From Sandra's Desk:

June 2017

It's the first day of summer and whoooeeee the temperatures are showing it! It's 83 degrees in the Carmel Valley as I write this (at 10:30 am) and promising to soar to the 90's by the end of the day. After a long rainy season and a cool spring we are grateful for the sun and the warm breezes that turn cool in the evening. But we are always reminded that there can be interesting adventures ahead as the fire season approaches. Let's all pray for a safe and productive summer, minus the drama.

It's been an active few months for us personally as Alan was awarded the BMI Icon Award in May and I turned 65 years old on May 28^th. Each of these occasions gave us a chance to reflect on the amazing life that we live and to also take a step back and realize that time is going waaay too fast. As Alan said when an interviewer asked him what the Icon Award meant to him, " It means I'm old." HAHAHAHAHAH. Right! We are old but producing wine in our lives helps us to appreciate that age produces a smooth and lovely perspective. Like aging wine, we can sometimes bring out the sweetness and mellowness that youth is too rushed to present.

So here's to 2017 Vintages, Icon Awards, and Social Security. (What?!? I still can't believe it.)

And thank you for your support. It sounds trite but we really cannot do this without you!

Salute!

From The Winemaker:

Happy Summer,,, man I love this time of year. The river, the beach, tons of pool time for the kids and warm nights. Today was a beautiful 93 degrees and the opportunity to open some Rose' just happened to present itself. I had some Rose' and it was beautiful, refreshing and eye opening. As most of you know I tend to enjoy the bigger, richer style red wines and rarely stray from that but today, enjoying that glass of Rosé made me realize that the day can really dictate how great a wine can be, no matter what your preference may be. It seems like such an obvious statement and observation but straying from the norm is hard to do. Sometimes we are forced to change something up and the change ends up to be a beautiful happenstance. I guess our lives can get pretty regimented and predictable so being open to that new experience or wine can bring a perspective and joy not yet attained. Today's Rose' was a great experience, brought joy, and an eye opener I won't forget. Who knew such a simple experience could be so enlightening. Cheers to all of you and enjoy the small things.

Cheers,

Frank