Napa Valley Vintners is sponsoring a Green Winery Workshop on Jan. 29 at the Solage Resort in Calistoga and will feature the launch of its new Green Certified Winery program.

Keynote speaker will be Yves Chouinard, founder of the Patagonia clothing line who also is an environmentalist and mountaineer. Others on the program will be Russell Wegner, waste reduction consultant; Steve Lederer, Napa County director of environmental management, and a panel featuring wineries that are testing the new Green Certified Winery program.

The workshop, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., is free for NVV members, $25 for non-members. R.S.V.P. to 963-3388 or nvv@napavintners.com.

A two-day conference on “Advanced Tasting Room Strategies” will be held Feb. 5-6 at the Doubletree Hotel in Rohnert Park and will feature morning sessions focusing on consumer-direct sales. Attendees will spend the afternoons at the tasting room buying show, which will feature exhibitors showcasing wine accessories.

Single-day registration is $250, both days is $395, and includes all seminars, lunch, winetastings and trade show admission. Registration for exhibits only is $15.

For information, call Barclay and Company, 963-3185, or go to www.wine profits.com.

The Napa County Pruning Contest is Feb. 7 at the Beringer Blass Estate’s Gamble Ranch in Yountville.

The event tests vineyard workers’ skills and speed in pruning grapevines, and many vineyard managers hold competitions among their employees to determine who will represent the vineyard in the county contest.

Entry forms may be obtained at www.napagrow ers.com or by calling 944-8311. Entries must be received by Feb. 1. If the event is rained out, it will be held on Feb. 8.

Raymond Vineyards celebrates the release of  Raymond Generations 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon  Saturday, Feb. 9, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. They’ll also be pouring their new 2005 Rutherford merlot and library vintage cabernet sauvignons paired with locally produced chocolates. Guests will also be treated to a sneak peak at our new small lot wines being released later this spring. $15 per person (free for wine club members); must be 21 years old to attend.

Raymond is at 849 Zinfandel Lane, St. Helena. To purchase tickets in advance, visit www.raymondvineyards.com or call 800-525-2659. Wine Club members; please R.S.V.P. to jwhisten@raymondvineyards.com or by calling 800-525-2659 ext. 602.

 Justin Faggioli and Jonathan Goldman have been elected to the board of directors of the Carneros Wine Alliance. Faggioli was the executive vice president of Ravenswood Winery1995-2001, and helped guide the winery through its initial public offering. He has also served on the boards and as president of the Family Winemakers of California. He continues to serve on the steering committee of the Wine Industry Financial Symposium. Since 1993 Faggioli and his family have owned vineyards in Sonoma Valley in partnership with the Sangiacomo family and are also partners in two other vineyards in Carneros.          

Goldman is a partner in Silverado Premium Properties, Silverado WineGrowers and Plata Wine Partners, which owns the Stanly Ranch and other vineyards in the Carneros. Before he joined Silverado Partners in 2003 he spent 16 years as a banker with Bank of America and Citigroup, and worked in New York, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Mexico and San Francisco.  

Re-elected as officers of the Board for the 2008 term are Chairman Steve Sangiacomo; Vice President Scott Wallace; Secretary Armando Ceja and Treasurer Tory Sims. Other board members are John Clews, Larry Hyde and Steve Spadarotto.

Bolla Wines is teaming with pizza to focus on 125 years of Italian winemaking  and will conduct a year-long promotional program aimed at both products.

Bolla is launching a year-long online pizza contest in which consumers will be invited to submit pizza recipes with their local ingredients along with a pairing with Bolla wines. The grand prize is a trip to Italy to visit Bolla’s birthplace in Verona and to attend the 2009 World Pizza Championships in Europe.

In addition, Bolla will sponsor a tour at various Italian fests around the nation and show how to pair the wines with pizza. Bolla sponsors the U.S. pizza team, which will demonstrate its acrobatic feats with pizza dough at each stop.

Napa-based New Vine Logistics has introduced an eco-friendly package that will keep wine shipments cool in hot summer months and protect wines from fluctuations in temperatures during transit.

The new package, called WineAssure, was developed for New Vine Logistics by International Thermal Wizards, a firm that specializes in temperature-controlled transport for medical, food, military and government organizations. It is made of 100 percent recyclable and degradable materials and can be reused by the recipient.

The package will allow wineries to ship year-round, rather than holding shipments until weather cools. It guarantees that wine will not exceed 70 degrees Fahrenheit or fall below refrigeration level for five days, regardless of exterior temperatures.

A two-bottle pack, available by March 1, costs $15. Packages for four, six and 12 bottles, and magnums, will be available by summer.

 Prager Winery & Port Works in St. Helena, in conjunction with the newly vinted Sweet and Fortified Wine Association, announces “the first public tasting of domestic sweet and fortified wines since the repeal of Prohibition.”

The “Savor the Flavor” tasting will be held at the Lodi Wine and Visitors Center on Saturday, Feb. 23, 4-7 p.m.. Tickets are $25 which includes unlimited tasting accompanied by “finger foods” paired to showcase the versatility of sweet and fortified wines.

Savor the Flavor tickets and more information are available at the door and at www.sweetandfortified wine.org.

Eight wine industry leaders will be inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame at a gala fund-raising reception and dinner ceremony  March 7 at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena.

This year’s inductees are Ernest & Julio Gallo, Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards, Milijenko “Mike” Grgich and Sacramento wine merchant and forager supreme, Darryl Corti.  

The panel also voted in as “Pioneers”, the founders of three iconic wineries: John Daniel, (Inglenook); Louis P. Martini, (Louis M. Martini Winery); and Carl Wente (Wente Vineyards). “Pioneer” recognizes those who have made a significant contribution to the California wine industry and who passed away prior to March 1988.

The Vintners Hall of Fame annual induction dinner endows new scholarship programs for the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the CIA at Greystone. Tickets for the gala are $250. For reservations and more information, contact events@balzac.com or call 255-7667.

For more information on the Vintners Hall of Fame and to view photos from last year’s gala, visit www.ciaprochef.com/winestudies/vintners.html.

With food banks across the nation facing critical shortages this holiday season, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi lead the Give Hope campaign, an effort to help meet the increasing demand for food assistance.

The 10-day online auction raised $28,118 for America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest food bank. Combined with an additional donation of $50,000 from Woodbridge, the program raised a grand total of $78,118 for food banks. One hundred percent of the proceeds benefited America’s Second Harvest and its 200 member food banks.

 

 High net-worth consumers rated Far Niente the most prestigious premium wine in the 2008 Luxury Brand Status Index survey from the independent New York-based Luxury Institute. Respondents who would recommend Far Niente say the brand has high quality, special wines for special occasions and excellent consistency.

This was based on a national sample of 1,760 wealthy American consumers, all of whom consumed alcoholic beverages in the past six months, with an average income of $346K and average net worth of $3.8 million,  who were surveyed online. Survey results are weighted to match demographic and net worth profiles of the same audience according to the latest Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve.

 To reach the Luxury Institute, call 646-792-2669 or visit www.luxuryinstitute.com.

 The Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and Sonoma County Vintners have teamed with Zephyr Wine Adventures to offer walking vacations of vineyards.

The five-day tours will include lodging, meals, local transportation and walks through some of Sonoma’s most scenic and famous vineyards.  

Cost will be $1,900 per person. Dates are Aug. 24-28 and Oct. 26-30. Info, www.sonomavineyardwalks.com.

Legendary quarterback Dan Marino has teamed with Charity Wines to raise funds for children with developmental disabilities. For every bottle of Vintage 13 from Marino Estates sold, Marino will donate 100 percent of his proceeds to the Dan Marino Foundation to help children with chronic disorders.

Public launch is Jan. 28 for Vintage 13.

Submit items for Toast of the Valley to On Wine editor Sasha Paulsen, spaulsen@napanews.com