With all of the pomp and circumstance of the weekend, my time commitment has now turned into four days of build up to the Sunday night culmination.   One of the great opportunities for us to share our story with the media is actually on the Thursday before the show at the behind-the-scenes media day at the Shrine Auditorium.  This is quite a scene all to itself.

As I am part of the "talent" for the day, it is a long and rather grueling day full of flurries of activity and sometimes hours of boredom.  By the way, I am told this is typical of any Hollywood production - lots of waiting and waiting and waiting....  Anyway, media day can be a great opportunity for me to share my family story and wines with media who otherwise would not cover a winery.  Outlets such as Entertainment Tonight, news crews  and others are on hand to shoot b-roll and gather sound bites for their evening shows.  The whole thing is kind of surreal and really puts me out of my element in a lot of ways.  For one, I have to be really aggressive.  If you are a wall flower at these kinds of things, the press will march right by you and not give you a second look.   You have to confidently walk up to them and say who you are and why they should care.  This is not easy, trust me.  I've never been an overt self promoter so I really have to muster up some intestinal fortitude.  Another challenging aspect of the day is trying to involve myself in as many still photo shoots as possible.  Stills are an important way that the media conveys a story.  Once again, I have to elbow my way in to make sure that Dry Creek Vineyard wines are being well represented.  Ultimately, the entire media day is exhausting but well worth the time and a major perk for being the official wines of the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

As for the show, it airs this Sunday, January 29, 2012 and is televised live on TNT and TBS at 8 ET/5 PT.  I hope you all will be able to tune in to see Dry Creek Vineyard wines on national TV!

Can I still say that even though we're already 18 days into 2012?

I hope everyone reading this had a joyous and restful holiday season. For many of you, I know the holidays are probably anything but that. If you host family and friends, the pressure is on to show them that picture perfect Xmas that they probably never had in the first place. If you're running around from one house to the next, trying to make both sides of the family happy, oh boy-do I feel your pain. Or, if you are simply by yourself and find the holidays a subtle reminder of being alone, then I sympathize--although many of my friends would say, enjoy it!

For me, the holidays are always capped off by my wedding anniversary which occurs shortly after the New Year. Normally, we don't do a whole lot to mark the occasion. Who's up for it? By then, we're usually out of energy and out of money. However, this year was different as we are celebrating our 30^th anniversary. Yep, you heard that right, thirty. Not too many people can brag about such a milestone, especially when they've been working with their spouse for a good 2/3 of that time. So, we decided rather spontaneously to kick up our heels and do something unexpected and memorable.

Thanks to a promotional email I got from Windstar cruises, (yes, a marketer got suckered by marketing!) we booked a cruise through the Grenadine Islands on their small ship the Wind Spirit. Oh, what a glorious 7 days we had. Snorkeling, sightseeing, snoozing and just sailing along. Now, it's back to reality, and back to work.

2012 is a biggee for me. I'll be playing an important new role--one I've been gearing up for my whole life, judging by this picture. I am taking my husband's place as President of Dry Creek Vineyard while he takes a temporary sabbatical to fulfill some personal goals. Now don't go getting all alarmed, it's nothing like that. He's not sick and there's no mid-life crisis. On the contrary; the timing couldn't be better. After a decade of rebuilding our business from the ground up, he deserves time off and some much needed R and R. Besides, he's got a "honey do" list a mile long!

So, a very belated Happy New Year to all. Thank you for your readership, comments and support over the years. May 2012 bring an abundance of prosperity, peace, and promise- and plenty of delicious moments with Dry Creek Vineyard wines!

This will be my last post of the year. Like the grapevines that surround me, I need to go into dormancy mode!

The big bad wolf came up again. It's a sign of the changing times in this industry. Distributor consolidation.

30, 20, even 10 years ago, many of our U.S. distributors who market and distribute our wines were privately owned businesses. Some were like Pat Ellsworth at Vintage Wine Marketing. Pat was our distributor in Northern California throughout the 70s and 80s. It was through working with him and his people that I learned the fundamentals of wholesale wine sales to the trade. Eventually Pat got out of the business and we selected a larger more powerful distributor to take over the entire state for us. It happens to be Wine Warehouse and they happen to be an excellent distributor. Over the years, we've made similar changes throughout our distribution network. But, there were small pockets of hold outs...where the little guys still prevailed and, in those wholesalers, we formed long and lasting relationships. We're kindred spirits, those of us who have privately held family owned businesses. Duking it out with the big boy distributors of the world of wine.

I am frequently confronted with how vividly things have changed in this industry in recent years and never more so than in a recent meeting with our national sales partner, V2 Wine Group.  This talented group is charged with managing and ensuring sales execution at the distributor level.  It's no easy task and we are thrilled to have them on board.  That being said, as part of our review meeting and business planning for 2012, the sticky issue of distributor changes was brought to the table by V2.  Now, I'm not going to name any names here, but let's just say that V2 made some recommendations about where we should consider changing distributor partners.  The Husband and I were less than happy.  In one case in particular, we would be ending a 40 year relationship that dates back to when my father first founded the winery.  Ouch.

And really, this is the ugly truth of how things are these days.  V2 is right.   This particular distributor is too small to grow our business to the next level.  And yet, how can we walk away?  These people are like family.  Is business really just business, as they say?  Honestly, I'm torn and see both sides.  I wish it wasn't like this, but there is a cold reality to getting business done. 

I'm not sure what the outcome is going to be.  But sitting in this meeting, I was struck with just how much things have changed since the days of my Dad and hand shake deals.

It's that time of year again.  I know what you're thinking...the holidays. Wrong!  It's the dreaded season of budgeting.  While most people are enjoying this short week, looking forward to quality time with family and friends, I am knee deep in our annual fiscal planning for the winery.   Oh joy!  As someone who generally loves her job, the budgeting season is more like a painful trip to the dentist.  Endless meetings, haggling over this and that and presentations to our Board of Directors are pretty much how the budgeting process goes.  And while it's obvious this is not my cup of tea, I do appreciate the process and understand its importance to our business.

You see, 2012 is an especially important year for our family winery.  As the calendar turns to January 1, 2012, it will mark our 40^th year in business.  That means we have big plans that are going to require some significant marketing and sales investments.  In putting our budget together there are a lot of considerations - how much wine do we think we will sell?  What is our selling strategy?  How does our Direct-to-Consumer business look for next year?  All of these are key questions - after all, we don't have a money tree in our backyard from which we can pluck marketing dollars.  Everything needs to balance out and come together like a big puzzle.  It's a system of give and take, pros and cons, and ultimately doing what gives us the most bang for our buck.

So, I'm off again to yet another budget meeting.  There is light at the end of the tunnel though.  Come Thursday, I'm shutting down, grabbing a glass of Heritage Zinfandel and putting my feet up by the fire.  Even this wife, mother, marketer, business owner, and blogger needs some R&R!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2011/11/2009_dry_creek_vineyard_herita.html

What's special for me is that the article and accompanying review on our 2009 Heritage Zinfandel was completely unsolicited. It appeared out of nowhere. Yet, it tells the story of our early days along with our vision for the future in a way that makes me proud. And to my way of thinking, it's a sign that we're finally turning the corner and making a name for ourselves with a completely new audience. It sure is exciting to be on the radar screen of one of the most prolific and successful wine bloggers in America, Alder Yarrow of Vinography.

Thanks Alder. You just made my day and inspired me to write!

As Dry Creek Vineyard's Wine Club Administrator, this is a question I am asked at least two to three times a week. My usual response is: "It's going well, the grapes are coming in and the juice is happily fermenting in their respective tanks and barrels."  After answering the same way for several weeks, I exchanged my business attire and my comfortable climate controlled office for what I like to call my "grubby" clothes and the outside.

On Wednesday morning the cellar crew did not hesitate to put me right to work. I started my morning assisting our interns with pumpovers, which is the process used to circulate the juice to increase the flavor and color in our fabulous wines.  Then I got my hands dirty clearing the sump (a strainer used to keep the wine and skins away from each other) of the skins and seeds. After pumpovers, I spent the rest of the morning cleaning the floors of all the runaway grapes and miscellaneous debris.

The afternoon brought in a large load of grapes from the Rafanelli Vineyards and I was summoned by the Cellar Master to carry a load of dry ice to the top of the tank to give our new grapes some much needed CO₂.

Finally, I was tasked with rehydrating yeast for one of our tanks. The yeast smelled like fresh bread right out of the oven. Feeding the yeast was an entirely different experience. While taking some wine from the large tank, instead of closing the valve, I opened it all the way and was sprayed from the head down with freshly pressed Zinfandel.  Needless to say, I did not go home as clean as I had arrived!

It was definitely a learning experience and I am glad to have a better understanding of what Harvest entails. I also have a much deeper respect for all of the hard work our cellar crew goes through to produce our fabulous wines. Now, back to what I do best; providing assistance to our club members in my nice clean and comfy office. I can honestly say that I am more than prepared to talk about how Harvest is going. I await your calls!

Salina Littleton, Wine Club Administrator

I have to say that with all life can throw at me - the winery, the kids, the bills, the family BS in a family business, well, sometimes things can get pretty overwhelming.  Sometimes I wonder out loud about hanging up my winery hat and trying something different.  And then, in an instant, I am reminded why I love the wine industry so much. 

Last night, we hosted our annual Sonoma County Harvest Fair judges' dinner at our home.  Each year, on their "off night" we invite the judges and their dates for a casual dinner.  This has become something of an annual tradition and, over the years, we've made lifelong friends with many of the attendees who are invited to judge year after year.  I always like to bring out a "moldy oldie", a treasure from our cellar. This year it was our 1999 Estate Fumé Blanc DCV3 Vineyard. Wow. Breaking bread together is always a terrific way to get to know people and it's great for the winery because we get to share our wines with a mixture of trade and media personalities.

But, that's not really why we have the dinner.  I've come to realize that some of my greatest friends are also a part of the wine industry.  It's so special for us to reconnect over a wonderful meal and some delicious wines all the while enjoying a warm autumn evening in wine country. Sitting around the table last night listening to the din of laughter, clinking glasses and friendly chatter, I took a deep breath and felt very thankful for all that I have. 

Because, at the end of the day, isn't life all about your family, friends and those you cherish?  I think what makes wine so great is that it binds us together in common purpose to share memories and experiences that last a lifetime.  Last night, was one of those memories I will always cherish.

Note to self: Avoid flying home on 9/11.

Despite a poorly planned departure date, I made it home from my New York sales trip without a hitch. And just in the nick of time! Yesterday we received our first load of ripe grapes. As is the tradition around here, everyone gathered around the crusher to witness the big event. Even my father was there, to ceremoniously shovel grapes into the shiny stainless steel hopper. A glass of bubbles was raised as we toasted the safety, success, and serendipity of this annual event that is the lifeblood of our winery.

The 2011 harvest is important for a number of reasons:

1. The resulting wines help us pay the bills. Duh.

2. It's about time we started, after all it's already mid-September.

3. The 2011 harvest marks several important milestones. 

Now about those milestones...

This is our 40th harvest.  It's also the 35th harvest for longtime employee Gary Emmerich, and it's the 1st harvest for newcomer Tim Bell. Tim joined us earlier this summer as winemaker. Now don't go getting all worried that massive changes are ahead: on the contrary, Tim's exacting nature and attention to detail will help us ensure the continued high quality and consistently delicious nature of our wines. Longtime consulting winemaker Bill Knuttel remains part of the team and will be working closely with Tim throughout the harvest.

We have a few other newcomers in the cellar too. Donovan Ackermann and Kosie Van De Merwe are our latest harvest interns (both hail from South Africa) to add to a long list of international talent who have worked crush at Dry Creek. They are joined by veterans Nova Perrill (assistant winemaker), Jerry Smith (cellar master), Abel Garcia (cellar foreman), Mike Gillian (mechanic), and Tarcicio Garcia (Abe's brother).

To say we have an awesome team is an understatement. Just look at this picture… there's enough brawn, brains, and bravado to make some seriously hard core wines! As the work on the crush pad begins to pick up the pace, the work continues in our vineyards. Besides the actual picking process, our vineyard crews are busily dropping fruit, eliminating clusters that don't look good and encouraging maturation and ripeness in the remaining clusters. Monitoring sugar levels is a daily to-do while waiting patiently for Mother Nature to do her thing. Harvest generally starts out rather slowly, but nearly always escalates to a frantic pace that somehow everybody manages to survive.

No wonder they call it CRUSH!

Our family is in a state of transition.  My eldest child, Taylor-whom many of you know from the wine named after her, (Taylor's Vineyard Sauvignon Musqué) as well as her annual singing performances at our Summer Lobster Fest, recently headed off to college. Packing her up (three cars full!) was a surreal experience as any parent who has been through this transition knows. Happily, she is loving college life and has made many new friends.  Her grades better be positive too as we sure are going to have to sell a lot of wine to help pay for this! Our family life is slowly adjusting to a slightly less complicated existence with one less person in the house.

The winery is in a state of transition too. We have several new faces around the cellar and we are rapidly gearing up for our 40th harvest. With all the cold weather earlier this year, we're already behind schedule by a few weeks. But most winemakers I know secretly welcome a little delay as they finish up their last minute preparations before the first load of grapes arrive. This year, we will most likely start picking Sauvignon Blanc first. Quality looks good, but yields, especially in Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel are light. A bit of last minute scrambling is going on as we search for added vineyards to shore up our estate fruit supplies.

Sadly, I'll miss the arrival of our first load as I'm on a plane headed to New York for a week of market work. You certainly wouldn't have had that forty years ago! Nor, would you have had the overcrowded marketplace, distributor consolidation and a lagging economy to worry about in addition to harvest. As a matter of fact, harvest forty years ago was a very different matter.

The summer of '72 was very hot and dry. A serious wildfire had occurred on Bradford Mountain, just off West Dry Creek Rd. I was 9 years old at the time. The California Division of Forestry Services had set up camp in our newly cleared field- in what would soon become known as DCV 3-the birthplace of Fumé Blanc and the first vineyard planted to Sauvignon Blanc in the region. Dad was fresh out of UC Davis and excited as hell to make his first vintage of wine. The winery itself had not been built, so our first load of grapes was actually crushed over at Cuvaison Winery in Napa where good friend Tom Cottrell was winemaker. Many of the industry's legacy vintners were also getting started that same year—Bernard Portet, Jim Barrett, and Tom Burgess to name a few.

It was an era of trial and error, of teamwork and innovation—most winemakers were new at this, and they were such early pioneers! One of my favorite family stories involves my father using chewing gum to plug up a leaky radiator hose during the long slow drive over the hill to Cuvaison. With 100 degree plus weather, the grapes were at risk of being scorched and a solution had to be found quickly.  A couple of wads of Wrigley's soon repaired the problem and Robert Young's old red truck eventually made it over the hill with our precious first load. Hopefully, we won't have similar problems this year although I'm sure there will be a few snafus...there always are.  

So much has changed in the nearly four decades of our existence. We now have dozens of fermenters, three presses, and thousands of barrels that fill the walls of the winery. Our cellar crew has grown to 9 and we have a full time maintenance man to repair radiator hoses instead of using chewing gum. I've grown up and so has the winery. What will the next forty years bring? Who knows, but I sure feel blessed to have been a part of the winery's early days as well as that very first harvest.

Sometimes I really can't think of what to write. My days are jam-packed at the winery and then at the end of the day, I move into my "hey Mom, look at this!" mode.  Combining a demanding wine business and all of its ongoing challenges with being a good mother is well... not for the faint of heart.  It requires enormous amounts of energy, lack of sleep and patience beyond your wildest dreams. I've also found that generous doses of wine can provide some assistance.  Turn up your sound.....

Don't get me wrong. I do not drink excessively. Nor, do I use wine (alcohol) to sooth my troubled soul, the first sign of problem drinking. However, I do find that sipping very slowly on a glass of wine (yes, it helps when it's free for me!) while sitting outside watching my son perform his latest trick on the trampoline or bicycle is a nice way to transition from the "crisis du jour" at Dry Creek Vineyard to a more peaceful existence in my back yard.

I especially love this time of year. The "Dog Days of Summer" as they call 'em.  The kids are still out of school and the structured pace of the Fall selling season with its yearend business travel, emphasis on OND sales performance (translation: October, November, and December had better be strong!) and the frenetic and unpredictable nature of Harvest nearly upon us, is still a blissful few weeks off. Normally, I'd be in Maine, visiting relatives and chilling out. This year, I had to cancel my plans due to work related responsibilities, and let me tell you, I am feeling a little bit sorry for myself!

So, for the rest of you "End of Summer" vacationers, I thought you might like to know about a special promotion we're running. We call it our "Back to School" special. It's a 2 bottle offering of two of our favorite but lesser known wines, our 2008 Foggy Oaks Vineyard Chardonnay, and 2007 Meritage. They are both perfectly delicious and great accompaniments for this time of year. Save 25% with shipping included (or better still, join our Wine Club and Save 35%).

And, they just might make the end of day transition in your family a happier time too!