Sabastiani Winery

This weekend we have been fortunate to have some wonderful guests. Mary Ann Sabastiani Cuneo has chosen to spend her special birthday at our properties. She brought her immediate family and some dear friends and spent the weekend with us. It's been a delight to host such friendly and easy going people and we hope this is the beginning of a long relationship. The bonus of course is the opportunity to partake of some wonderful wines.

Film Crew

We had a film and production crew here the past several days. They came up from LA to work on a show tentatively titled Mendocino Life.
They first did an extensive interview with Steve Sterling, one of the owners of Esterlina Winery.
Steve's family is one of the very few African American winery owners. His grandfather started out as a home wine maker and it branched out from there. They now own 6 vineyards and two wineries, Esterlina and Everett Ridge in the Dry Creek region of Sonoma County.
The crew next interviewed our intripid fire fighter, Susan, at the fire house. She gave a wonderful interview and they were very obviously impressed. The low point of the day was an interview with me. They wanted to know about our wonderful guests and unusual experiences. Both those parts were easy. In fact once they got me started so many special moments of the past five years just poured out.
The show with all these interviews and many more will be pitched to the networks and we are hoping for some great publicity eventually.
Richard

Corky update

Corky had his check up in Davis last week. He passed and is healthy and happy. He even remembered his Doctor and X-ray tech and was pleased to see them again. By the way he acts I don't think he felt his treatments were traumatic. It was just another way to get attention. He has lost a lot of hair on his leg but it seems to be healing well.
This is the first time I've traveled with him overnight. He is the perfect traveler and now I can see why we have so many guests coming to Abigails with their beloved dogs.
Corky does have one crazy habit which we can scarfing. He likes to literally wrap himself around the neck of the driver, squeeze hard and just hang on. It's funny as long as you're not in traffic.
Richard

Truckee, Grass Valley and Davis

The past two weeks I have been traveling the state exposing the world to Esterlina wines. I'm having a great time meeting new people and seeing new areas. In past travels I just drove through on the boring highways. Now I have the time to actually get to know an area, walk the streets and absorb the differences.
Truckee, for instance, is more than a spot on an interstate which needs to be resurfaced. It is a vibrant community with an historic feel. There are also some great wine bars and restaurants.
Grass Valley actually has a old town section with a variety of interesting shops and restaurants as does Auburn. So many of these towns have grown without preserving their character so it's rewarding to see areas which care about their history.
Davis is a college town with a nice leafly tree lined aspect. There are trails running for many miles next to the creek and arboretum. I even found a preserved redwood grove in the heart of town. I can see why many college graduates don't want to leave.
If anyone knows of some special places I can talk to about Esterlina please let me know.