2017 Fall Release

Dear Friends,

I had written our fall release letter and was preparing to send it out when life in the wine country took a dramatic change. The crisp, clear mornings usually filled with the exciting hustle and bustle of the picking crews were transformed into smoke filled skies. The sheer magnitude of the devastation came trickling in as we were without power for almost two days in St. Helena. As the fires spread and anxiousness prevailed in our community, all we could do was get prepared to leave then wait and watch.

We were fortunate to have no lasting effects from these fires, but we know of so many friends and valley neighbors who have been displaced and lost their homes. The stories are heartbreaking. However the common thread has been the overwhelming gratitude to the first responders who came to fight these fires. We are all truly humbled by their dedication to protect us! The focus of the firefighters both on the ground and in the air was awe inspiring. Each day as the flames glowed on the ridges above us, the constant air attacks held back any advancement into St. Helena.

As I write this it is the first day in almost two weeks that the sky is no longer smoky. A bit of light rain is in the forecast this evening. Mother Nature will now begin her work to heal the valleys. Our community is strong and will pull together to heal each other. We are blessed to have an opportunity to do what we can with this process.

This fall we have the final three of our 2014 wines to share with you, our Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and the Rendezvous Blend. As a special treat for our “No Limits” allocation level we have a fourth wine, a one barrel lot of 2014 Merlot that is available only to you as well as a few cases of magnums of the wines in this release. As always, Donny and our winemaker Kirk Venge have compiled their notes on the wines which you will find on the reverse side.

So many of you have reached out to us over the past few weeks to check in, to send your thoughts and prayers and we can’t thank you enough. The both of us consider ourselves lucky to call all of you friends. As we wrap up this harvest season we are finding that we are taking things a bit slower and appreciating the smallest of details that surround us each day. We wish the same for all of you this fall season.

With Love,
Dana & Donny