweater – store bought or home styled. Prizes are on offer!

LWGA will cater the event and please bring a bottle of wine, or a few, to share. 

NOTE: This is in the hills of Orinda. Flat, comfortable shoes are strongly advised. Additional parking is on Barbara Road. Please observe all posted parking signs

The LWGA party is for members and their significant other

See you there!

RSVP HERE

In case you missed this, please click through the link below to take a short survey that will help Kamyar Aram, UC Cooperative Extension Specialty Crops Advisor for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in deciding on future programs and services.

Please follow this link to take the survey.

There is a new newsletter for sharing news, resources, and events for crop producers in these counties. 

You can follow this link to subscribe to the Diablo Region Crops Newsletter.

Officially, the end of the growing season for 2023 vintners is over. And what a year! It was the best of vintages, it was the worst of vintages… For some growers and winemakers, this was a remarkable year for quality, and for others not as good. 2023 started late with exceptional moisture and delayed bud break. However, the growing season went along without any major heat waves or disruptions for an excellent extended growing season. I hope you had a good season.

Every year, the LWGA collects member information about your harvests. We would like to know what your gross weight yield in pounds (stems and all) was per varietal. I will accumulate this information anonymously by varietal and have a comparison spreadsheet from prior years to see how we’re doing.

Please send me your information soon so that I might be able to share this information with everyone very soon for an anticipated vigorous discussion.

Thank you!

Daniel Howsepian 5powderhounds@gmail.com

925-858-7000

SAVE THE DATE!

December 3, 5-8pm 2023

LWGA member holiday party. The official invitation with RSVP link will follow later this month

The Board of the Lamorinda Winegrowers Association is establishing a new committee to develop the educational topics and plans for future member meetings. This will be a great opportunity for LWGA members to get more involved. The time commitment for this committee should be fairly minimal.

The Board encourages anyone who is interested to join this committee. If you are interested or have any questions, please email Gerard van Steyn at gerardvs1@gmail.com or David Hicks at dh1780@yahoo.com