Cima Collina will be at the Pinot Days event in Chicago on November 14th-15th. If you want to attend this wonderful event, please go to their website and enter the code “Collina” to get a 10% discount on tickets! Please be advised that the number of discounts available is limited.

Winemaker’s Dinner

I will be present and pouring Cima Collina at Christopher’s on Lincoln, in Carmel-by-the-Sea this Friday at 7:00. Christopher’s is one of my favorite local restaurants (chef owned and operated), and Christopher himself is a James Beard award-winning chef. Great food, great atmosphere, great service. Tickets are available at: montereywines.org.

Hello All—I’ve taken a little break here, at least somewhat. We hosted our annual harvest party at Hilltop Ranch this past Saturday. The weather was wonderful, the band—“The Furry Chaps”—a fun, local bluegrass band kept us all entertained; all in all, quite good fun. We brought in the last load of grapes on October 10—a mix of Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec, Merlot) from Lockwood Oaks. I kept the Malbec separate for a possible small bottling next year, but all the others are a “field blend” in one of our bigger tanks and all of it is just now coming into the homestretch—in other words finishing primary fermentation. We have drained and pressed a few tanks of Pinot so far—as soon as I’m done with this entry, I will drain a tank—but will dedicate ourselves more to that task next week…...

Winemaker’s Dinner: Friday, November 7 at 7pm.

Yes, We’ve made a Port (all of 25 cases). I’ve had so many people ask for one, and I have played around with different varietals (traditional port varietals are difficult to come by here in Monterey—as they should be) and came up with this. I got the brandy for the fortification part of it from Germain-Robin up in Redwood Valley. Personally I do not like or drink sweet wines, and admit I had a difficult time separating my personal and professional judgements on this one, so this is neither as sweet nor as alcoholic as a traditional port. I have poured it at a few events recently and people seem to really like it—even those like myself who don’t like sweet wines. So, I’m getting a label created for it and it will go on sale in our tasting room sometime mid-November.

I am one of the founding board members of the Monterey Bay Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier (LDEI). This is a marvelous organization of women involved in the culinary and wine worlds. The group is committed to advocacy, philanthropy and education in local communities related to food, hospitality and beverage industries. LDEI is now offering an online auction with many incredible items available: fabulous trips, cooking classes, culinary collectibles, gift baskets. If you enjoy food and wine or know someone who does, you are sure to find something. Bidding ends October 26!

Word is that the big tasting at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco this past weekend—sponsored by the Family Winemakers of California was a big success. It was well-organized and the food was great. I was traveling this past weekend and couldn’t make it, but my husband (and our Sales Manager) Doug attended both days and poured Cima Collina. While in the city, he was able to visit a number of the restaurants that currently pour our wine, and he mentioned Frascati and NOPA in particular. We are invigorated and excited about having Cima Collina in a variety of Bay Area restaurants (go to https://cimacollina.com/newsreviews.html for the list) because, well, we are selling a good amount of wine (thanks to all who are enjoying it!!), but also because it warms my heart to be a part of the thoroughly erudite-yet-freshly-creative foodie movement happening there now. Doug’s description of what he saw and tasted and also of the people he met or saw again reminds me of the reason why I wanted to be involved with wine production in the first place—the beautiful liason that takes place with wine and food—and the inspiration one can take from this, as well as a connection that is created between all who are touched by it. The enthusiasm and vibrancy of restaurants in San Francisco just blows me away, and I am so happy to be a small part of it…..I am looking forward to visiting it myself (not vicariously) next time Cima Collina calls on “The City”.

Yes.  In addition to many retail establishments in the Bay Area (Arlequin Wine Merchant, The Jug Shop, The Wine House, K&L Wine Merchants, Half Moon Bay Wine and Cheese Shop, The Wine Stop, Robert’s Market of Woodside), our current Pinot Noirs (2005 Chula Vina and 2005 Tondre Grapefield) are now available in a number of fine San Francisco restaurants, including:

 Ame Restaurant, Mission Street

Jack Falstaff, 2nd Street at Brannan

Umami, Union & Webster

Frascati, Hyde

Que Syrah, West Portal Ave (Sunset District)

 More to come….....

 Spring Has Sprung

Our cellar dogs got to escape the cellar and go on a little hike the other day in the hills above Carmel Valley, and here is what they saw.  The wildflowers are beautiful this time of year and it was a great day to get out!

Other News

This past Wednesday, Laurie Daniel wrote a nice article about Monterey Chardonnay and she reviewed our 2005 Chardonnay among many other tasty offerings from this area.  Click here to read further.

Our tasting room is moving right along and is scheduled to open in the first part of June.  I will keep you updated on the progress.

Our spring wine club shipment just went out and included 2006 Sauvignon Blanc and 2005 Chula Vina Pinot Noir.  It is not too late to sign up if you would like to receive these wines as a wine club member with a discount.  Call the winery at 831-384-7806 and talk with Laura about the details.