Wine and Chocolate 2009 opened to a smashing crowd that snaked it’s way across the parking lot! Lots of new folks making their way to LangeTwins Winery and we appreciated the attention.
Line out the door!
One of our new features this year was the “Lover’s Lounge” which gave people a chance to sit and enjoy the wines.
The Lover's Lounge
We had a great visit with the Stanford Grad Students that actually ate their lunch in the Lover’s Lounge – all accompanied with LangeTwins wines, of course. Welcome to our newest friends Kim Zava of Boston, Jim Salvia of Pittsburg, Laura Prolo of Saragota and Scott Owen of Philadelphia.
Stanford Grad students biking to LangeTwins
We were most impressed with their ambition on a windy and rainy weekend in Lodi, not to mention their willingness to reduce the carbon footprint and bike from winery to winery. They did fill their bike saddlebags full of wine before they left, which obviously will help them with their degree program.
After lunch, off to the next winery!
And the paninis were a great hit again this year. Brie, chocolate and basil panini’s – we blasted through 800 pieces on Saturday before 2 p.m. and another 800 on Sunday. Thanks to good friends Daphne Felde and Terri Whitmire for manning the panini machines.
The brie and chocolate paninis went fast
Some of you might know that Randy and the family, and Brad and the family all left town over the weekend for holidays to places unknown – bad scheduling to be sure! I stayed home to manage Wine and Chocolate – but just to make sure that everyone knew that Randy and Brad had cut out on the work, we had actual, life-sized “cut outs” of them.
It was good fun to watch them be part of photo shoots with guests throughout the weekend. And we kept finding them relocated in the cellar during the tasting…
The Twins in life-like cutouts
Midnight Reserve continued to be the people’s choice during the weekend and we added a bit of class to the Midnight Reserve Magnum’s. Custom made blue wool wine bags – seamed and lined with dark blue flash and corded with red tassels. Some marched out the door on Valentine’s Day – we’ve got a few more left; check with Joe on the availability.
Our Midnight Reserve Mags in formal attire
And we tasted the 2006 Petit Verdot – our great Single Barrel release to Wine Club Members only. The tease was the taste, since we wouldn’t sell a bottle until they were became bona fide wine club members. It just means more folks to party with in November “Under the Bridge“.
Our Single Barrel Petit Verdot on sale
Our newest friends finally made it to the winery – Jeannie and Todd Sullivan of San Francisco. Actually, Jeannie is the daughter of one of my Chelsea childhood friends and 4-H member Arly Wiseman Spink. Arly and I got together again at the Chelsea Arts Jubilee a few years ago and one of Arly’s paintings is hanging in the guest room of our barn. We’ll make sure to include Jeannie and Todd in an upcoming “Big Red Night” at the ranch.
Jeannie and Todd Sullivan - our newest Wine Club Members!
To stay true to our sustainability message we had Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings – complete with instructions of how to root and propagate a bit of the LangeTwins vineyard in your own backyard. Nearly 800 cuttings walked out the door with enthusiastic gardners. We’ll stay in touch to see who actually gets them to grow!
Actually, there were some overzealous folks sipping at the tasting bar wondering if we could bring a harvester into their backyard in San Francisco!
Vine cuttings were a hit
And our thanks to so many guest pourers, including Tim and Karen Birmingham. Karen is actually one of our winemakers, along with David Akiyoshi – so the guests were treated to some very technical knowledge while they poured.
Karen and Tim Birmingham
It was a fabulous weekend – one of our best open houses yet – and this photo of Steven Folb, our National Sales Manager, says it all – we all were thrilled with the response. Bravo to everyone that came out and visited with us – we’ll look forward to next year.
Steven working the tasting room
