News Flash from David Arthur! (Seems like this should be read by Walter Cronkite)

Hello to all our old and new friends. Can you believe it is already 2008? It was thirty years ago that we first cleared land to plant our vineyards. Back then, we had Chardonnay, and a lot of it. I didn't know our land really wasn't the perfect soil or climate for those delicate grapes- I planted what I liked to drink (This was 1978 we're talking about). I even convinced my family to plant more Chardonnay, being certain it was what we were all about . (Ever notice how you can convince yourself to do more of something that isn't really working already?)

It really wasn't until I had a meeting one day with Tony Soter (who used to consult for us) that we started to re-think what we were doing. I was showing him a new area where I was preparing to plant even more Chardonnay and Tony gently said "ya know David, maybe you should give some thought to planting Cabernet". Which we did, with some pretty amazing results. Looking back, it's hard to believe we ever planted any Chardonnay, but it shows how winegrowing, and we, have evolved. I consider us pretty lucky, but as my brother always reminds me, "good luck can only take you so far. At some point, the rubber has to meet the road". And to me, that means you might get the best advice in the world, but it has zero value of you don't act on it. But we are very fortunate to have received some great advice over the years, and even more fortunate to have acted on it.

Which we did after getting Tony's advice. We planted Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Sangiovese in a number of our blocks. Because of the diversity across our property, they all had different soils, micro-climates and exposures, which made enourmous impacts on the fruit. After the vines were mature, we began fermenting the grapes into seperate lots, so we could identify which parts of our land were best suited to each of these varieties. It was a process that lasted years, and as we really dialed in what was working, we would graft the remaining vines in that block to that variety. Finally, we felt we were really growing the right fruit in the right places on our property. And this brings us to the 2006 vintage, which again reflects all we have learned about farming and making wines from this land for the past thirty years.

I am so excited about these wines- to me they really highlight everything we believe this land is capable of producing. They are deep in color, with rich flavors and great structure from the tannins, which, while plentiful, are really refined and silky (so no need to worry about the enamel on your teeth!). The aromatics tell a story of ripe briar fruit, and the wines show a great balance between power and elegance. When you come to visit, don't mind me if I just seem to stare off into space as I hold a glass of these wines- when I smell them, the aromas just pull me into the glass. I hope they do the same for you. Lately, it seems to get pretty quiet around here as we taste through the barrels, which I see as a good sign- when a wine captivates you, silence is often the result. The wines are all still in barrel, and we plan to bottle them in July or so, and release them later this fall. Meantime, we'll take good care of them for you!

If you're around, we look forward to showing you all the new developments at the winery. First (and perhaps most important!) we have new bathrooms! And believe it or not, they are inside the winery- after 6 years, who would have thunk it?! The tank room is now finished and being painted. But we are maybe most excited about our new barrel "chai", which is a fancy word for our new barrel aging facility. We can heat it, cool it and control the humidity, which gives us an amazing amount of flexibility to raise the wines the way we want to. Its been a long process, and there is still aways to go, but we are very excited about the things to come in this new facility.

If you do drop by, you'll notice one significant thing is no longer with us- the construction trailer that served as our office. We sure hated to return that baby to the rental pool, but for as long as we had it, "baby" is probably the wrong word. We had it about 80 months, so I gues it's more of a "young child" than a "baby". Gretchen, Kay and I are happy to be in our new offices, and while things are still chaotic, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Today, there is a good bit of snow on the hills from the recent storms, and winter's hold on the vines is still strong. As cold as it is outside, the heaters are keeping us toasty, and we're just starting to look towards vintage 2008. I hope the year is treating you well so far, and I wish you peace, happiness, good wine, and a safe and warm place to enjoy it.

All the best,