Latest News... Scenes around the winery… Most of our emphasis in our past communications has focused on our quest to produce the highest quality wines from the exciting Pinot Noir vineyards that we have discovered. Both our traditional and cutting edge winemaking techniques have been explored in detail. The third corner piece of the "quality" triangle - every bit as important - are the people who make up the winemaking team.  During most of the year, that team starts and stops with Ken and Teresa in the winery - and with our viticulturalist, Ann Kraemer working with our vineyards through the growing season. Ann (right) is seen here observing the destemming of Tom and Debbie Engle's Red Dog Vineyard Pinot Noir from Sonoma Mountain. As the harvest approaches, we put out a call for reinforcements to help us with the coming deluge of work. In 2003, we were fortunate to import Carlos Martinez, a winemaking student from Zaragoza, Spain. He spent six months with us, from July to December, helping from bottling through the end of harvest. His passion for winemaking and unbridled enthusiasm were vital elements of this vintage. His compadre, Juan Pablo Cintolesi, arrived in September just in time for the delivery of our first grapes of the season. Juan Pablo, from Santiago, Chile, always seemed to be the yin to Carlos' yang. We valued his careful devotion to each and every winery task put before him. Together the made a great team and we were sorry to see them go. During the slower times in Spring, I enjoy the solitude of working alone - even as I think about the excitement the next vintage will bring. It is here that I contemplate how we might get better. Subtle evolution or changes to technique. What will the next harvest team bring? What will the next vintage bring….