Events

Anderson Valley Horticultural Forum hosts their 3rd annual “spectacular garden tour”. Saturday May 10th, 2008 from 10am–4pm.

The Anderson Valley is known for it's rolling hills, grazing sheep, old apple orchards, cult-status award-winning vineyards and last but by no means least, it's sublime gardens. Take a trip to Anderson Valley in May and enjoy all that this wonderful area has to offer in the Spring, including The Garden Tour.

The Garden Tour will be held on Saturday May 10th, 2008 from 10am–4pm and will include four private gardens and one commercial winery garden. The four private gardens have their own unique character with incredible views, textured landscapes and remarkable features. The commercial winery garden is an historic old apple drying barn which now incorporates a stunning tasting room bordered by 100+ year old apple and pear orchards. The award winning wines from the vineyard will also be available for tasting. If you are an avid gardener or just like to view the beauty in nature creatively coaxed into spectacular garden ‘rooms’ with an abundance of color and form, this tour is for you!

The Garden Tour is a benefit for the Anderson Valley Elder Home and the ticket cost is $40.00 per person. Checks should be made payable to AV ElderHome and mailed to G. Valen, P.O.Box 222, Boonville, Ca. 95415. Box lunches are also available and must be reserved and pre-paid in advance by adding $15.00 (each) to the ticket price. Tickets will be limited, so early purchase is recommended.

About Anderson Valley ElderHome. The mission of the non-profit AV ElderHome is to provide the best possible care and housing for elderly residents so they may remain in their community in a home-like setting and in a manner which insures the dignity and independence of the individuals. For more information: www.avelderhome.org.

About Anderson Valley Horticultural Forum: The AV Horticultural Forum is a group of 60 avid gardeners who meet regularly for discussions, field trips and seed/cutting exchanges. They actively support community causes through The Garden Tour. For more information contact: waldenvalen@pacific.net.

Travel, lifestyle, epicurean and business editors can download press kit materials at:

http://www.mendowine.com/pressroom/mediakit.shtml

The Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission is an alliance of 72 wineries and 343 winegrape growers based in Mendocino County, California. The Commission, founded in 2006, is dedicated to sharing knowledge of the singular attributes of the winegrapes, wines and wine estates of Mendocino County, America’s Greenest Wine Region, with a diversity of audiences around the world.

Also visit http://www.mendowine.com

Mendocino County Celebrates Earth Day—Tuesday April 22, 2008

In Mendocino County, America’s Greenest Wine Region, Earth Day is everyday. This year, on the official Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22nd, the Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission celebrates the increasing acceptance of green practices while embracing its own green heritage. The news release below details some of Mendocino County authentic green credentials. To arrange one-on-one interviews with Mendocino County grapegrowers and winemakers, please contact Paige Poulos Communications.

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Paige Poulos or Christina Zirker
Paige Poulos Communications
(800) 497-3376
Email: mendocino@paigepoulos.com

AMERICA’S GREENEST WINE REGION SM CELEBRATES EARTH DAY

(Ukiah, California, April 2008)--Earth Day 2008 has special meaning for grapegrowers and winemakers in Mendocino, which will celebrate its status as “America’s Greenest Wine RegionSM”. The slogan was formally adopted by the region’s winegrowing community in late 2007 to reflect all that the vast and varied Northern California county offers those who seek environmentally healthy foods and beverages and accessible yet pristine travel destinations.

“While other regions are scrambling to create self-certification programs and attending seminars on “going green”, we’re celebrating the fact that we were green before it became a marketing concept,” said Ed Berry, Jr., chairman of the Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission. “Our grapegrowers and winemakers, like the rest of the farming community here, have personal ties to the land that sometimes spans four or five generations. It has always been about sustainability and ensuring that family farms are healthy for the present and future generations,” he said.

“America’s Greenest Wine Region” reflects that Mendocino County’s authentic “green” credentials are unsurpassed by any other wine region in the world. The region is dominated by family farmers, grapegrowers and winemakers, among them, who have been at the forefront of the sustainable, organic, biodynamic, and fish friendly farming movements. Mendocino County green highlights include:

• Extensive organic, biodynamic and sustainable farming and food processing across all crops including winegrapes and wines
• 18% of Mendocino County’s winegrapes are certified organic (300% more than any other region) and more than 4% are Demeter certified Biodynamic® or pending Biodynamic certification
• Legal protections for heritage crops: Mendocino is the first county in America to outlaw GMO’s in unincorporated areas to ensure the continued viability of heritage crops and seeds (Measure H in 2004)
• True wild places: no other wine region in the world has the thousands of acres of standing timber, watersheds and wild coastline that characterize the Mendocino County landscape
• Just 19,274 acres, less than 1% of Mendocino’s 2.4 million total acres, are under cultivation
• Home of the only winery in the world to purchase 100% renewable (green) energy, such as solar, wind and geothermal, for all winery operations: received 2003 Governor’s Award For Environmental and Economic Leadership
• Home of the nation's first organic winery, founded in 1980
• Home of the nation’s first solar-powered winery: today individual winery energy use is up to 100% solar
• Home of the America’s first carbon-neutral winery
• Home of the wine industry’s largest solar array, generating 1.1 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity annually and supplying 80% of the winery’s electricity needs
• Mendocino is recognized around the globe as one of the world’s great travel destinations, a place for renewal and connection with fine locally produced foods and wines
• Mendocino County growers and vintners are committed to sustainably farming and crafting winegrapes and wines that rival the best of the best from any wine region in the world

Stella Cadente Olive Oil Company Takes 2008 sofi™ Gold, Outstanding Oil

For immediate release (01/08/08)

On the heels of the 2008 NASFT sofi™ Awards Ceremony at the 54th Summer Fancy Food Show in New York, Stella Cadente Olive Oil Company is proud to announce that their 2008 Basil Olive Oil was awarded the 2008 sofi™ Gold for Outstanding Oil. The awards were presented by noted chef and cookbook author Jacques Pépin during a ceremony at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The sofi™ awards recognize excellence in specialty foods and beverages in 32 categories, and are considered a coveted industry honor. Over 2000 entrants were narrowed down to 150 Silver Finalists earlier in the spring, and from these finalists, the Gold Award winners were chosen.

Stella Cadente’s artisan Northern California olive oils continue to win accolades for their distinctive flavors and their superb quality. The flavored crush oils are produced by milling the flavoring ingredient with the olives at pressing; a process that results, in this case, in a notable balance between the flavors of the fresh basil and the flavor of the newly harvested olives. The product family includes the traditional Tuscan-style L’Autunno Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil, three citrus crush oils (Meyer Lemon, Blood Orange and Persian Lime), the Basil, and their newest release, Rosemary.

Though recipients of numerous top awards and honors for their artisan olive oils over the last six years, Stella Cadente’s story is about the farmers, since the work of their hands brings the goodness of the land to our tables. Stella Cadente uses only olives grown and processed in Northern California, supporting the tradition of the family farms that feed us all. The oils are produced the old-fashioned way; farmed locally and sustainably, hand-picked and crushed the same day. Stella Cadente’s oils are available from select retailers nationwide, and from the website at www.stellacadente.com.

Events from the latest issue

• North Lake Tahoe's Autumn Wine Festival
• Yosemite Vintners' Holidays
• Sonoma Valley Olive Festival