Newsletters

For the full Tribe Newsletter & tasting notes, click here. In the meantime, enjoy the nature report:

This nature report is a bedtime story – not to worry, it will still be rated PG-13 – about the current sleeping arrangements in Molly and Charlie’s bedroom. Since Austin has joined the DCVS&NP, things are getting very cozy. On any given night, Molly and Charlie, Austin (70 pounds), Vivie (the bichon fries and 15 pounds), as well as at least one cat, if not two, are present in the king size bed. Charlie has recently determined that he is allergic to Vivie, so when she tries to cuddle up next to him (a rare occurrence – she usually sleeps on Molly’s pillow, wrapped around her head), he protests. Therefore, a Maginot Line, the Mason-Dixon Line, an invisible Great Wall of China, if you will, has been created down the center of the bed. When Charlie feels something with paw pads press up against his back in the middle of the night, a variation on the following conversation occurs: Read more about June Tribe Newsletter & Winery Update

We're proud to share the February 2012 Tribe wines with great newsletter stories from Molly & Charlie. Enjoy the tasting notes, nature report and winemaker's update by clicking here. To get you started, here's a great story from Charlie. Read more about February Tribe Newsletter

You're here to find the November Tribe Newsletter and note from Charlie, right? You're in the right place!

Tribe:

I first want to apologize for my very brief comments in the last Tribe newsletter. The past several months have kept me unusually busy – both with the motion picture project I mentioned in the last newsletter and with our inclement fall weather.

I’ve been actively involved with growing grapes and/or making wine in Sonoma County since 1977, and 2011 has without question been the most difficult grape growing and harvesting year in all that period of time. It started cold and remained unusually cool throughout the spring and summer. As a result, bud break was very late and grape maturation quite slow. A factual example will make the point. Verasion – the period when green grapes turn red for the red varietals – normally starts around June and is finished in late June or early July. This year, however, verasion generally didn’t begin until late July, or August, or worse -- we were contracted to purchase grapes from a Sonoma County vineyard that didn’t even begin verasion until September. So grape maturity was at least a month behind, and significantly more than that in most cases.

As a winemaker, I’m captivated by the winery: barrels, tanks, hoses, young wines, cases of maturing wine, wine of all kinds. The winery is my home base -- but the tasting room is where the wine comes to life.  The tasting room is our opportunity to connect the wines to the people who will love and enjoy them. It’s our place to meet and keep up with our loyal Tribe, to share a glass, make new friends and enjoy the products of our hard work. We work hard to make sure that the folks in our tasting room know how to create fun, interesting and delicious experiences for you when you call, write or visit. Molly, Lucas, Kelly and I enjoy spending time in the tasting room as the winery and travel schedules permit, but we work hard to hire great people to take the helm at the tasting room year-round.
Read more about Summer Tribe Newsletter #55

Once again Molly and Charlie find themselves in Alexandria, Louisiana. You may remember last year’s Nature Report from here concerning the mating of trees. They are a little early for the pollen this year, but just in time for the mating frenzy of the birds. Mourning doves, cardinals, sparrows, mockingbirds, you name it, they are calling to each other, staking out nesting sites, building nests, and, in the case of one mourning dove, already sitting on eggs. Molly and Charlie are staying with Scott Howett, the sales manager for the winery’s Louisiana distributor, at his townhouse condo in Alexandria. He has a hanging planter outside his front door that a mourning dove has nested in and is brooding on already. Everyone sticks his/her head out the front door periodically to check on her and, depending on the wind, she’s either looking right back at them or they’re looking at tail feathers. This dove totally believes in the power of holding still as camouflage – she hasn’t moved in six days. In addition, it appears that male mourning doves do not provide food or protection for nesting females. Bummer.