5/28-Michael Horn talks with Michael D. Hurst & Lisa Peju

Michael D. Hurst - So Cal Regional Manager Ferrari Carano Vineyards and Winery
Since 1985, Ferrari-Carano has been a leading producer of world class, nationally acclaimed wines. Vintage after vintage, the wines exhibit a remarkable consistency of style and elegance. Unlike their corporate competitors, Don and Rhonda Carano's uncompromising commitment to quality and excellence is a reflection of their desire to produce memorable wines that enhance the pleasures of gracious entertaining and not focus on short-term financial goals.


Reserve your spot for Ferrari-Carano's winery tour, hosted by our friendly and knowledgeable staff, and you will stroll through our renowned gardens, see our vineyards up close, perhaps catch one of our winemaking team or cellar crew hard at work on the crush pad or in the winery's cellars or tank rooms, view Don and Rhonda Carano's personal wine cellar, and visit our Enoteca Lounge and Villa Fiore tasting rooms. You will hear about Ferrari-Carano’s history -- how Don and Rhonda first came to Sonoma County on a wine buying trip and just fell in love with the area. After the tour, you are invited to taste Ferrari-Carano wines at the Villa Fiore tasting bar or in the Enoteca Lounge.

Lisa Peju   Marketing and Public Relations Ambassador, Peju Province Winery

There's no such thing as a typical day for Lisa Peju.

The oldest daughter of Peju co-founders Tony and HB Peju is always on the go, sometimes traveling to three different states during a week's time to represent Peju Family Estates Wines at winemaker dinners, trade and consumer events and meet with retailers.

You may recognize Lisa from her popular ads that run in the San Francisco Chronicle and various other wine country publications. Lisa's passion and love for her family's business shines through in every photo.

The Peju's Rutherford vineyard has been home to Lisa since she was six years old. It was then that she moved with her parents from Southern California to wine country to begin a life devoted to growing grapes, producing high-quality wines and finding new and innovative ways to market the family brand.

Lisa spent her childhood attending Napa Valley schools during the day and tending to the vineyard in the evenings and on weekends. It wasn't uncommon to see Lisa and her sister Ariana driving the family four-wheeler along the property's dirt paths with piles of grapes in the back bed.

After graduating from St. Helena High School, Lisa first attended Marymount College in Palos Verdes and then U.C. Santa Barbara to study marketing and graphic design with plans of becoming a computer animator. But a summer trip to Paris in 1998 to study French at Sorbonne University with Ariana planted the seeds for another calling. Three years later, the French language came in handy as HB took her daughters to VIN EXPO in Bordeaux, the largest wine Exposition in the World. Lisa enjoyed promoting Peju's wines so much that she decided to change career paths and join the family business as a marketing and public relations ambassador.

The position was a perfect fit, and it meant that Lisa would play an integral role in carrying on the family tradition of producing award-winning wines into the future.

Since joining Peju in 2001, Lisa has traveled throughout Europe and Asia, including Japan, Korea and Hong Kong, representing Peju. In the United States, Lisa has blanketed the map and led the charge to reach younger customers ? Peju's consumers of the future.

From beyond the Napa Valley, Lisa brings Peju wines to homes and businesses across the world.

5/21-Michael Horn talks to Sonja Magdevski

Sonja Magdevski - Casa Dumetz Winery

Casa Dumetz - Malibu started in 2004 with a patch of raw earth, a bucket of grapevines and plenty of sweat from family and friends who joined together to make a dream come true. From these efforts emerged a love story and a sincere commitment to producing authentic (and of course great) wine. Our production is small, yet growing, and includes our organically farmed Malibu estate Pinot Noir, as well as our Viognier, Syrah and new Syrah Rosé and Grenache additions for 2010 all from Tierra Alta Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley. We are also excited to announce the upcoming creation of Sonja’s Suds Sparkling Syrah Rosé released in time for the New Year.

We simply can’t resist bubbles!

5/14-Encore Broadcast Michael Horn talks to Larry Schaffer

Larry Schaffer - Tercero Wines

The idea for tercero wines surfaced a number of years back. Larry Schaffer had been in the educational and trade publishing industry for a number of years and had achieved all he had set out to do. It was time for a change . . . . but to what? Christie MacDonald, Larry’s wife, suggested wine . . . but not wine sales. She suggested that if one is to make a change, go big and all the way . . . She ‘gave her blessings’ to Larry to go back to school and achieve a second degree, this one in Viticulture and Enology. Now one must understand that there are only a few schools offering a degree like this, and none of them were within driving distance of where they currently lived . . . and top that off with the fact that they had two young children at the time (and a third coming along in the not so distant future)! Christie continued to suggest this concept, knowing that it would make for a challenging couple of years, but hopeful that the end would justify the mean . . .

Fast forward four years . . . and Larry begins his new career in earnest as the Enologist for Fess Parker Winery, a well-respected winery in the Santa Ynez Valley. Why here? The winemaking community is willing and wanting to help each other, but more importantly, it is simply an incredible place to raise children!

Fast forward another year, and Larry and Christie are ready to ‘take the plunge’ and start buying grapes to make their own wines! It’s scary and challenging at the same time – no matter how much you read about it or do it for others, it’s quite different when it’s ‘your own baby’ . . . But it’s also a way for Larry to ‘marry’ his past with his present – to use his sales/marketing skills along with his technical winemaking skills to see what he and Christie can produce . . .

5/7-Encore Broadcast Michael Horn visits with Barrie Lynn & Linda Schwartz

Barrie Lynn - The Cheese Impressario

When former advertising executive turned cheese educator Barrie Lynn Krich says that she's passionate about artisanal cheese, it's not just an offhanded comment. Barrie Lynn, aka The Cheese Impresario, did something that many of us dream of - she made a life-changing career move to pursue her passion.

Just a few years ago, Barrie Lynn was enjoying a successful career as a product launch specialist in the advertising business and like most executives, she entertained clients frequently. Being a food and wine lover by nature and an ardent member of the slow food movement, she thought it might be nice to treat a client to an artisanal cheese tasting one evening instead of the conventional dinner meeting. That evening was a turning point for Barrie Lynn. She was so taken by the flavors of cheese, the craftsmanship involved in the production process and the dedication and passion of the cheese makers that she became obsessed with learning everything she could about artisanal cheeses.

Linda Schwartz - Fort Ross Vineyard

Fort Ross Vineyard is a necklace of 28 small mountain vineyard blocks that cling to a sunny coastal mountain ridge overlooking the ocean. Less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean, Fort Ross Vineyard is one of the closest, if not the closest vineyard to the ocean in all of California. The vineyard rises in elevation from 1200 to 1700 feet above sea level. Ranging in size from one-half to two acres, each small vineyard block has its own particular terroir and is planted with rootstocks, varietals, and clones or field selections best suited to reveal the terroir, varietal typicity and clonal attributes.

During the growing season the vineyard is almost always in bright sunshine during the day, yet subject to the tempering influence of the fog that often hugs the coastline far below. Temperatures rarely drop below 55 °F or rise above 85 °F, the range in which grape vines are physiologically active.

At night the ocean fog sometimes rolls up and over the vineyard only to recede back down to the ocean again with the morning sunrise, leaving the vines to do their best work in the long bright sunny days.

The yields are kept low. While most of the vineyard naturally produces less than one to three tons of fruit per acre, on the rare occasions where weather conditions and berry set encourage higher yields, fruit is dropped to ensure concentration and typicity.

Consequently, the vines have a yield and growing pattern that allows the berries to slowly and evenly ripen to complete physiological ripeness with increased varietal distinctiveness and a desirable acid balance.