June 1, 2010

Summer Concierge

By TR

Memorial Day is the traditional launch of the summer season that will end when Labor Day rolls around in September.  Standing here, on the first day of June, it seems like the long, languid, lazy days of summer will last forever- but I know from experience that this summer will all too soon be a hazy memory.  The weather has not been at all cooperative, with lots of rain last week including thunder and lightning last Friday with downed trees and a high, cold, murky Russian River right up until the weekend.  But today, as we are all back at work, the sky is a glorious blue, the temperature warm and the daylight soft and luminous.

I am always happy to help you plan your visit to Wine Road- as much help or as little as you want- I will guide you to our wineries, help you chose your lodging, point out winery tours, events, which wineries have food on site, caves, tours- and all sorts of other cool stuff.  We have videos up on our site as do many of our members- just click over to their web pages to see them and even before you arrive here you will be ready to roll. Don’t forget your Ticket to the Wine Road- the one or three day pass with over 60 participating wineries and 14 lodgings with special offers. I will help you plan around our big three annual events-I can assist with your special events- surprising your sweetheart/spouse with a getaway, a proposal at a winery, a birthday celebration, an anniversary dinner, a wedding, canoeing, ballooning, picnicking- well you get the idea.  On our www.wineroad.com click over to More Fun Stuff to see restaurants, spas, tours, transportation, insider information, and other helpful links-did you know that Horizon Air out of Santa Rosa allows each passenger to take a case of wine onboard FREE?  Wine needs to be in a shipper-type carrier and it goes onboard via their a la carte system- this is an exclusive Sonoma County offering by Horizon and a simple, stress-free, economical way to get your wine purchases safely home!

For personal planning assistance, there is always  I- call or email me and I will assist- your very own Wine Road concierge. I came to Healdsburg in 1982 to inn keep the Grape Leaf Inn and started working with Wine Road way back then- and even with all these years of working along and with Wine Road, I learn new things all the time. For example I never knew that HOLIDAY INN (1942) was filmed on location here with Astaire and Crosby in Monte Rio and at the circa 1906 Village Inn and Resort.  (WHITE CHRISTMAS is the sequel to HOLIDAY INN- sure you are dying to point that out.)   We are a vacation wonderland- memories will linger! I have been awarded a new title: Member & Guest Concierge and will work with our members and our guests to map out your best experience along the fabulous, magical Wine Road!

May 5, 2010

The Long & Winedy Road

By TR

I had an email from a Wine Road guest the other day with the subject line: The Long & Winedy Road.  It made me smile.  I also noted that the word “windy” can mean either “full of blowing air” or “circuitous”, different meanings and pronunciations. It IS, as the Beatles noted, a long and winding road- which wends all about- now that word “wend”- it appears in our description of Wine Road, and many folks think it is a misprint of “wind”- but it is the word that we meant to use.  (This is quite a run-on series of ideas, but this is a blog, so rules are not so hard, and it is a piece on serendipity- so bear with me please.)

I have been thinking about how the road twists and turns, and our journey wends and takes different directions, and about the interconnectedness of people and how small the world sometimes is.  This week Wine Road made a $25,000 donation to the Redwood Empire Food Bank, a reflection of $1 per Barrel Tasting Ticket sold.  25,000 guests attended BT 2010- an amazing number of people.  Then, when we put out a guest survey about BT, 2300 people responded to it- and not just multiple choice type answers, but thoughtful, long, well-worded essay-type thoughts, solutions, and suggestions.  Our guests made the donation to REFB possible and improved lives in our community.  Our guests ARE our events- we are in this together.

Beth and I read the surveys- more than once.  I got such a kick out of reading all of them.  20 of our survey respondents were randomly chosen to receive gift certificates for A Wine & Food Affair in November- such fun for me to contact the winners, learn a bit more about them and where they live and get those GC’s out there via snail mail.  Only waiting now to hear back from one lucky winner who, judging from his email, is in the military- but I will track him down!

One of the suggestions that came up many times in the surveys was about instructing Event attendees to not feel bad about dumping out wine- you cannot drink all that is poured to you.  I encourage guests to use the dump buckets- but something that Americans rarely do, that Europeans do quite easily and effectively, is taste and then spit out wine- in fact, professional tasters HAVE to spit out the wine or they just would fall over by the end of all the tastings they have to do.  When I ran a tasting room and set the bar up at 9AM each morning I spit out all the wine that I tasted- otherwise, the day would not ever have gone too efficiently for me!  But Americans are reticent, indeed, downright shy to spit.  I think that the time has come for guests to have an official, individual Spitting Out Wine Vessel.  My slogan will work along the lines of this: BE THE SPITTING IMAGE OF COOL.

April 1, 2010

Barrel Tasting 2010: Mopping Up!

By TR

Along the Wine Road, we look at the year as being divided into “Before Barrel Tasting”, “During Barrel Tasting” and “After Barrel Tasting”.  Everyday routines stop, are altered, are forgotten. Everyone understands the blanket excuse: “Well, it was Barrel Tasting!”   It is a life changing event for many of us, similar to having children, as after you have gone through it, nothing will ever be the same again.  Along the Wine Road, there are those that participate in Barrel Tasting and those who do not – and never the twain shall meet.  Barrel Tasting is now the largest wine event in the state of California- we had record breaking pre-sale of tickets to the event and also sold blockbuster amounts at the door- the dust is still settling on that one as member wineries are slowly but surely returning their BT Event supplies to our Wine Road warehouse and reporting on their ticket sales.

All in all, member wineries and guests seem quite happy- good times, good wines, good sales, good purchases.  After BT, member wineries return to us any left-over glasses, DD mugs, wristbands, posters and their empty 5-gallon Calistoga Water bottles.  Our warehouse, which was pretty much empty, and orderly, becomes awash with a mess of materiel being returned in random order and in a hurry.  This is the time when I always find that I was too hasty in recycling pallets and cardboard.  Glasses have to be re-staged onto pallets, shrink-wrapped and stacked for A Wine & Food Affair in November- ditto the mugs- the wristbands are stored for next BT- the posters are kept safe for any folks who might order them off our wine road website (click the callout for “Order 2008 Cookbook”- ironic.)

We enjoy seeing our members and hearing their stories of BT- and this is a time when we can fine-tune the event and make it better.  This year, partially because we are right next door to Optima Winery, and partially because some guests actually sought us out, we had visitors during BT and were able to actually meet some of the folks that we knew formerly just from email or telephone.  Now that is gratifying, to meet guests who we helped plan a whole itinerary for and then, wow- there they are.

Facebook and Twitter played a big part in making this BT even bigger than ever—and related to that, and staged partially with those tools, Beth (and I the following weekend) took part in photographic flyovers with auteur Robert Janover. Guests were coordinated to come out to wave and Robert captured it. We flew in a very small Cessna out of Dragonfly Aviation- two of us in the back and two in the front- you have to get in the plane very carefully and separately so that it does not tip over onto the nose or tail.  Robert shoots out the open window- so it is cold enough in the plane to forestall airsickness.  But I for one really hate getting into small backseats when there is a photographer just standing there all ready to shoot.

MARCH 2, 2010

Barrel Tasting: Disneyland for Adults

By TR

Barrel Tasting advance ticket sales ended yesterday with excellent response-that bribe of $10 off per advance ticket really seems to work-all part of trying to make the Event run smoothly for our guests and wineries so that we avoid check-in bottlenecks and can better gage how to stage the Event- where to send the correct amount of Event glasses, wristbands and other supplies.  Without this advance knowledge, would be like waging a war with no idea where to supply and protect the troops and gird them for success!

Speaking of tactical assistance, we just received, hot off the presses, the 2010 Wine Road Map- gorgeous-reminds me of the Disneyland map showing all the enchanted lands, but with our AVA’s instead.  Sometimes answering our 800 Wine Road line I do think of Disneyland staff answering the same or similar queries on a daily basis, which brings me to something I like to think of as “Wine Road Favorite Queries”:

Barrel Tasting does not sell out, so now guests who did not purchase in advance online can just show up at any participating winery the day of the Event- $30 per person per weekend, $10 for Designated Drivers.  Here is my favorite from BT 2010- this is quite a common query no matter how we phrase the bit about the Designated Driver Ticket being $10:

Hello,
I see we can get a designated driver for $10.  How does that work?  Does this driver supply the car?  Does this driver take us to all the wineries in the area?
I look forward to your response.
Thank you,
Name changed to protect the innocent

I felt like saying that the kind of driver you get and the kind of vehicle would be more than suspect and less than deluxe- but probably best, in this case to “don’t speak, don’t speak.”

Here is an inquiry I received from one of our member wineries asking me about places to stay along the Wine Road; I referenced our 56 Associate Lodging Members and how they appear on wineroad.com and on the Map.  The winery person then asked me:

“What is a ‘lodg-ing’?”

It is very difficult to make information clear-for example, this year we tried setting allocations on each winery location for ADVANCE CHECK-INS- not for participating or visiting, but merely for ADVANCE CHECK-INS- and no matter how we phrased it, we still had people try to submit their itineraries to us for the whole of the Event, asking me where on the ticketing page they could let me know their exact plans for the whole day- and even now, just had a question about which of our wineries are selling tickets at the door when some of them were “SOLD OUT”- must again reiterate, with a smile on my face, that NO WINERIES ARE SOLD OUT- all are selling for $30 at the door.  Yes, all of them- and no, limos are NOT the same as buses- at least not to the best of my knowledge.

2^nd Barrel Tasting Ticket Give-Away….Simple Hedonisms contest

It’s been fun having people write in with various wine related questions.  Love the opportunity to do something a bit different from my normal work day…fun to some share my ideas and do a little research.  As an extra bonus, it gives us a chance to give away a few more Barrel Tasting tickets!

Cathy Piggott - Question: I want to show off  Sonoma County wines to my out-of-town friends. What is the best varietal to serve with a cheese tray?

Had to answer this question for sure…working for the Wine Road I attend multiple press tours a year and often visit local wineries that offer amazing wine and food pairings. They ALL seem to offer a variety of cheeses with their wines.  So here is what I’ve observed and tasted along the way;

Semi soft cheeses or mild brie are perfectly paired with bubbles or chardonnay.  If you’re a fan of goat cheese or herbed cheeses, try sauvignon blanc.  For red wine fans; cabernet sauvignon or merlot, try pairing with Cheddar, Gouda, Swiss, Gruyere or a Mild Parmesan.  At my house, we’re fans of syrah and zinfandel so we match them up with stinky cheeses…just have to make sure everyone has some!  This is a general starting point – but experimenting is part of the fun.  Locally find a Whole Foods, or a small upscale deli and they’ll be more than happy to give you some ideas and share the new cheeses they are trying. Most cheese vendors love to get your feedback when you try their “new discoveries”.

http://www.traversos.com/

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=-&fb=1&cid=10123978035045010021

http://www.yelp.com/biz/molsberry-market-santa-rosa

Patti Kruse - If pinot noir is a thin skinned grape, what varietal is known as a thick skinned grape? And, are many of the thick skinned grapes grown in Sonoma County?

Pretty sure this is not Patti, but it's the photo she has on Facebook!

Well Patti, checking all of my reference books for grapes with thick skins, these are the five that seem to always appear; Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah/Shiraz, Nebbiolo. Tempranillo, and Malbec.  All of which are grown in Sonoma County to varying degrees.  Because vineyards are a bit of a moving target, with some always being replanted, I have no firm number on the total acres, but here is a ballpark estimate:

Sonoma County Acreage: Cabernet Sauvignon an estimated 12,600 acres.

Sonoma County Acreage: Syrah accounts for 1,820 acres in Sonoma County.

Sorry to say I couldn’t find any numbers for Nebbiolo, Tempranillo or Malbec.

I do know that about a dozen of our member wineries grow these varietals.

For the most part having a thick skin makes them a bit more resilient to various growing conditions but they all perform best in slightly dry and warm climates with soils that allow for good drainage and requires the grape to struggle a bit to become concentrated. The thick skin results in higher tannin concentration.

Here are the bacis grape descriptions for each from taken from:

http://www.wineonline.ie/winery/varietals1.htm and

http://www.thewinedoctor.com/advisory/tasteclassicgrapesred.shtml

Cabernet Sauvignon

It has small, blue-black berries which have thick skins, providing necessary tannin, colour and flavour.

Syrah/Shiraz

This thick-skinned grape may produce potentially tannic and long-lived wines. It is also late-ripening, explaining why it has gravitated towards warm regions such as the Rhône and Australia, although it is also producing good wines in South Africa, Chile and California.

Nebbiolo

It would seem ideally suited to planting in warmer climes, as this thick-skinned variety is late ripening. Indeed, the name Nebbiolo may be derived from nebbia, a fog which hangs over the vineyards during the Autumn harvest.

Tempranillo

By far Spain’s most noble indigenous grape it has similar characteristics to the Pinot – strawberries when young, earthy vegetal when mature – and it ages very well. It ripens early (‘temprana’ is the Spanish for ‘early’) is thick-skinned and gives good colour and extract but low alcohol and acidity.  It is grown throughout Spain but very much as a grape for blending as opposed to a straight varietal. Outside Spain the grape is quite prolific in Argentina and to a lesser extent in California.

Malbec
A small, dark, thick-skinned grape, it gives intense colour, big tannins and lots of structure to the wines and is generally blended with a little Merlot for subtlety. Has become very popular in Argentina where it adapts well to the hot climate.

Cheers, Beth

We were thrilled that so many people logged on and asked questions for our Barrel Tasting ticket contest. I didn’t seem right to only select one. Although William Allen, one of our favorite bloggers (Simple Hedonisms) did a fantastic job selecting one to answer, we wanted to pick a few more. William’s answer was very informative and in-depth, but I’m going with my standard, brief/quick, answers. But hey, we’re still going to send each of these people two tickets to Barrel Tasting!

John B

This will be the 32nd ‘Barrel Tasting’ event on the Wine Road. This year there are more than 160 wineries along the Road, and well over 100 are participating in the event. How many wineries were there thirty-two years ago, and how many participated in that first Barrel Tasting event?

Well John, I did manage to find a dusty old filing box in our warehouse, with some great info to help me answer your question.

So, here’s the scoop…the Russian River Wine Road was formed in 1976.  At the time these were the founding wineries…

1. L. Foppiano
2. Cambiaso Winery and Vineyard
3. Geyser Peak Winery
4. Nervo Winery
5. J. Pedroncelli Winery
6. Simi Winery
7. Souverain Alexander Valley
8. Trentadue Winery
9. Pastori Wnery

Their mission was to work together to promote the wineries that literally were along the Russian River, thus the original name, Russian River Wine Road.  Their first order of business was to produce a map, which would be for visitors, hotels and visitor centers.

As you can see here, after a few months of brainstorming the first map was designed and it also listed, Johnson’s Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Vineyard, and Sonoma Vineyards, so 12 wineries all together.

By the time Barrel Tasting was launched there were about 16 wineries involved and it was promoted by word of mouth, which drew about 100-200 people, mostly locals.  Since it’s inception Barrel Tasting has been the first full weekend in March.

Beginning in 2007 we extended the event to the first TWO weekends in March and as you noted, we now have over 100 wineries that participate each year.

As much as the event has grown, the initial objective has not changed – Barrel Tasting is designed to give visitors a unique experience of visiting wineries and getting into the cellar.  Just as the early days, wineries gear up to sell “futures” of their barrel wines.

Most of the wineries I have spoken to about the early days of Barrel Tasting say it was pretty a low key event.  Most rolled out one or two barrel to pull samples from, along side their current release, bottled wines.  With just a few hundred attendees, it was a festive weekend, but not crowded.  Wineries had plenty of time to really talk with visitors and build some long lasting relationships.

Every year we hear from one or two customers who have been attending for 25 or more years.  Most of those folks love the event because they enjoy buying “futures”.  Many wineries plan their bottling so that if you buy “futures” this year, they will be ready for you to pick up the following year during Barrel Tasting.

I loved this question so much, I’m going to do some more research and make our Wine Road history an ongoing post.

Veronica Martinez

What exactly is Tannin? I would like to know also how Tannins affect a wine’s taste and how it pairs with food.

I always hear people using the term “tannin” when talking about or describing a wine, but I’m not sure everyone really knows what it is.

Here are my “beginning to understand wine” answers: Tannin is phenolic compounds extracted from the skins, stems, and seeds of grapes. They also contribute to the taste of wine. The longer the wine stays in contact with the skins, stems, and seeds the more tannin that is absorbed.

I wouldn’t say there is a specific taste to tannin, but more the feeling in the back of your mouth when you drink red wines…sort of a dry feeling on your tongue and mouth.  When you swallow, that’s typically when people will say, “there is so much tannin in that wine”.  It’s the mouth feel.  For the most part, wines without enough tannin are described as flat. Wine without enough tannin may taste more like fruit punch than a great wine.  If you’ve ever sampled a wine and felt your cheeks suck in and your lips pucker, you know instantly – too much tannin!

Since tannin can be extracted from the seeds of the grapes – experiment.  Bite into a grape seed and you’ll know what tannin is!

Tannin is an astringent that occurs naturally in grapes and acts as a natural fining agent. Proteins combine with tannin to form heavy solids that sink to the bottom of the barrel or bottle. This process is called flocculation and is a natural clearing process in wine. Wine that is cloudy is often in need of tannin.

For a full-blown, more detailed chemistry lesson on tannins, you should check out this article: http://www.wineanorak.com/tannins.htm

When you’re trying to pair your wines with food, some simple rues of thumb;

• Sweet foods taste less sweet with tannic wines
• Salty foods emphasize tannins
• A wine high in tannin, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon matched with a tannic food such as tomato sauce will produce a very dry and astringent flavour.

Courtney Paige Bransford

What country did the varietal Zinfandel originally come from?

When I began in the wine industry about 20 years ago, I learned that zinfandel originated in Croatia.  Other research connects it with southern Italy’s Apulia region, where the genetically related Primitive variety is grown. Now most researchers agree that the roots of Zinfandel (as well as Primitivo) are most likely in the Dalmatian province of Croatia (in the former Yugoslavia) where DNA matches have been made with a variety locally known by the name of Crljenak Kasteljanski (also Pribidrag or Tribidrag). The genetic linkage and similar origins of Italy’s Primitivo and California’s Zinfandel has been supported by the work of both Croatian and UC Davis researchers.

I’m confident if you were to pose this same question to various zinfandel growers throughout our Dry Creek Valley, you would get a variety of answers. This is my answer, and I’m sticking to it!

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with questions – this was fun!

Cheers – Beth

WINTER ALONG WINE ROAD

By TR

Photos by Marta Hayden

Came off of Winter Wineland into some spectacular, driving, much-needed rain, which cooperatevely held off, more or less, until WW was done- and then it hit, trees down, power out, Russian River UP, as high as it has been in quite some years.  This was a record year for WW- more tickets purchased in advance than ever before in all these 18 years- 5400- so most likely we had well over 6000 attendees.  Wow!  Smooth sailing and positive experiences for our guests, wineries and lodgings- and for me and Beth, too- no fires!

Quiet time along Wine Road now, weather is wet, cold, gray, but some sun, too.  Plants show heavy evidence of the hard frosts of last December, but daffodils and paper whites are up- looks like acacia and other flowering trees are starting to get a wee bit ready to bloom. Vineyards are sleeping, but mustard is up, perhaps waiting to see if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow.  Valentine’s Day, the holiday oasis in the gloom of winter, is approaching- many of our wineries and lodgings plan specials and events around that three day President’s Day Weekend.  This is a great time to plan a romantic getaway to visit us- cozy up to your sweetie by a roaring fireplace, sip and savor wine and dream.

Barrel Tasting, the first two weekends in March, including the Fridays, too, at many participants, has already gone up on sale on our website and is taking off, too:  http://www.wineroad.com/annualevents/3 .  This year most guests are purchasing advance tickets online – and we are trying to spread out our guests to all of the participating wineries to avoid any clogs or slow-downs at check in- you will see when you click over to the event page.  Tickets purchased in advance save you money and help us better stage the event. This is the 32^nd annual BT- amazingly long-lived, popular, and traditional, memory-laden- many guests have been coming to it since they turned 21 and many new guests call to ask just what in the world IS Barrel Tasting?  (Beth put it well: “Barrel Tasting is EXACTLY what it sounds like.”)  It is definitely our largest Event with the most guests- a few years back we had 35,000 attend over the two weekends- we are excited to see what this year will bring.

What could be cooler than heading into the cellar to taste evolving, not-quite finished, incipient wine thieved directly out of the barrel- truly Tasting & Purchasing The Future!   Pricing on Futures is a great deal and it allows you to make sure that you get your share of wines that will sell out before even being bottled.  Then you get to come back for another visit in 6 – 18 months to pick up your bottled, finished wine (or it can often be shipped to you).  This year we have just about 123 wineries participating- a record-breaking number.  Come on Friday (if you do, make sure that the winery you have chosen for check in is participating on Friday) and make a whole weekend of it- stay with one of our lodging members and check out our great restaurants!

If you’ve never attended a wine event before, here are some guidelines to help you make the most of your adventure.

It does take some planning…here are our recommendations…

DO – bring your checkbook, Amex, Visa…whatever – Wineries pull out all the stops sampling wine so you can make informed wine buying decisions.
DO – bring your ticket or event voucher – seems obvious…I’m just sayin’…
DO – bring your ID if you’re 30 years or younger…at some point you will be asked to show it and if you don’t have your ID, your wristband will be removed and you’ll be done tasting. It’s a law.
DO – read the program in advance. Some…NOT all wineries offer food pairings, some have music, some do tours…they all do something different and the program spells it all out.
DO – map out your route in advance – at least to some degree…it’s a large area, so start with a plan so you don’t miss the one or two wineries you really wanted to visit.
DO – make notes as you go. At the end of two days you will visit several wineries and it’s hard to remember all of your favorites – which wines you liked, where you joined their wine club etc.
DO – limit your tastes…drink water, pack a lunch and picnic at some point.
DO – share what’s happening on twitter – use the hashtag #WinterWineland
DON’T – rent a limo and party like a rock star between tasting rooms – no one appreciates a group of loud drunks!!!
DON’T – bring beer or other alcoholic beverages along for the day. Should need no explanation.
DON’T – bring your children. The wineries have requested that our events are for adults only.
DON’T – bring your dogs – this is a Health Department violation, and inspectors are out in force during events checking on the wineries…can’t have dogs and food in the same room.
PLEASE…have a great time! It’s a wine event. You’ll taste new wines, meet interesting people, enjoy SPECTACULAR surroundings, sample tasty treats – so take your time and enjoy it all.

If you’re a regular on facebook, we’d love for you to become a fan! http://www.facebook.com/WineRoad

We look forward to seeing you along the Wine Road…

January 2010 Blog: Winter, REFB, Wineland

Winter Along the Wine Road

I am writing this in late Fall- true frosty December weather- some of the coldest temperatures of recent record here in Northern California and along Wine Road – not used to so much ice, frost and snow dusting the hills and peaks in the Alexander Valley—even have ice along the edges of the Russian River itself which is beautiful to see- and makes the drinking deer sound so crunchy- very unusual for us- the cold, not the crunchy deer sounds. This cold will make the vines even more dormant- certainly makes me sleepy, too.  Our Wine Road offices and warehouse have been hovering around 54 degrees- after 7 hours of small space heater and forced air, temp just peeked at 72- Beth and I are just freezing lately in here!

Winter Wineland

Winter Wineland ticket sales launched right after A Wine & Food Affair- moving along briskly to the big event on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Holiday Birthday Weekend- 16 & 17 January 2010- you know, where you can escape from those winter blues as over 100 wineries treat visitors to library wines, vertical tastings, food pairings, educational tours…and so much more!  All the details and ticket purchasing info at http://www.wineroad.com/winter_wineland/annualevents/1 .  Purchase in advance online by 1.11.10 and you will save $10 per ticket!  Prices rise at the door-  and, if you are looking for the perfect related dinner for Saturday night, check this out:

Wineland in Paradise

An evening with Russian River Valley Wine Stars

Saturday, January 16th, 2010 – From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

For information contact:  Lee Hodo at RRVW  -  707 .521 .2534 – or email info@rrvw.og  -www.rrvw.org

Food Bank Donation Day

Speaking of Events, in this case A Wine & Food Affair, Wine Road recently donated $5000 ($1 per ticket sold) to the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa, CA!  Also, when tickets are purchased on our ARES ticketing pages, guests are able to donate to REFB at that point too, and that check from ARES for AW&FA guest donations totaled $720.  Please note this donation option when purchasing Ticket to the Wine Road or tickets for all our events- in tough times the need is even greater- REFB does a fantastic job.  Please donate as you purchase your tickets- remember, for every $1 REFB spends, they are able to purchase and distribute $4 worth of food.   That is an excellent bang for the buck(s).

Wine Road donates $5000 to Redwood Empire Food Bank from AW& FA sales.

Lee Bickley & David Goodman, REFB; Beth Costa & Tracy Logan-Immordino, Wine Road

Along Wine Road on any day except during our Annual Events we have our new program, Ticket to the Wine Road- it comes in One Day and Three Day Pass sizes to fit all- a potpourri of special discounts, offerings, specials and such at participating wineries and lodging members- complete scoop at http://arestravel.com/3400_attraction-tickets_a699.html?agent=973.  You can donate to the REFB here, too, as you purchase the Ticket to the Wine Road.

As Winter Wineland comes to a close, up will go the tickets for our 32^nd Annual  Barrel Tasting- March 5, 6, 7 & 12, 13 & 14, 2010; info  at http://www.wineroad.com/annualevents/3.   True March Madness of the finest kind!