FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 5:11 PM, PST--And finally, I leave you all with one last picture of 2004.  Thank you all for supporting us this year and for being so understanding in working with such a small winery.  We count you all as a part of our family and look foward to working with you and serving you next year.

Elizabeth and Sophia

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30--Just poked my head in the office after a couple of weeks away and am going through the tons of emails.  Finally Paul Anctil sent me the pictures from his Kansas City Cellarmasters Wine Club (www.KC-Cellarmasters.com), featuring Karl Lawrence big bottles.  Paul is a past president of this 150 member club that meets every other Monday night.

Husband and wife, Paul and Paula, "making sure not a drop gets wasted."

(sounds like a singing duo to me)

Current President Harold Godwin and incoming President Donna Cook.

MONDAY, 12/20/4--I talked with Sue, at Stagecoach Express, today, and we decided to suspend anymore wine shipments until the new year.  I apologize, but shipments have been pretty backed up given the increased shipping load of the holidays.  Also, many of you are leaving your homes and businesses for vacations.  So Stagecoach will hang onto what they have and commence shipping in early January.  Also, I have a couple of orders that I haven't taken down to them yet.  Thank you all for your patience with the last part of Reserve shipping.

     I'll be out of the office, most of the time, over the next three weeks.

FRIDAY, 12/16/4--Ted Dziedzic emailed me to let me know that he won all four of the Karl Lawrence lots at the Edward Roberts International auction.  Just to recap, for those of you not up on The Latest: each lot consisted of a 2003 Single Vineyard Designated Reserve 9 liter bottle and three 750ml bottles, for the Gary Morisoli, Herb Lamb, Beckstoffer To Kalon, & Beckstoffer-Dr. Crane vineyards.  Hopefully Ted can supply me with some pictures of the event to post.  I'm floored, to say the least.  I appreciate Ted's support.  Party's at Ted's house.  The date will be announced around the time I start receiving what's left of my social security.

Paul Anctil, of Kansas City, hosted a big bottle dinner, featuring Karl Lawrence, this past Saturday.  He's promised to email me some pictures to post.

TUESDAY, 12/14/4--Bruce Leiserowitz sent me some more pictures of the Tanino dinner.  Actually, he was good about getting these to me fairly quick, it's just that I, well...here they are.

All listen to James Orr as he points his finger at me.  From left to right: Mark Lonow, Stephen Gelber, James, Quin Barrow (fist), Tony Garcia, and Mike Henry (tilted glass).

James continues to press his point as I defer to his most excellent remarks.  Matt Lichtenberg cheers him on from my right.  Now you can see Quinn better.

Aden Kun leans in from the right to make a point.  Now you can see Mark, left foreground, better.

Not pictured:  Bruce because he's the one taking the picuters, Alan Winters (arms only), and Tim Bock.  We'll remember next time to take a group shot.

SATURDAY, 12/11/4--Found out that Michael Trujillo was in the news...well, by reference.  Wine & Spirits December cover story on "The New Names In Napa Cabernet," reports on Herb and Jennifer Lamb.  The article calls Mike, "the Lambs' old friend."  By that I take it that they meant he's been a friend of theirs for a long time.  The article goes on to state that, "both the Colgin and Karl Lawrence cabernets became overnight sensations, two of the great early cult cabernets of the era."

    Then in "The Year's Best Cabernet Sauvignon" article they review Aldin in the cabernet-based blends section.  They rate it as a 90 and call it Karl Lawrence Napa Valley Aldin (I don't know why), and state: "A brisk Napa Valley blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc, Aldin meshes sweet red currant flavor with dark chocolate tannins.  Youthful, floral scents of jasmine rise off the end of the wine, which should mellow into secondary flavor complexities as it ages."

THURSDAY, 12/9/4--DINNER WITH THE GUYS AT TANINO'S, WESTWOOD:

Only every wine Karl Lawrence ever made comes between Mike Henry on the left and me on the right.

Wow!  What a night.  Many thanks to Matt Lichtenberg for organizing the whole thing from getting all the vintages there, inviting the guys, arranging the restaurant, getting us there and back, and putting us up at the Chez Lichtenberg, and the vitamin B drink and Danish breakfast.  What service.  It was good to meet such a great group of guys and to finally put some faces to names, emails, and phone calls.  Many thanks also to Bruce Leiserowitz for keeping the evening going, opening, pouring, and allowing me to visit.  Bruce took this picture.  We didn't take a group shot, but I know he took other shots.  So I've asked him to forward me some so I could post them here.  Bruce did post some notes at: http://fora.erobertparker.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/44821.html

PS  While exiting Tanino's on the ground floor, a patron flagged me down who recognized me from the Red Carpet Classic event.  LA's a small world after all.

OKAY, while I'm in the posting pictures mode:  I found these forgotten gems on Elizabeth's disc of baby Sophia.

Michael, Elizabeth, Bryan, Patti, Cheryl, Ric.

Valentine's at Mumm's, 2001.

In front of our friend's, John Cutino's Upvalley Limousine (707/965-9600). John took the picture.

FRIDAY, 12/3/4--My nephew, Mike Henry, and I, will be guests of Matt Lichtenberg's at a Karl Lawrence vertical tasting dinner he organized.  The dinner will be in the upstairs private dinning room at Tanino's Restaurant, in Westwood, this Tuesday.  All Karl Lawrence vintages will be included.  The wines will be supplied by attendees as follows:  James Orr--'95 & '96, Stephen Gelber--'97 & a starter white, Quinn Barrow--'98 & '00, Alan Winter--'97 Morisoli, Tim Bock--'97 Lamb, Tony Garcia--'99 Morisoli, Bruce Leiserowitz--'99 Lamb & dessert wine, Matt Lichtenberg--'94 & '01 Morisoli, Mark Lonow--'01 Lamb.

      Mike Henry has worked at Sequoia Grove, the past three years, where he played a fairly major role in the crafting of Karl Lawrence wines.  He'll be supplying the wine making side of things, while I'll be supplying the b......., well, the other side of the story. 

     On the St. Helena obit page:   Anthony George Diener, AKA Brother Timothy, of Christian Brothers fame passed away at the age of 94.  As a local, underage, college student, I remember sampling his best.  Also passing away, Stephen Girard, a longtime Kaiser executive, who established Girard Winery, upon his retirement in 1984.  He was 91.  Their longevity proves the healthy benefits of partaking of the fruit of the vine.

     And now for some pictures from the Red Carpet Cabernet Classic.  Be sure and attend this event next year.

David Dobbs, the owner of Red Carpet (www.redcarpetwine.com), stands in the second row, second from left.  His sister took this picture.  My good buddy, Chris Madrigal sits scrunched up, like a little school boy, in the blue shirt, fifth from right.  My other good buddy, Jim Regusci stands, as always the center of attention, center back row in the red shirt and black jacket.  If you can't find me, I'm standing the third person to the right (I'm always right) of Jim.

At the Red Carpet Classic with new buddy, Joseph Merdkhanian.  Sebouh Kouladjian took this picture.  Notice the blatant product placement.

TUESDAY, 11/23/4--2003 Karl Lawrence wine will be put up for auction at the Edward Roberts International California Pre-Release Auction, Saturday, December 11, in Chicago.  Karl Lawrence's four auction lots will be a 9 Liter Vineyard Designated Reserve, from Gary Morisoli, Herb Lamb, To Kalon--Beckstoffer, and Dr. Crane-Beckstoffer (the inaugural release).  The bottles are etched and painted, numbered "No. 1 of 1," and signed by Michael.  Each lot will also come with three 750 ml. bottles and a display 9 L. bottle. 

    The barrel tasting for this event will be held at the historic Cafe Brauer, in Lincoln Park, on December 9.  Our Karl Lawrence friend, Robert Beaudry will for sure be in attendance.  Michael may be there, depending on family circumstances.

     You can contact Edward Roberts International at info@eriwine.com, and at www.eriwine.com.  The auction includes phone in bids.

WEDNESDAY, 11/17/04, 5:30 PM, A GLORIOUSLY CLEAR AND SUNNY DAY--

SOPHIA MADELYN TRUJILLO

11/17/04

9 lbs. 0 oz.

Michael, Sophia, Bryan (delivered), & Elizabeth

Finally, the last member of the TRIUMPHERANT, has arrived.  Notice the gleam in Michael's eyes.

FRIDAY, 11/12/4--Victor Fu brought his sister-in-law, Mona, of Hong Kong, and friends Eric and Sylvie, of Mountain View, to visit Bryan up on our parent's property.  Bryan, and his sons, Mathew and Ben, were busy burning piles of fallen (knocked over) timber.  So we ate Palisades sandwiches, and tasted Karl Lawrence '01 and '02, and some Carini '01 Cab on the cement pad of the soon to be erected agriculture building.

Looking "north by north west"

Front row: Silvie, Mona, Bryan, & his dingo dog, Ruby.

Back row(the "ic" row): Eric, Ric, & Vic.

Photo by Ben Henry

PS Victor Fu's birthday is the same as Bryan's; the 10th.  Different years though.

TUESDAY, 11/9/4--What a success and good time was had by all at the Red Carpet Cabernet Classic in Glendale this past weekend.  Thirteen wines were served at the Friday night Gala dinner with Karl Lawrence and Fischer paired with the entree.  The next day, I'd say that 30 wineries served cabernet to 200+ people for three hours. You could throw a dart in the room and wherever it landed, you'd come out with great stuff. Man did I get tired of smiling, pouring, nodding, and saying thank you.  After it was all over, we all retired upstairs to the Presidential suite, for, beer.  As things quieted down, Jim Regusci and Chris Madrigal spoke with a cable radio wine critic for his broadcast.  David and Tami Dobbs are to be congratulated for staging such a great event.  I understand that this is the "first annual."  So look for it next year.

On a side note, I was invited along by a Karl Lawrence person, to a birthday party at the home of a Hollywood agency partner's wife in Brentwood.  Over fifty people were in attendance and the only wine being served was, you guessed it, Karl Lawrence. I appreciate the word of mouth that our people bring to us.  It helps to keep our overhead smaller than any other winery in the Valley.

On my return:  no word from Elizabeth.  Stay tuned.

PS Tomorrow is Bryan's birthday.

TUESDAY, 11/3/4--Sorry I haven't been able to post anything for a while.  I've been pretty busy with the Reserve orders. Please check under the "Order Status" button for more info on this.   Both Alisa and my daughter, Lissa, have been helping me.  Please note, that I'll be gone Friday and over the weekend for the Red Carpet Cabernet Classic in Glendale.

     Finally I'm able to show you an updated picture of Elizabeth's condition.  She's the one just right of center with her's and Michael's hands over her expanded state.  Michael's glancing over her shoulder.  This dinner was organized by the "underground wine crowd."  I believe Chris Matheny had something to do with it.

Michael and Elizabeth with friends at La Toque, in Rutherford.

Counting down the days...

     And while they dined in Rutherford, Bryan and Patti, and me and Cheryl, along with our mutual friends, Jim and Sharon Rose (he's doing the legal work for our parent's property), dined at Laura Zahtila's Zahtila Vineyards, in Calistoga.  You can contact her about her winery at Laura@zahtilavineyards.com.  We don't have any pictures to show you as our evening was more one of what happens at Laura's, stays at Laura's.

FRIDAY, 10/22/4--And then the rains came down.  We went from 3 digit heat to rain and temps dipping into the 50s.  We went from Summer to Winter.  Where did Fall go?  Hikers got stranded in the snows in the Sierras.  Reminds me of the time in '66 when Bryan and I and some classmates got stranded.  Like the paratroopers trapped in the "Bulge," we didn't know we needed rescuing.  We had hiked halfway out and met the so called rescue party.  The new dry pair of tennis shoes was nice, though.

     Anyway, what's this have to do with you all?  Like the rain, orders came pouring in this week.  We're double batching it to try and get all of this week's orders out.  Then I'll do an inventory count and determine what I can do with the wants more crowd and the wait list people.  I will do my best to satisfy both crowds, as much as I can.  I'll start processing these next week.

FRIDAY, 10/15/4--This week has been like "Volcano."  The two fires have covered our skies and given us the worst air pollution in 27 years.  And that's with some high 90s and low three digit heat.  Needless to say, harvest is over.

     I'll be pouring Karl Lawrence at the Red Carpet Wine Cabernet Classic, November 5 & 6, at the Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale.  There's a Friday evening reception and Gala dinner and pourings on Saturday afternoon and evening.  Usually Michael attends these things, but is staying home for the eventual arrival of his daughter.  My apologies in advance for those of you planning to attend and are now stuck with the third fiddle.  Go Elizabeth.

TUESDAY, 10/12/4--Woke up to ash covering everything from fires in Sonoma County and out at Lake Berryessa. 

     The September issue of Details, which I have never heard of, contains an article starting on page 74, about second labels.  It's titled, "Great Wine--Half the Price:  Lesser-known wines made by noted labels prove that the highest price isn't everything."  They say that, "They're among the best wines in the world, but most of us have never heard of them....and they exist to bring you more bang for you oenophilic buck."

     Further down in the article they say, ""I don't have to cringe trying to make everything fit," says Napa valley hotshot Michael Trujillo, co-owner of a petite tract of prime real estate that produces Karl Lawrence wine and its acclaimed progeny, Aldin.""  Well, I don't know what land they're talking about because, we don't own land that produces grapes for us.  All our grapes are purchased, mostly from Gary Morisoli, Herb Lamb, and Andy Beckstoffer.  As to Michael being a "hotshot," well...

     They describe Aldin as:  "Syrupy, balanced, Cab-like "Red Table Wine" is a sellout success.  Chardonnay is French-style (meaning less "oak")."  They also report on Geyser Peak's Canyon Road, Woodward Canyon's Nelms Road, Chateau Palmer's Alter Ego de Palmer, Chateau Ducru Beeaucaillou's La Croix de Beaucaillou, Valdipiatta Vino Nobile di Montepulciano's Valdipiatta Rosso di Montepulciano, Summus's Castello Banfi San't Antimo Cum Laude, and, Pnefold Grange Hermitage Shiraz's Penfolds Kalimna Bin 128. 

And now, finally, some pictures of progress at our parent's property.  Bryan has supervised the clearing of 18 of the 40 acres.  They've spread hay for the winter's erosion control.  If the rains are normal, he should be able to rip by the middle of April, put in irrigation lines, and trellising, and be on target to plant in July.

Here's Bryan and his #1 son, Mike, and #2, Ben.  Bryan's has to keep his back erect because it hurts from chain sawing and lifting hay bails.  He's restraining Mike's not so faithful dog, Mona.  In taking this picture, I'm facing north, towards Duckhorn's.  Randy Dunn's vineyard lays just outside the top left of this picture.  About a hundred yards behind me, to the south, lays Dennis John's White Cottage Road vineyard.  And next to his is Frank Dotzler's Outpost vineyard.  I believe both of their vineyards continue on down the hill to the Howell Mountain Elementary School. I had to face north because a blustery hot wind has blown smoke from a forest fire in Sonoma over here.

The camera faces north as Bryan and I finish walking across a causeway to a hidden acre by Klingbell's.  Duckhorn's Vineyard lays directly behind us.

MONDAY, 10/11/4--As usual, Victor Fu has to be the one to tell me that Michael got in the San Francisco Chronicle.  As many of you know, I don't read any wine related journals, books, or articles.  So I do appreciate it when you all bring things to my attention.  Anyway, check out the Chron article at sfgate.com/wine, for October 7.  I actually received my paper that day (we get spotty deliveries up here), but, didn't read it as it wasn't in the front or sports sections.  It's the cover story for Section F and titled, "Living La Vida Vino."  Also, check out the "Labels with roots in Mexico," article on page F3.  It talks a little bit about Michael and Bryan.  Byran doesn't even know about it yet as they don't deliver the Chron up on Howell Mountain.

TUESDAY, 10/5/4--Karl Lawrence Cellars--The Next Generation.

                                Chris Pratt               Melissa Pratt & Zoey

                      Mike Henry      Wendy Henry & Jasper

MONDAY, 10/4/4--Jasper has arrived.  Mike and Wendy Henry's first son was born 8 pounds, 3 ounces at 7:25 PM.  Bryan (center, back) was the attending doctor and Cheryl (on the right) was in support and taking pictures.

JASPER LAWRENCE HENRY

10/4/4

8 lbs. 3 oz.

I was going for Buddy; as in, ten four good buddy.  But I was overruled again.  Now the rest of us, and the world, waits on Elizabeth.

FRIDAY, 10/1/4--Crush rushed in with a roar.  The crews spent long days harvesting and crushing.  And, just like that.  It's almost over.  We'll be done with crush this year long before we even started last year.  I think we can start planning that long forgotten tradition of celebrating a Halloween party.  Acids are low this year and sugars are up.  So look for higher alcohol contents this year.  Productions are way down.  Rest assured that Michael will not include juice that does not meet our standards.  It's more important for Karl Lawrence to produce a wine you can trust from year to year than to meet some Wall Street production target (current back room board people pulling strings elsewhere, may want to take note).

Now here's some pictures of crush:

Chris Pratt, father of my granddaughter, flushes the pump over hoses with CO2.

Molly, Assistant Winemaker at Sequoia Grove, is distracted from checking the tank temperatures by Moi.

Meanwhile, Mike, my nephew, checks tank temperatures the old fashion way. 

MONDAY, 9/27/4--The Vineyard Designated Reserve Newsletter is on the way.  "A's" through "H's" went out in the afternoon mail.  I even got one "I" in there.  No worries for the rest of you folks.  Tonight is Monday Night Football.  So I'll have extra hands on deck and should be able to get the rest of you all out in the mornings mail.  I apologize in advance for any pizza sauce or beer that gets spilled on your envelopes.

THURSDAY, 9/23/4--The heat arrived, accelerating harvest.  The crush is on.  If any of you plan to stop by, Michael is around ten to fourteen plus hours a day.  He'll be able to say hi and that's about it.

    As you can see by the picture; it's Vineyard Designated Reserve time. Richard Trujillo, Michael's Dad, more commonly addressed around here as "RT," hand waxes the Reserve bottles.  If you'll compare RT's waxed bottles to any other, you'll notice that his are better done and haven't caved in at the top.  That's because he developed the system of cooling a wax button on the top of the cork prior to dipping the bottle in the hot wax.  In this manner, the cooling process doesn't cause the wax to contract.

   Check out the Newsletter button and you'll see that the Vineyard Designated Newsletter is posted.  The printed Newsletters arrived yesterday.  So we'll work to print out the order forms, fold, insert, stamp, address, lick, and all that ASAP & PDQ.  I've been pretty busy with my granddaughter and all.  But on the up side for you all, my daughter's here with an extra pair of hands to work the Newsletter assembly line.

And, finally, where would we be without John Corino, aka Dr. _______, and his fiance, Cindy, supervising RT's waxing job.  As always, we thank you for your help.

WEDNESDAY, 9/15/4--Our St. Helena Star reports that the Mondavi's have given up control of their winery.  It's a sad day for us, but, one consistent with the corporate takeover of our Valley and the move to higher productions and the homogenization of taste.  Rest assured that Karl Lawrence Cellars is now, and for the foreseeable future, just us three guys.  And we're not Manny, Moe, and Jack.  We're Karl, Lawrence, and Aldin.

WEDNESDAY, 9/8/4--This week's "Newsweek" reports on St. Supery's CEO, Michaela Rodeno's "Harvest Adventure," where tourist pay $250 for a half-day to come and pick grapes.  I just played tennis with her a couple of weeks ago and she never told me about this.  Apparently she wants to keep all the not so bright people with too much discretionary cash to herself.  Just in case I've passed up on an opportunity, I'm letting you all know now that any of you are welcome to come and pay me money to do my job.  The door is open.

    The picture of my granddaughter was taken by Lindsay Buehler of Buehler Winery.  She, and her fiance, Sean Garvey, will be in New York for the next nine months.  She'll be working on a Masters in photography and Sean will work in wine distribution.  So please welcome them to the Big Apple when you get a chance.

ZOEY AUGUST PRATT

8/8/4

SUNDAY, 8/21/4--Michael's gone fishing.  So while the cat's away--well, you know what the mice are doing.  Actually, Michael does have a wine dinner in Colorado, also.  So that left Bryan, Cheryl, and I, to be treated dinner at Pinot Blanc by our Real Estate Agent, and long time Karl Lawrence person, Yvonne Rich and her husband, Michael.  They were celebrating my parents purchase of a condo here.  So I wheeled my Dad into Pinots holding a bottle each of the 2001 SVR Morisoli and Lamb. This is the gospel truth.  This is the first time I've tasted this much Reserves.  Bryan wrote notes and will contribute them for the SVR Release Newsletter, due out soon.  In fact, alls we're waiting on, are his notes.

     Check out the Restaurants and Retailers section as I updated the California part of it.  I'll continue to update it as information comes my way.

MONDAY, 8/16/4--I have to tell you about the fabulous dinner party Cheryl and I attended Saturday night.  It's something that I get to go instead of Michael or Bryan.  Anyway, Bob and Stacey Bressler purchased a BBQ Dinner at Herb and Jennifer Lamb's at the St. Helena Volunteer Fire Department's fundraiser event.  Thirty plus people attended, including, two other couples (other than Lambs and Bresslers), who were on the Karl Lawrence mailing list.  Herb roasted a pig in his smoker as Bob made pizza in the outside pizza oven.  All the Herb Lamb wines were poured along with Anomolie, Bresslers, Moffett-Livingston, White Cottage, and many more that I can't remember.  Michael even allowed me to bring along a bottle each of the 1999 Lamb and Morisoli SVR wines.  Formal blind tastings were not conducted.  We just enjoyed the deck, the view, good food and wine, and, great company. 

     Michael and I are editing the Reserve Release Newsletter.  We hope to get it to the graphic artist this week.

THURSDAY, 8/12/4--Today's San Francisco Chronicle carried an article about the hypocrisy of the liquor distributor's trying to stop small wineries from direct shipping.  They say it's to protect teenagers from underage drinking.  And yet, the only instance of this happening was in a sting operation in Massachusetts.  If they were really concerned about stopping teenage drinking, then they should focus on where teenagers get alcohol and they should also quit making and marketing flavored liquors that are targeted at teenagers.

     Consider the possibility of a teenager buying Karl Lawrence:  We're sold out now.  So they'd have to sign up on our waiting list.  Next Spring we'd evaluate if we could bring them on.  If not, they'd have to wait another year.  Even if they do get onto the active list, they'd have to order wine with their credit cards and then make sure they're home at the right time to sign for it without their parents being there.  All of these are very unlikely possibilities.

     Teenagers want to buy something today that they can drink tonight.  They don't want to wait around a year or two and then party out at the reservoir with a premium cabernet sauvignon.  Trust me.  I was a teenager once.  And now I'm a grandfather who used to and still does have teenagers.

SUNDAY, 8/8/4--A date that will live in...well...like forever.  At 3:33 AM our granddaughter, Zoey August Pratt was born to Lissa and her husband Chris.  Bryan was the doctor in attendance, allowing Cheryl to be just the mom.  The new family will be coming home within the hour.

     Michael stopped in and said hi to Jean Luc at Danielle's in New York City.  He found out that Olivier is also in a family way.  Seems like this new generation is trying to improve the world given what we gave it a generation ago.  Stop by and see them both on your next visit to New York.

     I had to find out from Victor Fu that the San Francisco Chronicle had an article on Michael becoming President at Sequoia Grove.  That must have been the day they threw my paper to the neighbors.  I'll post the day and link when I'm able to find it.

     Now's a good time to stop by for a visit as the barrels are here in anticipation of bottling soon.  So, especially on weekdays, Alisa or I will try to accommodate you.  Alisa can do some weekends as Jefferson works at Taylor's in San Francisco during those times.  But you'll have to contact her to see if a mutual time can be arranged.  Bryan might even be available as his chainsaw elbow is preventing him from doing any heavy work.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3--Well today was the day I had picked for my granddaughter to be born as it's my buddy's birthday.  Instead, Lissa's nine days overdue and counting.

     Last night, nine of our people from Orange County invited us over for dinner.  They rented a house in Healdsburg for the week for touring Sonoma and Napa Valleys.  Michael, Elizabeth, Bryan, and I attended.  Cheryl was afraid to leave Lissa for that long.  The OC crowd, know as the Napa Madness gang when they're in these environs, supplied all the food, wine, and good company.  They even did the dishes and gave us shirts commemorating the event.  So now I think they've set a standard for how to wine and dine us.  Bryan and I would still be there except for Elizabeth kept getting kicked in the womb about it being time to go home. I think Michael put her in the condition she's in so we'll always have a designated driver.  Hopefully I can get a picture of the crowd posted here soon.

MONDAY, JULY 26--Am kind of back in commission. In the off-season, we're hardly around.  My son-in-law Chris chain-sawed with Bryan and his other two sons, Ben and Mathew, and ended up with a severe case of total body poison oak.  So his stay at Lake Shasta was spent in the shade.  Then Bryan attempted to show off to the kids and slid down the houseboat slide headfirst in an attempt to do a hand-stand on an inner-tube and then flip into the lake.  Instead, he hit his head on the tube and severely hurt his neck.  We had to help him up and lay him down.  Now he can't lift a chainsaw. 

      To add to this excitement, we had a shooting on the block over from us.  A jealous man shot five bullets into the man having an affair with his girlfriend.  Our street was blocked off and the SWAT team entered a house a couple of doors down from us.  We had a tough time getting through the barricades to get to the Wine Country Film Festival; where I might add, Lissa's film was wildly received.  Such is life here in paradise, should any of you think of joining us.

     I've added a new page called Order Status.  I'm going to be experimenting with this page and use it for giving you specific information about your orders.  For now, I'll be using it to post information about the upcoming Reserves release.  Right now, customer numbers are listed for the people who will be offered the Reserves.  This way, you can check the list and let me know if you were supposed to be on it or want to be on it.  Be sure and check it a number of times, (more than twice; it's not Christmas you know) as it will continue to change as I work on it.

     I was informed that a group of our New Yorkers got together and had a comparison tasting of Karl Lawrence and Pride.  I understand that the two wines compared well and that some wine compared a little better and some a little worse.  I applaud the effort and thanks for letting me know. It's good to hear that people want to acquire wine according to, hopefully, their taste and not by how expensive it is or what the press says about it.  Of course, those things usually go hand in hand as the press can't get out of the rut, that, if it's expensive, it must be good.

THURSDAY, JULY 8--The Bryan and Ric Henry families, along with the Friedrich's, will head out tomorrow for a week on a houseboat at Lake Shasta.  So I'll be out of commission for a while.  Alisa will be with us for the weekend, but will return sometime Monday, as Jefferson has to work.  If you need to, during this next week, you can reach her on her cell at 707/217-1107.  I'll try the week after that to put together a draft of the people that will be offered the 2001 Single Vineyard Designated Reserves.

     I delivered wine yesterday to a friend who told me about a "cult" wine tasting they had the week before.  He told me they had every "cult" considered wine there, and that the two favorites were Grace Family and Karl Lawrence.  I don't know what we were doing there as we don't consider ourselves cultish.  But, this kind of news is nice to hear.  It's also good to hear that some people actually open up and taste these types of wines.  I had understood that they only purchase and display them.

     To new people signing up for our wait list:  you don't need to call us in order to sign up.  Please just do so in the Guest Book section.  We can't provide you with wine at this time.  We only have a small amount left that we keep available for will-call people.  Somehow, they always want more than they originally asked for.  Hopefully we can bring you all on board in the Spring of 2005.  But we'll have to evaluate that at that time. 

THURSDAY, JULY 1--

IT'S A...

      Mike's moving on up...Up Valley, as they say here.  He's getting himself a piece of the pie.  He's moving up to 1,666 feet; on top of Howell Mountain, in the Rancho La Jota neighborhood.  The Beatles tune, "Fool on the Hill," is taking on a whole new meaning for him now.  As it happens, he needed a home with a nursery.

...GIRL

     Mike's front running names are Bruce and Spot.  These names hold special fondness for Mike as they were his favorite dogs.  I'm not sure if any of your suggestions are welcome--though--I will collect them.

     As to your office betting pools, I have it on inside information, that conception occurred on or about 3 PM, February 14.  So those of you with calendars should be able to figure out delivery time and weight.  If you say it's okay for me to do so, I'll post your guesstimates here.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23--Back so soon?  Well; a lot's happening.  As to RESERVES:  I'm starting to put the list together.  So anyone who wants to get on the list had better make sure that they asked me.  I've spent the last couple of hours going through postit notes and all. A couple of you have asked me a number of times.  I found one name on four postit notes. 

      The beginning of the list includes all those who purchased the 1999 Reserve.  They are on this list unless they have quit being a Karl Lawrence customer.  Then, I added to the list those of you who asked to be on it.  I was surprised to find a couple of people who have never purchased Karl Lawrence.  So, I don't really consider them to be a part of us.  People who have a history with us will be allocated the Reserves.    

      I'll meet with Mike shortly to finalize the list.  Please stay posted to this section for further news on the release of the Reserves.  I'd like to get the offering Newsletter out sometime in mid-September.

     Thanks to those of you who read The Latest page on a regular basis and who send me feedback.  I appreciate your letting me know and enjoy your comments.  They do help me keep in touch with you and what you're thinking about how we're working to serve you.

     We took the keys this week to some new space in St. Helena.  We'll use this space for office storage and for staging wine for shipment and will-call.  As many of you know, it's an eighty mile round trip drive for me to retrieve wine from the warehouse.  Having something closer will save time and mileage. 

    The new space is in the old Turner Storage facility.  It's been purchased by StoragePro and refrigerated.  Our facility neighbors include Neibaum-Coppola, Duckhorn, and Hundred Acre. 

    We're in Suite P.  If you can't remember that--then try to remember SWEET PEA.  

MONDAY, JUNE 21--Finally delivered wine orders to the Napa Valley Wine Lockers.  Thank you all for your patience.  That just leaves Napa, Calistoga, and will call people.  I also stopped by the Winetasting Network and picked up our remaining inventory.  They still have five people to ship and are waiting for their credit cards to clear.  They have no weather holds.  All orders that came in last week, went to Buffalo Shipping.  They have those and a few from before.  I believe Stagecoach only has a few.  So far this week, nothing new has come in.  I still have Aldin Chardonnay available and I could maybe honor a few Karl Lawrence 750s.  But that's it.  Mike and I are like Santa's little helpers now.  We're checking our list twice as we think we may have over-sold mags and Aldin Red Table Wine.  Hopefully we don't have to make any phone calls and credit back your cards.

     In last Thursday's San Francisco Chronicle, Tina Caputo, the managing editor of  the Wines & Vines magazine, reported on "Cult Mentality."  She states that "wines that remain in the inner circle are as sought-after as ever, as much for their elusiveness as for their quality."  She quotes Gerald Weisl that it's like a "needle in a haystack, they can impress their friends..[but]...wouldn't dream of drinking their trophies...the thrill is in obtaining the unobtainable."  The author doesn't mention if she's blind tasted these wines amongst themselves, or, amongst the more obtainable wines.

     If I may make a little plug here:  My daughter, Lissa, will have one of her short films, "between you and me," screen the opening night of the Wine Country Film Festival, www.wcff.us, Thursday, July 22 at 7 PM at Sequoia Grove.  Jim Allen submitted her film to the selection committee, but had no influence, whatsoever, on the selection; so I'm told.  So if you happen to be visiting the Valley during that time, please attend the opening night.  You'll recognize Palisades Market, Napa High, the Rutherford Cross Road, Regusci Winery, St. Helena High, the Napa Skate Park, Sequoia Grove Winery, Bryan's truck, and, of course, all of Lissa's family.

Jessie Friedrich and Jamie Jones star in

"between you and me"

A story about friendship in the face of first love.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16--Had the great opportunity to meet and put faces to a couple of the best people to work with. They were as gracious in person as through email and phone communication.  People like that--keep me going.

     We're winding down our shipping season.  I took Nicholas to the Sacramento Airport to visit my daughter in Austin.  When I returned, it was 105 degrees here.  Right now, I have less than six cases to take to the shippers on Friday.  I'm taking most of that to Buffalo Shipping.  I'm working by myself this week as Alisa's in Las Vegas.

     As we're winding down, I must relate to you an ironic situation.  We produced a very small amount of Aldin Red Table Wine.  Most of this wine comes from the Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard.  We produce way more Karl Lawrence than we do Aldin Red.  And yet, here we are at the end of the season, and there is more Aldin Red available than Karl Lawrence.  How can that be?

     My theory is that it was too good of a deal.  To my knowledge, five other wines come from the Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard, and then there's the Mondavi To Ka Lon (I believe is how they spell it) vineyard next door.  I understand that these wines are very sought after.  Is it because they're priced five to ten times higher than Aldin Red?

     I'm reminded of the story that Joe Heitz told the St. Helena Star about how he got started.  He was broke and bought a large quantity of wine that wasn't selling for $2/bottle.  So he put a new label on it and put it up for sale at $6/bottle; unheard of back in that day.  Well, the wine flew off the shelves.  And the rest, they say, is history.

     I know that human nature is such that you believe that you get what you pay for.  But when it comes to wine, what are you paying for?  Are you buying wine because you like the taste?  Or, is it the investment?  In my humble opinion (believe me--I am a nobody in a Valley of giants), the quality of wine starts with the quality of the fruit, and the differences in price,  are all because of marketing.

     I would love to see a series of blind tastings of Aldin Red along side the other To Kalon vineyard produced wines.  If it comes out on top; great.  What a deal.  If not, then, was it five to ten times lower in the taste test?  Please let me know. And as always--thank you for your support.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9--We survived the Wine Auction.  Tra Vignes left fliers in our mail boxes that the 17th annual Wine Spectator party was going to take up our parking spaces.  Guess their guests were afraid to park this far down the block, or in my section of town.

   The Wine Auction brought in a million less than last year.  As usual, the bids on the cult wines led the way.  They were way down.  I guess those people with excess money to throw around are getting tired of looking stupid.

     With the Wine Auction, I'm reminded of two stories about Robert and Margrit Mondavi that I'd like to tell you.  Three or four years ago; I can't remember which; I went to the barrel tasting as the "wife" of the "on-site doctor."  The doctor was my cousin, Ed Stump, St. Helena Hospital's Emergency Room doctor.  As we drove to the St. Suprey barrel tasting site, we weren't sure if we could park at the site or had to go through the hassle of parking at the shuttle site.  Since we had time, we went to the shuttle site. 

    Upon our arrival at St. Suprey, Ed discovered that they didn't have the necessary medical equipment should somebody pass out. It's kind of a too much wine and hot sun mixture type of thing, you know.  So, as his assistant, I shuttled back to the car and drove up to the hospital to get the necessary gear.

     On re approaching St. Suprey, I dreaded the hassle of going back through the shuttle process.  So I considered talking to the parking guards and pulling the doctor thing on them.  After all, their parking lot was mostly empty.  I didn't have the guts to do so and proceeded to the shuttle area. 

     When I got on the bus and sat down; you know who followed me in and sat behind me.  Given the intro, I guess you would know. It was Robert and Margrit Mondavi.  Here, were the Valley's Royalty, shuttling in.  They considered themselves no more above the system than anybody else.  I was sure glad that I shuttled back in.

     Now for my second Robert Mondavi story.  I used Ed's wife's pass again (her name is Cathy) on Saturday to go to the auction.  I was surprised to see one of my neighbors there.  We got to talking.  I knew he was the president of a corporation back east.  The truth of the matter is, the company was owned by one lady and he, was in essence, her gopher. 

     Now the Wine Auction does everything up first class.  For Saturday, the auction time itself, we're set up under large tents on the golf course at Meadowwood.  Behind the tents, stands a line of a dozen or so port a-potties.

     My neighbor, more than a little upset, related how he had just had to demand that his boss use one of the inside bathrooms.  She wasn't about to use a port a-pottie.  As inside bathrooms aren't allowed to anyone, he had to raise holy hell.  He didn't like to have to do this one bit.

    Being the good neighbor that I am, I listened at length.  In fact, I allowed him to vent a little too long for my own health.  I couldn't wait to go and try one of those dreaded port a-potties. 

    I finally made it over and into one of the afore mentioned hell holes.  I kid you not; this was the absolute best port a-pottie that I had every been into.  It could have been the best port a-pottie in the world.  I've been in a lot of them.  This one not only ranks in the top ten; it ranks way above my top ten.  It was clean.  It was roomy.  It had running water; not the pump kind, mind you.  It had a mirror.  I swear; somebody must have been cleaning these things every ten minutes. I couldn't believe that some corporation owning lady refused to use one of these.  It was my best port a-pottie experience I had ever had.

     As I exited my luxury port a-pottie, I held the door open for the next in line.  You guessed it--Robert Mondavi.

     For Royalty, Robert and Margrit are very public and approachable people.  A couple of weeks ago Margrit was selecting produce in the grocery store by me.  Just think--she does her own shopping. 

     On Monday, a local friend and fellow Karl Lawrence customer treated me to lunch at a new restaurant in Napa, Angele.  I don't dine too much in Napa as it's too far to drink and drive.  I mostly walk around town here.  I do recommend Angeles.  It's in the refurbished warehouse district and overlooks the Napa River.  I also recommend any Karl Lawrence customer treating me to lunch or dinner.  But I digress.

     Two tables over, Margrit was having lunch with a friend.  Upon leaving, I forgot that I left my sun glasses back at the table.  She pointed out that they were inserted in my shirt neck.  It's nice to have the Queen of our Valley helping serfs like me.

CORRECTION--I wrongly reported on Elizabeth's expectancy progress.  She's now at 16 weeks.  So please remark your calendars and adjust your office betting pools accordingly.

TUESDAY, JUNE 1--Spent the day delivering wine around town.  I have to clear out a section of the living room before Cheryl returns home from Austin.  Will get to Calistoga and down Valley locations soon.  For out of Valley people requesting will call, please contact me to arrange a mutual time and place.  I do need the space.

     The Valley's gearing up for the Wine Auction this week.  I stopped in at our insurance agent and notice what looked like thirty Cadillac midsize SUVs.  I had never seen those before.  Last year at this time, I had to wait at the entrance to the Pope Street bridge as fifteen Mazeratis roared by.  We'll see what antics this year's crowd brings.

Karl Lawrence's Baby Watch Status

Lissa

31 weeks; girl; Austin or Tex; hoping for better name choices when she returns home; like Saint or Helen.

(just think: "the face that launced a thousand wines")

Wendy

21 weeks; boy; Jasper.

Elizabeth

11 weeks; no sex determination yet; gunning for Ric or Rikki as it can go both ways.

THURSDAY, MAY 27--Did the All Ways Cool run over to Santa Rosa today.  I took seven to eight cases.

     Newly activated wait list people's orders are starting to come through the fax maching now.  Most have missed our bunching times for this week.  I do apologize to the four people that I did have your orders in time for this week.  I had them in my baseball bag and forgot to give them to my son, at the game, for Alisa to process.  Our next batching of credit card billing should be next Wednesday or Thursday, with the warehouse call set up for Friday delivery to the shippers.  The first wave of orders for the new people should go out in the June 7 to 9 shipping window.

MAGS ARE SOLD OUT--The offering order form that we sent to the people that we just brought off the wait list shows mag availability.  However, since the printing and mailing of those forms, the mags have become sold out.  Be sure and mark the mag request box if you would like one next year.

FRIDAY, MAY 21--A new section of our web page has been created by our IT guy, David Mercer.  The History button links you to news items previously reported here.  They were moved to keep this page loading faster on your computers.  David said that your average wait time attention span was 8 seconds and that not everyone has high-speed access.

     Alisa has a handfull of orders with bad or invalid credit cards.  She's left messages and emailed and done all sorts of things.  Please respond as soon as you can with the correct information.

     We're sold out of most everything.  We're holding the remaining inventory for the people who came off the wait list last week.  People signing up now will be wait listed until next year.

TUESDAY, MAY 18--Okay.  I know I promised you a news item for May 15.  I'm a little late.  Cheryl and I ferried on over to the Giants game Friday night.  It's great being able to stop in at the new Taylor's Refresher at the Ferry Building and say hi to Jefferson.  If any of you in San Francisco, especially the Financial District, get a chance, have lunch or dinner there and say hi to my son.

     The Giants really stunk up the place.  They have a 240 hitter followed by a 220 hitter, followed by a 170 hitter, followed by the pitcher who is O and 7 for the year.  Even at my age, I'm ready to volunteer my services.  So far I'm 6 for 6 playing on the Taylor's Refresher team in the St. Helena city league.  And I'm the oldest one by 20 years or so of anyone on the team.  Saw Hairspray the next day; a must see; had dinner at Taylor's and ferried home late.  So that's why I couldn't check in with you all on time.

     On Monday Cheryl and I teamed up with Bob and Michele Torres, of Trinchero Family Estates, for the Pacific Union College Foundation Golf Tournament at the Napa Valley Country Club.  That's us standing in front of the Karl Lawrence hole sponsorship sign at the 13th tee.  It was a two man best-ball.  Like the Giants, we stunk up the course and didn't represent Karl Lawrence or Trinchero Family very well.  Cheryl did come in fourth place in a putting contest for $5,000.

     Alisa printed off offering forms and sent them out to people on the wait-list on Monday.  So if you've signed up with us and have been waiting for the chance to order; now is the time.  Please understand that we only have a limited amount of 750s, mags, and Aldin wines left and that these are on a first come basis.  If you submit your order after the wine is gone, we won't be able to fill the order, but we will keep you on the list for next Spring's release.

     Oh yeah, the news item.  It's official now, Michael is the President of Sequoia Grove.  Congrats, Michael.  He has done every job at Sequoia Grove for a great many years.  Hopefully, he'll be there for a great many more.  He deserves this promotion and Sequoia Grove will be the better for it. 

     Many thanks to retiring President, Jim Allen.  He has been and will continue to be a good friend to us.  Karl Lawrence and those of you enjoying our wine, owe many thanks to him.  We wish him all the best as he embarks on the next phase of living.

     Finally, here's the picture of Michael with Gary Luctel at the Guardsmen event.  We're sitting at Joe Sweeny's table.  He won the Karl Lawrence auction lot.  As you can see, Michael and Gary had a great time.  I, as usual, did my job and took the picture.

THURSDAY, MAY 13--The Guardsmen 28th Annual Wine Tasting & Auction:  I didn't report on the Guardsmen event because I was wanting to insert a picture of Michael and Gary Luctel.  Well, I can't insert it until I learn how to shrink it down from 1600 X 1900 pixels to around 300 pixels.  I have Adobe Photoshop and every time I hit the help button, it connects me to their sales web site.  In fact, almost every button I hit asks me if I want to download more software for a fee.  So now I'm waiting until Tuesday when my trusty IT consultant, David Mercer, can make it over to teach this old dog how to keep up with modern times.  Now, back to the Guardsmen event.

     Michael and I poured at a table with Gary and Ellen Luctel.  What a great event.  I would say that around 50 wineries were pouring for 500 Guardsmen.  They raise a ton of money to send kids to better schools and to summer camps.  Many people came to our table and said, I just heard about you guys and was told that I had to come over and try you.  Also, a number of our Karl Lawrence people came over to say hi.  I remember talking with Wendell Laidley, Scott Briggs, and Michael Lushing.  It's nice to put faces with names.  I'm a visual person and this helps my memory.

     As many of you know, Michael has been contributing to and attending this event for around the past ten years.  Many of our Bay Area people have come to us via this event.  If you ever get a chance, join and attend.

     We got back to Michael's house around midnight, and there, standing on the porch, in her bathrobe, was Elizabeth.  I didn't know if Michael was in trouble or what the deal was.  Ends up she had waited with a bouquet of flowers for me to take to Cheryl.  Pretty thoughtful of her.  I'm still contemplating on whether or not to tell Cheryl that they didn't come from me.   

MORE COMPUTER WOES--My email and internet access was down for almost two days last week.  That would explain some of my belated email returns.  I ended up talking to Microsoft's intake person in Halifax.  She said she swam in the bay on Sunday while ice bergs floated by.  Then she put me on hold for half an hour and then the fixit guy came on.  We worked on the problem for two and a half hours. Should have been quicker but we couldn't understand each other's English very well.  Finally got it fixed.  He believes that my system was corrupted by spyware.  I do have Norton Anitvirus and the firewall.  I also run my AdAware program quite a bit.  So I don't know how this happened. 

WAIT-LIST PEOPLE:  Alisa is entering you on Friday as I'll make a single car warehouse run (less than 40 cases).  She plans to print out offering letters on Saturday and hopefully have them in the mail early next week.

    A few quick notes to new people:

1.  We are on an allocation system as a way of trying to distribute wine in a fair manner, balancing the requests of our more seniored people with our new arrivals.  We chose this route over a market demand system of just raising the price to whatever the market could bare.  We prefer to make and keep good people year after year. 

      Please understand, though, that our allocation system flexible.  Usually, requesting a little more isn't a problem as it's a trade-off with those taking a little less.  Allocations help us plan and are based on what your purchased the year before and requested, in the future allocation box, for the coming year.  In either case, we're trying to fulfill your requests.

2.  Discounts:  I'm usually just asked about discounts from new people.  They usually say something like "if I buy six instead of three, can't I get a volume discount?"  Well, a couple thoughts come to mind.  2.A.  How can you discount the most discounted premium wine in the Valley.  You'll hardly find grapes that cost more than ours and you won't find a bottle that costs less.  And, as an added bonus, you have Michael for a winemaker.  2.B. An allocation system works to limit the number of bottles your order so that they can be fairly distributed to other Karl Lawrence people.  Offering a volume discount sends a mixed motive message to our people.  We do not encourage volume purchasing.  True, a lot of seniority people do that.  But, it took them a while to get there.  2.C.  If you purchase three years in a row, from us, then you become a Reserve Customer, which allows you to purchase at a discount.  Currently our suggested retail price is $50; Mailing List Entry price is $45; and, Reserve Customer price is $40.  We want to encourage you to be with us every year.  We appreciate your loyalty and we want to be loyal to you.  We have never spiked our prices when when we knew we could. 

3.  Shipping:  It's pretty expensive to ship wine to certain states.  Please understand this going in.  Please check our ordering section to learn about the shipping companies we use.  You may and should contact them to understand about shipping to your address.  The shippers do not gouge and are not making an unreasonable profit.  We use these shipping companies because they are good at what they do.  We are a small winery and do not have our own large shipping department.  Some large wineries are able to offer shipping at or below costs.  We can't do that as we have kept overhead to a minimum in order to provide you with the best wine at the best value.

Mike visited Arizona last week.  He had a great time and made lots of new friends.  He'll be heading up to Tahoe this weekend.  On Thursday he's at the CIA, in town, for the California Latino Institute Caucus.  On the 15th I'm allowed to inform you of some other good news.  So stay posted.

KARL LAWRENCE WINE TASTING NOTES--Many of you get on the phone with me and ask me to say how the wine is tasting or advice on our earlier vintages.  I keep begging off with "I'm only the office boy," as I feel like I'm a dwarf living in a valley of giants.  I only know what I like and don't like.  I do do okay at blind tasting.  But, then again, that's only lining up six or so wines from top to bottom. 

     I've referred a number of you to Bob Bressler.  However, I feel like I might be pestering him.  I've referred to Bob for two reasons.  He's the only one I know, outside of Mike, who has tasted all the vintages.  On two occasions, three years and two years ago, he and Stacey won the Karl Lawrence Vertical Tasting dinner at the St. Helena Hospital Foundation Charity Event.  Also, and more importantly, he has a great nose and palate.  I trust his judgment.  And I trust that you will too.  He's a good friend and doesn't own any stock in Karl Lawrence. 

   So I asked him if he might comment on some of our vintages.  He was pretty reluctant.  Also, it had been a year since his last vertical tasting.  He emailed the following to me regarding a '97 he opened the night before:

"The nose is a bit subdued, but with delightful sweet aromas.  This is a lush, smooth wine with bright, black fruit on the palate and a long smooth finish.  Nice hints of liquorice and blackberry.  The tannins are very well balanced.  Drinking well now and promises to keep for many years to come.  Guaranteed to make you smile."

SATURDAY, MAY 8--WE ARE DONE!  I okayed the last of the large format bottles and sent those orders and the ones who were waiting for large bottles on to Alisa to be invoiced.  She finished most of those and did a single car run to the warehouse on Friday.  I noticed that a couple of new orders came in.  Those and the ones we have with credit card problems are the only ones left.  Oh what a feeling?!  So if you haven't received your wine by the end of next week, it's because of a weather hold or a credit card problem.

PS--STILL SATURDAY--I forgot to mention about the large format bottles.  I spent the day last Monday cross-referencing order forms, invoices, credit card reports, and shipping orders to confirm the 3 and 6 liter bottle counts.  Hopefully I got it right.  I allocated these down to the last bottle.  I allocated by seniority according to the time that people were brought off the wait list and onto the active list.  Being allocated a large format bottle this year, guarantees that you will be allocated one next year.  Please let me know if you don't want one for next year.  That will help our planning process.

     For those who requested large format bottles, and didn't get one:  we'll invoice your orders this week and get them to the shippers on Friday.  I'll give some of you a call (based on seniority), possibly on Tuesday, to offer you some other options.  Thank you for your patience.  Some of your orders have been waiting here for the large bottle allocation derby since mid-March.

     Weather holds are starting to affect us.  Some of your wine has been held up because of the hotter weather.  In some places, like the Southern California coast line, it's not so hot.  However, the truckers do travel down I-5 in the Central Valley.  Also, the shippers are more cautious with the larger format bottles as they are more sensitive to temperature changes.  So they may ship part of the order and withhold some of it.

SATURDAY, MAY 1--It sounds like May Day.  I'm not sure as I can't find my "Little Red Book" to confirm it.  It must be under the piles of paper on my desk.  I will try to catch up on everything this weekend.  I haven't been "in" the office during a normal 8 to 5 time in the last four days.  Of course, no day around here is normal.

    Our triple digit heat spike finally gave way to more normal sub 90 degree spring time weather.  Alisa and I made what I hope to be our last over-weight trip from the warehouse.  We took 118 cases to the shippers Friday.  At roughly 50 pounds a case, that's around 6,000 pounds of juice packed into Mike's Chevy Tahoe and my Ford Explorer.  We used every inch of space, even the front passenger seats and floor. 

     Earlier in the week I delivered the second wave of wine to 55 Degrees in St. Helena.  I'll make the run to Always Cool, in Santa Rosa, this next week.  I also plan to hit the Napa Valley Wine Lockers, in Napa and make local deliveries.  For those of you who asked that I phone you for will call, I'll start to do that over the next two weeks.  I'll make appointments to meet with you during weekdays.  Cheryl's very jealous of my weekend time.  Please remember that our host custom crush facility is less of an option this year.  Also, Mike is very busy and most likely won't be able to meet with you.  He's currently in Arizona with some Karl Lawrence people.  Bryan will be attending a four week winemaking course and will also be unavailable.  That leaves you all with Alisa and me.  My apologies.

     For wait list people:  we will work to enter your names and addresses into our data base and send an offering Newsletter and order form out to you.  Please understand that the splits and large format bottles are sold out.  Also, very little Karl Lawrence in the 750ml bottles is left.  Bringing you on board now, though, will help to establish you as a part of us.

SATURDAY, APRIL 24--Michael saw the eight week old results of his issue on sonogram yesterday.  He's pretty excited about seeing the kicking legs and flailing arms.  He thinks he has a hot little number in the cask, so to speak.

     Speaking of hot, (this also must be Mike's fault) I went last week from not sleeping because of the wind machines fighting the frost to the sound of the all night tractors cultivating the fields.  It was in the low 90s yesterday as Alisa and I made our warehouse and shipper's runs.

     I'm still getting orders in and can still process them for 750 ml, mags, and Aldin requests.  The larger bottles are over asked for.  I'll redirect the rest of those early this next week.  I was too nervous about redirecting all of them last week as people had promised that their orders were in the mail.  I'm not sure about the splits yet, as the numbers are too close to call.  I'll have a better picture of these in a few days.

     Just a note about messages you all leave on my machine:  I'd really appreciate it if you could speak your call-back numbers really disctinctly, and slowly.  Human nature is such that we enunciate our words and speed through numbers.  I have to repeat most messages two or three times in order to write down the phone number.  And, still, I make mistakes with these. 

   I dropped off the first batch of wine to be picked up at the St. Helena Wine Center.  We'll test out this method to see how it goes.  These are our friends, and they're doing us a favor.  So please, browse and enjoy their shop.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21--Cheryl and I had a great time as guests of John Medeski during his band's performance last night.  Check out his tour schedule at www.mmw.com, as he heads to Los Angeles.

     I reallocated ten 3 Ls and three 6 Ls yesterday.  Alisa will invoice those and we'll get them to the shippers this week.  We decided to ship all the orders with these large bottles in them through Stagecoach Express via 2-day air.  I'm holding off on reallocating the next batch of large bottles as I received a number of emails and phone calls saying that their orders were in the mail.  If we don't get these orders this week, then I'll reallocate some more large format bottles early next week.  So for those of you who have requested a large bottle, please be patient with me a little longer.

MONDAY, APRIL 19--As usual, things were pretty hectic on Friday.  That's why I'm so late in posting this update.  Alisa and I had to make another two car run to the warehouse and shippers.  She had to borrow Michael's Chevy Tahoe as her dad's suburban was parked at the airport (I wish we could afford a company truck).

      As you know, April 15 is past.  I'm waiting for the Monday mail and then will start in on the stack asking for large bottles. This stack and what we have should constitute the last large batch.  Then next week we'll be on to stragglers. By then I should be able to call people for will call and deliver to local people and wine lockers.

     This past week I tested out confirming FAXes by writing received on them and faxing them back.  Ends up, I was only able to confirm less than half.  Many faxes do not list the originating fax number on them and many of the numbers listed, are the main talk lines and not the fax lines.  

     For Wait List people, I should know by the end of April if I can send you an offering Newsletter.

     On Tuesday, I'll be visiting with John Medeski from New York.  His experimental funk jazz group, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, will perform at Cafe Du Nord, in San Francisco, for three nights.  It seems that we have a lot of musicians in New York.  Our friends, and Karl Lawrence customers, Rodney and Margaret Friedrich will join us.  Their daughter, Linzi, will marry Scott Gay (see pictures below), August 28, at Pinot Blanc's gardens and courtyard.  They plan to pour Karl Lawrence and Aldin Charonnay.  Good choices. 

      Another Karl Lawrence customer, and sometimes Napa Valley resident, Matt Parfit, also chose Karl Lawrence and Aldin Chardonnay for his wedding.  He'll marry San Francisco classical singer, Helene Zindarsian.  Check out her disc.  Her voice is as beautiful as her cover photo.

     As a number of you know, for my daughter's wedding, two years ago, I had two 6 Liter bottles etched and painted with a combination of her wedding logo and Karl Lawrence.  One bottle was drilled and inked on the inside.  This makes what we call a dummy bottle which can be stood up for display.  The other bottle we filled with the 2001 wine, the year of their marriage.  Wedding guests signed the bottles and added comments.  This is something that I can try and do for you all on a limited basis.  If I get deluged tomorrow, then I'll have to rethink this offer.

     Speaking of my daughter, Lissa, she's leading the pack, at 28 weeks, of pregnant women around here.  Bryan and Patti's daughter-in-law, Wendy, is also pregnant.  She's married to Mike Henry (see picture below).  Around here we have to call him by his full name to differentiate him from MT.  AND, Elizabeth Naylor, Michale's partner of seven years, is pregnant.  Should I add that Michael is thrilled.   Soon he'll have another baby to care for besides Karl Lawrence.  I'm aware that a number of you are arguing as to whether this occurred during their visit to New York or Indiana. 

     Michael will be pouring May 7 at the Guardsmen Benefit event in San Francisco.  Michael has poured and donated wine for auction at this charity event for ten years now.  Many of our San Francisco people came to us via the Guardsmen event.  I'll be joining Michael this year as Elizabeth is having morning sickness in the evenings.  I apologize in advance to the Guardsmen.

     Bryan reports that we have the final permits to clear and plant 22 acres of our parent's 40 acre parcel on top of Howell Mountain.  He was pretty excited about getting the chance to cut down more scrub oaks.  Please note, that his plan leaves standing all softwood trees.  He already has chainsaw elbow.  So I don't know how he plans to do this.  AND, Michael and I are already tied up.

      After the warmest March on record, woke up all the vines from their dormat state, Winter returned.  We had a number of days in the low 60s and the nights into the low 30s.  Ron Wicker reports that his vineyard on Howell Mountain got down to 33.  The vineyard wind machines wake me up and keep me awake.  So I either get up and work on orders, or don't sleep and work badly on orders in the morning.  So I'm apologizing in advance for invoicing mistakes.  I am a victim of my environment where not all is wine and song.

THUESDAY, APRIL 13--A hundred cases went to the shippers last week.  If we still have your order, it's because you requested a large format bottle or your credit card won't work or one wasn't included for shipping. 

      Thank you all for working so well with Alisa while I was on my son's Spring break.  For those of you vacationing on Maui, I did have an incident with the wine steward at Longi's in Wailea.  He brought out our chardonnay in an ice bucket.  I politely dried it off and set it on the table.  He and the waiter kept coming back and insisting that it go in the ice bucket.  After a while, they quit bugging me.  Then, when we were through, they wouldn't let us take the bottle across the parking lot to our hotel.  They said it was state law.  It could be, but this has never happened to me in Hawaii and I had just taken a bottle of Sequoia Grove to my hotel room from Tommy Bahama's, upstairs, the night before.  Maybe one of our knowledgeable Karl Lawrence customers will have to educate Longi's wine steward and waiters on wine etiquette.  I left half a bottle of wine there and was in no mood for providing instruction.  

     I am getting a number of panic calls regarding the approaching April 15 deadline.  It's not a marked in stone deadline per say.  It's to help us know how to distribute the wine in the fairest possible manner.  The 750s are looking good at this point.  Those wanting a little more tend to come out in the wash with those wanting a little less.  Mags and the Aldins are also looking good at this point.  I'm more worried about the splits and the 750 silk screens.  The 3 and 6 liters are over-allocated and over-requested.  I'll gather all the large format requests together this coming Monday and process them based on seniority.

    Our California distributor has taken a large order of splits.  That means that California restaurants should have our wine in May or June.

    A number of you have asked why you are not Reserve Customers as you've been with us for quite a while.  The answer usually is that you interrupted your time with us at some point.  We strive to keep you with us every year and want to reward those of you who decide to stay with us.

   TO NEW PEOPLE WHO JUST SIGNED UP:  I have your sign in on our guest page.  If we have wine available during the last week of April, I will send out a newsletter and order form in the order that you signed up.  It doesn't do any good to call us or leave messages on our machine.  We won't return your calls as we are very busy trying to do our best for our current people.  I appreciate your persistence, but I'm sure you'll appreciate, even more, the best service that we can give you, once you do join us.

    TO THOSE PEOPLE REQUESTING NOTIFICATION OF WHEN YOU CAN PICK UP WINE: I'll call you in a couple of weeks.  Things are pretty hectic now at our custom crush facility.  So we can't use there as much as we did in the past.  If you're coming to the Valley soon, please, just give me a call and we'll work out a mutual time and place.

SATURDAY NIGHT, APRIL 3--For the most part, we got out all mail and faxes that we received by Tuesday midday.  We are past the halfway point now.  We charged on Wednesday, and did the warehouse run on Thursday.  Now we've been working on the stack that don't have credit card numbers; invalid numbers; overcharged numbers; etc.  Hopefully we can get these cleared up in time for next week's batch.  So there's that stack and there's the stack of people wanting big bottles.  We'll get to that stack after April 15.  If there's any delivery, allocation, or ordering problems, please contact me or Alisa.  Michael's pretty busy and is totally out of the loop on this side of things.  He is the winemaker, and we are the one's trying to make it possible to get the fruits of his labor, so to speak, into your hands.  Alisa will be processing most of the orders this week as I need to spend time with Nicholas on his Spring break. 

FRIDAY NIGHT, MARCH 26--It's been a very busy week.  We invoiced all mailed in orders that were received by last Saturday's mail and all faxed orders that were received by Tuesday night.  We even snuck in a few Wednesday morning faxes.  On Thursday, Alisa borrowed her dad's Suburban and I took my Explorer to the warehouse in American Canyon where we loaded up with 120 cases.  We were riding on our rims, but got them to the shippers okay. Also, on Friday, Winetasting picked up another 120 cases.  We were pretty happy with ourselves upon our return only to find a ton more faxes and letters.  We'll batch these up for charging on Wednesday and another warehouse run on Thursday.

Things that slow up the processing of your order:

(in no particular order)

-handwriting that I can't read (I'm almost a grandfather)

-invalid credit cards; usually because they were written down wrong or I can't read them properly

-credit cards over the limit

-order forms with checks for the wine but without credit card numbers for the shippers

-order forms with no payment whatsoever

-listing an American Express instead of a VISA or MC

-a PO Box as the ship to address

-not all the information on the form; this causes us to sift through phone messages and emails for the rest of the info

I'll try to let you know if you have one of these problems.  It's usually better to do this over email so as not to play phone tag.  So it does help if we have your current email address.

MONDAY, MARCH 22--I'm back.  New Orleans was a great place to shoot a film in.  Most people were accommodating to our needs and our assigned police officers made things run smooth.  Am working to answer all the phone messages and emails. Thanks to Alisa, things are pretty much under control.  The warehouse we used last year went out of business and the one we have now, closed without notice and messed up a number of call orders.  So we had to hold back some orders because we didn't have the correct wine bottles.  Also, a large batch of orders were delayed by their actions.  The shippers plan to get most of their wine orders out this week.  We should be able to invoice and prepare shipping orders for all faxes, emails, and mail received by Wednesday morning.

  We have had a problem with credit card charging.  A number of you have wondered why we haven't charged yet.  The first wave of wine was received by customers and their cards hadn't been charged.  Not to worry, we are getting the charging problems under control.  The intermediary bank is having some problems.  Please don't panic, we will charge your credit cards.

   It's Michael's birthday today.  I'm sure he's having a good one as I'm too busy to be with him and *** it up.