It's springtime at Clary Ranch!

Here's the latest in our video blog from the ranch!

World of Pinot Noir

My friend Elizabeth and I poured Pinot AND Syrah this past Saturday at the World of Pinot Noir in Pismo Beach. It was great to reconnect with many of my SoCal customers and to meet many new fans who enjoyed the wines. Both the 2006 and 2007 wines were very well received.

We were in the Ballroom at the Cliffs Resort (actually in Shell Beach, just north of Pismo) rather than out in the tents overlooking the ocean. When the rains started, the Ballroom became quite crowded! Lamb chops were being served inside, so there was a lot of interest in the Syrah...! The recent awards that the wines won at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition didn't hurt!

We were staying at the Kon Tiki Inn, which is my little secret at WOPN. All rooms are oceanfront, and the amenities are outstanding, with a pool and two hot tubs overlooking the beach, and a full fitness club with tennis, racquetball, a lap pool and all of the usual fitness club accoutrements. We had to leave fairly early Sunday morning for the long drive back to Petaluma.

When I got back, I was able to help celebrate Liana's 13th birthday. Oh... My... God!... I am the father of a teenage girl!! HELP!

Well I've Been Gone So Very Damn Long...

Moved to a new home in the 'burbs, and I'm livin' out of boxes. My dad's in the hospital, having received a "Ventricular Assist Device", which is basically half of an artificial heart. He was in surgery for about 10 hours on this past Tuesday, and is regaining consciousness now (Friday).

My new digs won't have an internet connection 'til the 10th!!
I'm writing this in the California Pacific Med Center ICU waiting room.

The vineyard is quiet.
The wine is sleeping.
Next weekend, I'll be pouring at World of Pinot Noir in Shell Beach. Come see me there!

2010 SF Chronicle Wine Competition

The results are in...

Clary Ranch's 2006 Syrah won the Judges' Choice Award, and the 2006 Pinot Noir won a Gold Medal. Please allow me to burst out in a self-congratulatory exclamation: WOO-HOO!!!

How do wines "compete", anyway? From tasting to tasting, wines are judged differently, by different judges, under different circumstances. Don't get me wrong: I am very pleased with the results. It is one more grain of sand... Okay, maybe a pebble... on the Public Relations Scale. It puts a little more weight behind Clary Ranch.

As the wines "win" more races, the stakes become higher. A "loss" weighs more heavily against a favored entry. The dark horse can come in with little to lose, and everything to gain. And in the final stretch - Okay, enough with the horse racing metaphor...

You've heard it before: buy the wines that taste good to you. Hopefully, the publicity will encourage more people to ask for my wines. (They're doing well in SoCal of late. I'll be making an appearance at a Pinot festival down in Pasadena at the end of this month.) The results of the San Francisco Chronicle Competition mean that I'll be pouring at Fort Mason in San Francisco on February 20th. More later...