Mahogany Mountain Vineyard and Winery

Hot restaurant trends for 2012

2011-12-31T16:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve recently read that the hottest restaurant menu trends for 2012 is creating food from locally grown produce, locally sourced meat and seafood and serving locally produced wine and beer.

As a firm believer in eating local produce and drinking local wine and beer, the new trends make perfect sense to me. Eating local produce and fruit appeals to me as I always want to know where the ingredients come from and how they are raised or produced. These days we have a greater chance of ingesting unwanted chemicals in the food we eat, we must be vigilant in finding out ingredients in our food and drinks and knowing where they come from.

Growing a garden is a great way to eat fresh vegetables. Last summer, we had a bumper crop of tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. We made fresh salsa every day which tasted so good with multi-grain tortilla chips and a glass of our own wine. We ate fresh salsa all summer long with just about everything. We also canned tomatoes which tasted so sweet and were much more flavorful in soups and stews than store bought canned tomatoes.

As a winemaker and a local winery owner, I am happy to tell you that the new 2012 restaurant menu trends could not have come at a better time for San Diego County wineries which are making their marks in the world by crafting high-quality wines from locally grown grapes. In Ramona alone, we have a dozen or so bonded wineries which offer wine tasting to the public. Twenty years ago, no one would ever imagine Ramona as a wine region. Today, we have people come from all over the country and overseas to Ramona for wine tasting.

As we close out 2011, I’d like to raise a glass to wine lovers and to my fellow winemakers wishing everyone another good year with lots of good wine, good food and good luck!

Cheers!

Have a Joyful Holiday Season!

2011-12-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

We wish you a Joyful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

For our family, our holiday season starts with Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Year. The holidays remind us of the important things in life: Family and Friends. We are so blessed to have the love and support from our families, cousins and friends throughout the year.

The following describes best our wishes for you for the holiday season:
“May you be blessed with warmth in your home, love in your heart, peace in your soul and joy in your life.” -- Irish proverb

Cheers!

Holiday Winemaker's Dinner!

2011-11-06T21:15:00.000-08:00

It's time again for our Holiday Winemaker's Dinner! We'll do it one more time at the Barona Oaks Steakhouse. If you love our wines, you’ll enjoy the exquisite wine-food pairing that Chef Duncan prepares for our dinner. If you haven’t tasted our wines, this would be a beautiful way to try our wines paired with a world-class gourmet dinner. This year, the dinner will be paired with some of our new wines that have not been released to the general public!

Send us an email if you are interested as seating is limited. Cheers!

Hoodang 2011

2011-10-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

Santa Ysabel Casino presents HOODANG 2011 - a craft beer, local wines and Julian Hard Cider music festival featuring Louis XIV, Sprung Monkey, Safety Orange, Midnight Rivals, Vokab Kompany, Mr. Tube & the Flying Objects, Devastators, Slpwlkrs & The Stoney B Blues Band.

Mahogany Mountain Vineyard and Winery and four other Ramona Valley wineries (Chuparosa Vineyards & Winery, Edwards Cellars, Pamo Valley Winery, Hellanback Ranch Winery), and over 30 San Diego craft brewers will participate.

Each $30 ticket gets you 10 tastes and entrance to the music festival.

A portion of the proceeds will go to help reforest Cuyamaca State Park which was devastated by wild fires, with each ticket purchased a tree will be planted.

Stop by the wine tasting area and say Hi to our volunteers for the event: Geoffrey, Laurie, Dave and Susie. They will be there from the opening time until 2:30 pm.

Saturday, Oct 15 11:00a to 10:00p

at Santa Ysabel Casino, Santa Ysabel, CA

Cheers!

Susan G. Komen for the Cure fundraiser at Ramona Beauty Supply and Salon

2011-10-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On Friday September 23 evening, we joined 4 other wineries in Ramona to pour wines at the local Ramona Beauty Supply and Salon’s 4th annual breast cancer fundraiser. The support from the local folks for this event was overwhelming. The place was packed with women and men of all ages. I am so glad it turned out well for Vikki Dancan, Chelsie Gammill, Dani Norman and Teresa Craig Hanvey. This event was bittersweet for me as I lost a dear friend, Sandy Manley, who passed away in 2006 after a brave fight against breast cancer. She was an inspiration for her faith in God and love for her family. She was one of those good and kind-hearted people that I was fortunate enough to come across. I still miss her and wish that she were still with us. The memory of our friendship comforts me when life gets tough as I know she still watches over all of us and her gentle spirit guides us in our daily activities.

Here is the link to the article about the fundraiser:

http://www.ramonasentinel.com/2011/09/page/2/

Support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure!

Cheers

“Saving the World, One Adjustment at a Time.”

2011-10-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

We are supporting Geoffrey, one of our winemakers, who is embarking on an incredible Mission-Chiropractic Trip to the Dominican Republic!! There will be thousands of patients who need their love and miracle hands. They are serving in several cities around the Puerta Plata and Santiago area.

To raise money for their trip, they are selling “Chiropractic Superhero” bracelet. If you want to support Geoffrey and his fellow chiromissionnaries, please make a donation. If you don’t want the bracelets, but still want to donate, please feel free to do so. Please send a check made out to “Geoffrey Hargett” to the following address:

Geoffrey Hargett

P.O. Box 1513

Ramona, CA 92065

For each donation, we’ll enter your name in a raffle for a wine basket donated from Mahogany Mountain Vineyard & Winery. The raffle will take place on December 17. You don’t need to be present to win.

Pick me, Crush me, Make me Wine!

2011-09-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Starting in August, we spent all of our spared time working in the vineyards. There were lots to do, from putting up the bird scare tapes, checking the grapes, testing the Brix (sugar) level, to thinning the grapes and adjusting watering levels. Since we do from A-Z as far as grape growing and winemaking at Mahogany Mountain Vineyard, this is our busiest time of the year as many tasks must be coordinated and done in a very short time. I was able to apply my project/program management techniques!

We have a bumper crop this year. We don't know how we could have pulled it off without help from our families, neighbors, relatives and the Ramona Valley Vineyards Association's members. One of our cousins, Hanni, who is originally from Europe, told us the story about how the whole village in an Italian town where her late husband's family lived would help out one another at harvest time, even when they hated one another and didn't speak to one another under normal circumstances, due to some old grudges. They all would help each family harvest and had a meal together afterward, then went home until the next harvest season!

Check out a new article on ramona.patch.com at the link listed below:

http://ramona.patch.com/articles/crush-time

(if the link does not work for you for some reasons, go to ramona.patch.com and look for the article, "Crush Time" written by Vincent Rossi)

Cheers!

Harvest Season is here!

2011-09-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

We're going to harvest again this coming weekend:

- Saturday, September 10 at 4:15 pm

If you want to come and join us our harvest (this is your last chance for this season!), please RSVP asap via email to info@mahoganymountain.com. We'll keep you posted with more details that you need to know.

This would be your last chance to help with the 2011 harvest at Mahogany Mountain Vineyard as we've been harvesting the last two weeks! So far we've harvested Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Mourvedre and Zinfandel. We are so grateful for the help and support from our family, cousins, friends and volunteers from RVVA. Thank God for their help to quickly harvest the grapes as soon as they reached our desired Brix level and taste test! Otherwise, they would have been exposed to the rain which came on Monday 9/5 right after we crushed the Mourvedre! We hope the sun will come out soon.

It's time to harvest again!!!

2011-08-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our friends, family and RVVA members, we had a great harvest last weekend. The Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon came in beautiful, had lots of flavor and tasted so good. It has been a good harvest season so far.

We'll harvest again this coming weekend! Hope you can join us.

Saturday, Sept. 3, at 4:00 pm in the afternoon

Monday, Sept. 5, at 7 am in the morning. If you are an early riser and would want to get here earlier than 7 am, it would be fine with us. . We'll try to be there between 5:30 - 6 am.

Important:

Please RSVP via email to info@mahoganymountain.com and let us know which day you’d plan to participate and how many people in your party so we can have a good headcount for refreshment.
Thanks so much in advance for your help. See ya soon!

It's Harvest Time!

2011-08-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the sunshine and hot weather in Ramona, our grapes are ripening rapidly, a lot faster than we have planned. Our annual grape harvest parties last year were really fun with lots of help. We hope you can join us this year.

We expect to have some grapes ready for harvest starting this weekend! Sorry for the short notice. If you can help this weekend, it would be great. We’d be harvesting Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

This weekend, we'll harvest grapes on both days, Saturday, August 27 and Sunday 28 morning at 7 am (we’ll probably start at 6 am, but you can come between 6-7 am). We’ll have a champagne brunch afterward. ;-).

If you can make it this weekend, please RSVP via email to info@mahoganymountain.com so we can send you more details.

Cheers!

Mahogany Mountain Vineyard and Winery featured in Vision Magazine

2011-08-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

Starting the vineyard in 1997, Kim and Michael aspired to create an all-natural, great tasting “organic” wine. Beginning their journey as amateur wine makers, they joined the San Diego Amateur Winemaker Society and studied under a gentleman winemaker ... read more

The Plot Thickens and Creating Alcohol in wine

2011-07-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

We participated in a fundraiser event for the Intermountain Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department Auxiliary yesterday evening at the new and beautiful Ramona Public Library.

Robin, Mahogany Mountain Winemaker and Batwoman

The theme of the evening was “The Plot Thickens, a Night of Mystery at the Library”. Many folks showed up in beautiful costumes. Some of the costumes were fantastic like the beautiful Batwoman and Robin who were gracious enough to pose for pictures. I also loved the costumes from the Sherlock Holmes worn by a lovely couple. There were two lovely young ladies dressed in Princesses costumes who stopped by and chatted with us about our winery. I would have loved to take a picture of Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind), in a beautiful dress with big hoop and beautiful straw hat.

As part of the fundraiser, six wineries in Ramona, including Mahogany Mountain Vineyard & Winery, Pamo Valley Winery, Chuparosa Vineyards, Woof’n Rose Winery, Kohill Winery, Edwards Vineyard & Cellars and Pyramid Vineyard & Winery, offered wine tastings and donated wines to the fundraiser volunteers for selling by the glass to raise funds for the event. Several party goers commented to us that they were astonished by the high quality of Ramona wines that were being offered for tasting. People from other towns told us that they did not realize there were so many wineries in Ramona. This gave us, winemakers and winegrowers, a chance to chat with the public about grape growing, handcrafted wines and wine making process. Some people were surprised to learn from me that in wine production, yeast converted the natural sugar in grapes to carbon dioxide and alcohol. They had thought that alcohol was an extra ingredient that was added to wines! Phew, I was glad to set the records straight on that. I told them that the amount of alcohol in a wine would usually depend on how much sugar is in the grapes when they were harvested. I further explained that the quality of the wines would depend on the grape grower’s and winemaker’s art (or skill) in finding the ideal time to harvest grapes – depending on the grape variety, region or terroir, winemaking style and a host of other factors.

It was truly a fun evening for a good cause! I was told that all proceeds from this event would be used solely for the daily operating expenses for the Intermountain Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. With the fire season approaching, it felt good to be able to contribute to a worthwhile cause that would benefit the fire fighting force in the backcountry as the last two big county-wide firestorms had taught us that fires started from the remote areas could spread to the urban areas.

Carpe Diem! As Scarlett said, “After all... tomorrow is another day!”

Ramona Grassland Preserve

2011-06-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Ramona Grassland Preserve is now open to the public. The preserve adds to the uniqueness of Ramona where natural beauty is abundant with 360-degree vistas. This is a dream come true for land conservationists, hikers, equestrians and bikers. The 3,500-acre preserve is home for the endangered Stephens’ kangaroo rat, fairy shrimp, arroyo toad and all kinds of birds including hawks, eagles and falcons. There is a trail that runs through part of the preserve which is located off Highland Valley Road, east of Archie Moore Road near Mount Woodson. The preserve is open daily from 8 am to 7 pm. Check it out when you come to Ramona for wine tasting!

Links:

http://www.ramonasentinel.com/article/News/News/County_opens_Ramona_Grasslands_Preserves_first_trail/22082

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/03/ramona-grasslands-preserve-opens-despite-rat/

WINE, DIET, EXERCISE AND SLEEP BOOST YOUR OVERALL WELL-BEING & HAPPINESS

2011-05-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

So what is the bottom line on how to stay healthy and happy? Here are my recommendations that everyone can follow.

Eat natural and local grown foods to fill your body with natural vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Cook with spices and herbs like cinnamon, curry powder, chili powder, turmeric, oregano, fresh garlic, basil, parsley, onion and ginger.

Exercise regularly. Aerobic exercise over the years has helped me stay in good shape and improved my overall mood when I have a bad day. Try to exercise every day whether taking an aerobics class, taking a brisk walk or jogging on a treadmill for at least 20 to 30 minutes.

Get enough sleep. Sleep helps us think clearly, reduce stress and boost our overall well-being. Try to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. Chronic insomnia can lead to depression and other health consequences.

Avoid stressful situations and environments. Try to have balance in your life. Don’t be addicted to having stress in your life to the point that you don’t know what to do with yourself when you don’t have anymore stress! Some people would go from one self-created crisis to the next, one stressful project to the next and never achieve the contentment, happiness and success that they strive to have. That leads to feeling unhappy, depressed and unappreciated.

Invest quality time with your family and loved ones. In this tough economy, people feel that they need to spend more time at work and then work extra hours in the evenings and on the weekends from home. With smart phones, internet and computers, some people end up working and spending more time with their co-workers than with their family. This can create a false sense of intimacy and lead to all kinds of problems. Remember work does not take care of you when you are sick, your family and friends will. We work so we can live a good life. Set your priorities correctly and have a work-life balance.

Drink wine with your meals! We believe that wine is an important ingredient of our overall happiness and well-being. Wine is truly a gift from God. There is no other natural drink that is so pure and at the same time packed with goodies that can improve your health. Wine is best when it is shared with friends and loved ones. After a hard day, a glass of wine can help you restore your sanity and even make you feel much better about life in general.

Cheers!

Mother's Day Celebration at Mahogany Mountain Vineyard and Winery

2011-05-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

We love our moms. Celebrate love, motherhood and Mother's Day at the Mahogany Mountain Winery this weekend. Treat Mom and yourself to a special wine tasting paired with cheeses and chocolates. RSVP: 760-788-7048 or Email: mahogany_mountain@yahoo.com

Happy Mother's Day!

Mahogany Mountain Syrah and Merlot Medalists at Finger Lakes International Wine Competition

2011-04-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

More good news from the 2011 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition for Mahogany Mountain Vineyard and Winery! We entered two wines and both have won medals in the same competition! In addition to the Gold medal that our Mahogany Mountain 2007 Syrah has won at the 2011 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, we've found out in the mail that our Mahogany Mountain 2008 Merlot also won a Bronze medal. The actual medals were shipped to our winery last Thursday April 21, before Good Friday!

The Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, in its eleventh year, 64 judges, all with national and international credentials, from multiple markets in North America, Canada, South America, Australia and England, Germany, Israel, and France judged 3279 wines. In perhaps their tightest competition ever, entries arrived from 18 countries, 50 states, and 4 provinces in Canada.

We are very grateful for the medals which help bolster our morale and confidence in our wine making skills.

Cheers!

Salute to Women

2011-03-31T07:26:00.001-07:00

With March being Women’s History month, I’d like to dedicate today to the women in my life who have inspired, supported, encouraged and sustained me through the peaks and valleys of my life. With a grateful heart, I count my blessings daily for having strong, smart, talented women who have believed in me, loved me for who I am and nurtured some of my wildest dreams.

Last but not least, I salute my fellow women winemakers, winery owners and women working in organizations and businesses that nurture and support the growth of San Diego wineries. You’ve come a long way, Baby!

Check out San Diego's Women's Week, which runs March 30 to April 2, at:
California Center for the Arts Escondido
340 North Escondido Boulevard
Escondido, CA 92025
(760) 839-4138
This event is designed to inspire, empower and connect women from all walks of life and professions.

http://www.sdwomensweek.com

Cheers!

United States surpasses France as top wine-consumption nation

2011-03-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Ag Alert, the weekly newspaper for California Agriculture, reported in their March 23, 2011 edition that the United States surpasses France as top wine-consumption nation, with wine shipments to the U.S. from California, other states and foreign producers growing 2 percent in 2010 from previous year to nearly 330 million cases. The estimated retail value of these sales was $30 billion, up 4 percent from 2009, according to the wine industry consultants Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates in Woodside. While wine consumption is still a low 2.6 gallons per capita, Americans’ interest in a lifestyle with wine and food has grown and more Americans believe that moderate consumption of wine is part of a healthy way of life.

According to the report, California wine accounted for 61 percent volume share off the total U.S. wine market with sales at 199.6 million cases, up 1 percent from the previous year. Chardonnay remains the leader, up 5 percent with 53 million cases. Cabernet Sauvignon also grew rapidly, rising 6 percent to nearly 33 million cases. Other California bottled varietals growing significantly in sales included Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Riesling and Muscat.

The facts reported by the Ag Alert newspaper could have happened at a better time for those of us in the wine business in Ramona Valley. We’re thrilled by the news. As the interest in Ramona Valley as a wine destination region grows, the enthusiasm and can-do attitude along with a unity sentiment have grown stronger among the members of the Ramona Valley Wineries Association (RVWA) and the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association (RVVA).

We continue to be amazed by the Ramona community and San Diego County’s support for the local wineries. Everyone who showed up at the two meetings that were held at our winery was excited about the emerging Ramona wine trail. Among the attendees, we had people from all over San Diego county as well as visitors from out of town. Both meetings were well attended, especially the RVVA meeting which was standing room only. There were at least 50-60 people attending the last RVVA meeting held at our winery last week. When I watched the excitement and confidence expressed by the attendees at the gathering, I got goose bumps because it reminded of a scene in the Bottle Shock movie when the Napa Valley vintners got together at the Chateau Montelena winery to decide who should represent them at the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting held at the Intercontinental Hotel. A bottle of Montelena Chardonnay 1973 took the top prize in the white wine competition; Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 took the honors in the red wine category. This twist of fate forever changed the fortunes of Napa Valley wineries and the global wine industry as a whole, as it was revealed that French wines were in fact not unbeatable. TIME Magazine published George Tabor's article about the event that changed the way the world perceived wines from American and put Napa Valley on the map.

Cheers

Pruning Theory

2011-02-20T20:57:00.000-08:00

Pruning is actually a parental task, it requires us to supervise and correct our unruly prodigy. It is actually a painful task at a certain level, like spanking a child you love to prevent an unsafe condition from being repeated or promoted. It is difficult and unnatural to culminate perfectly viable and healthy foliage from future life, and I do feel sad at the loss of future potential, but I celebrate the greater good. The pruning of life promotes growth albeit lateral growth, in the needed direction and hopefully in the needed location.

Pruning as I have said before is the process of making thousands of decisions very quickly with the hope and faith that most of these decisions are correct. Not all can be correct, we will make mistakes like correcting a child, and sometimes we will wish we were less harsh or more lenient.

My great grandfather and great grandmother were Native American and believed that family is the most important element of life; they went to great lengths to protect family and to promote family. My great grandfather was a viticulturist and vintner and he treated the vines as family. He believed the vines should be treated with respect and manipulated on a minimal basis. I think he believed that nature should not be circumvented, let the bees, yellow jackets, birds have what they need to survive. There will be enough for the wine remaining, because we respect them……

I enjoy working the vines with my son, we do not engage in copious verbal communication, we rely on non-verbal communication as my great grandfather, grandfather, and father would have understood. The vines understand our purpose and forgive our transgressions; the vines understand they are a means to an end, not an end unto themselves.

I truly respect the vines and the land, like harvesting a deer or rabbit I consider the bounty sacred and not to be wasted or taken for granted.

When pruning I’m not in a hurry, time stands still for me. The ‘oxen is slow but the earth is patient’ has meaning for me. I don’t think of the 10,000, I concentrate on the one in front of me and then move on to number two.

I respect the land and the land gives back to me its bounty……..

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

What are you going to do to celebrate Valentine's Day with your sweetheart? Dining out at your favorite restaurant? Cooking your sweetie's favorite dish? Dancing away at your favorite nightclub? Whatever you do, don't forget to share with your sweetie a bottle of Mahogany Mountain wine made with lots of love.

While we celebrate our Valentine's Day on earth, a celestial rendez-vous is scheduled for today. Check out some really cool pictures:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/13/nasa-craft-set-for-valentine-rendezvous-with-comet/

XOXO

Love is in the air! Wine and Chocolate Weekend at Mahogany Mountain Winery

2011-02-07T07:59:00.000-08:00

Be Our Valentine! On the weekend of Feb. 12 & 13 from 1 - 4 pm, we’ll have a wine and chocolate pairing. We’ll feature each of our wines with yummy chocolates. Hope to see you there!

Cheers!

Happy New Year again! Happy Lunar New Year 2011!

2011-01-30T11:25:00.000-08:00

The Lunar New Year falls on the first day of the first moon on the lunar calendar. For 2011, that day lands on Thursday Feb. 3. Most Lunar New Year announcements for 2011 will call it the Year of the Rabbit, as the zodiac depicts in China, Japan and Korea. The Tet New Year is the most important and highly celebrated cultural holiday of the Vietnamese people around the world. The Vietnamese people represent the rabbit years as cat years. As the folklore goes, the pronunciation of the rabbit in Chinese is similar to how the cat is pronounced in Vietnamese language.

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2011 is the year of the golden rabbit, the fourth sign in the Chinese zodiac which consists of 12 animals. The rabbit is believed to bring a year of calm and quiet after the year of the fierce tiger in 2010.

The Vietnamese year of the cat symbolizes sensitivity, gentleness and kindness.

Although we’ve survived the year of the Tiger in 2010 just fine, from what I read about the Rabbit or Cat Year, I really look forward to the Lunar New Year 2011. Imagine a calm, peaceful year for wine making, wine drinking and wine food pairings!

Cheers!

Holiday Winemaker Dinner at Barona Oaks Steakhouse

2010-12-25T23:29:00.000-08:00

Our 2010 holiday winemaker's dinner was a huge success with our guests. The weather was perfect, cool and clear. We were thankful that the rain storm came the day after!

We really enjoyed the evening. We were touched by Barona Oaks Steakhouse’s generosity and kindness to us and to our guests.

We have fond memories of course after course of delicious food paired perfectly with our wines. The 5-course gourmet meal created by Executive Chef Duncan was paired perfectly with the Mahogany Mountain wines.

The evening was off to a fabulous start with a glass of Mahogany Mountain White Zinfandel paired with Cured Pork Rillette served with a cider mustard sauce– such a great pairing!

Next we enjoyed an appetizer of House Smoked Salmon with Root Vegetables Remoulade. The Mahogany Mountain 2007 Zinfandel paired wonderfully with this second course.

The following course was, presented in a cappuccino cup, a very unique and tasty Wild Mushroom soup. The Mahogany Mountain 2007 Merlot paired with this course was outstanding.

At last we were presented with the Main Course. Our guests had a choice of Dry Aged New York Steak with Mushroom Crust, Slow Cooked Scottish Salmon with Herb Fingerling Potatoes and Swiss Chard, Stuffed and Roasted Free Range Chicken with Roasted Carrots, Spinach and Sage Jus. The main course was paired with the powerful 2008 Mahogany Mountain Mourvedre or the robust 2007 Mahogany Mountain Zinfandel. I chose a beautifully presented Dry Aged New York steak served with Potatoes Au Gratin topped with delicious morsels of ham and Baby Asparagus. Both of the wines, Mahogany Mountain Mourvedre and Zinfandel, paired so well with the juicy and tender steak. Yummy!

Knowing a delicious dessert would be waiting, I saved some room. The Mascarpone & Pistachio Stuffed Pear poached in Mahogany Mountain Port, Cinnamon Ice Cream and Warm Chocolate Sauce was unbelievably good together and definitely a sweet treat we would like to enjoy again. The Mahogany Mountain Vintage Port paired with this final course left us all smiling with a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

The service provided by the Barona Oaks steakhouse’s staff was friendly, gracious and impeccable. We all walked away from the evening with many happy and delicious memories.

Many of our guests told us how much they enjoyed our winemaker's dinner at Barona and would look forward to the next one.

Our compliments to the Barona Oaks Steakhouse, Executive Chef Duncan, and Manager Scott.

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Prosperous and Happy New Year!

Cheers!

The most beautiful time of the year

2010-12-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for the nice and cool weather we are having in Ramona. While the North East and Midwest regions are under some awful snow storms, we’ve had some rains. But other than that, our weather has been beautiful: cold mornings with a little bit fog and sunny afternoon. The last two weekends have been absolutely golden and warm. Our evenings and nights are chilly, but it’s a nice and snuggly kind of chilly weather. Our vineyards had the most gorgeous fall colors this year, thanks to the wacky (not typical Southern California) weather that we have had all year long. The grape leaves changed their colors daily. The vines and their leaves have a new look every day. God is very artistic after all.

Since we opened our tasting room, we have had a very positive experience. So far, the local folks in Ramona, especially the members of Ramona Vineyard Association and Ramona Wineries Association have been exceptional in their support of our tasting room. I am surprised and touched by the generous and collaborative spirit exhibited by the local winemakers in Ramona. People from all over San Diego County found out about our tasting room and went up the hill to Ramona to visit our winery, even when it rained. Our friends, neighbors and relatives have been wonderful. Despite the fact that they have tasted our wines many times, they still came by and bought some more. Without the support of these good and kind hearted people, our winery would not have had a chance for survival. I truly believe that it takes a village to nurture a boutique winery.

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday since childhood. As it turned out, our holiday celebration has started much earlier this year since Thanksgiving Day, thanks to invitations to holiday parties to which we could not say No. So far, there have been four holiday parties with good company, good food and excellent wines! My waistline can attest to that (I will go on a diet next year, after the Lunar New Year!). With all of the excitement of opening our tasting room and holiday celebration, I am a little behind in getting our Christmas cards mailed and presents wrapped. All that will have to wait until after our winemaker dinner at Barona on Saturday. Ah, c’est la vie.

We look forward to another out-of-this-world gourmet dinner prepared by Chef Duncan at the Barona Oaks Steakhouse. As we have anticipated, our winemaker dinner at the Barona Oaks Steakhouse is another sold-out event. Several of our wines will be featured and paired with food exquisitely prepared for us and our guests. Although there are other choices for the main course, I can’t wait to indulge myself eating a juicy and tender steak and drinking a glass of our Mourvedre or Merlot estate-bottled wine! Life is good!

Cheers! A votre santé!

Tasting Room Opening

2010-11-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

After years and months of working toward the goal of opening a wine tasting room next to our vineyards, we finally did it. No one in their right mind would want to go through this long journey that we've put ourselves through. But wine is love and love can be painful as it requires lots of TLC and sacrifices.

Our first weekend went well. The Ramona Vineyards Association members and the Ramona residents were our great supporters this weekend. It was really nice to have a chance to chat and get to know some RVA members and local people that we have not had a chance to meet. We even received some gorgeous flowers from Carolyn and Andy Harris which match our decor and paint color perfectly. How sweet and thoughtful of them! Love the flowers! Our winemaking mentor, the man who was responsible for igniting our passion for winemaking, Lum Eisenman, stopped by to see us too. Michael's cousins, Paul and Hanni, stopped by and bought some wines for their Thanksgiving dinner. How nice! Hope our White Zinfandel and Merlot go well with their Austrian-American gourmet meal.

We also had visitors from all over the county, including one lady from Boston. We had some brand-new customers who were referred to us by the Schwaesdall winery where they had stopped for wine tasting. Nice job, John and Shirley, keep up the good work!

What a great weekend! We felt love and support from everyone who came through our door. Thanks to All.

Our tasting room hours are: Saturday and Sunday from 11 - 5 pm. We'll close the Thanksgiving weekend as we all deserve a break after all of this work. Besides, Santa needs to go Christmas shopping right after Thanksgiving!

Cheers!

P.S.: Meet some of our Volunteer Staff Members! ;-)

Gourmet Winemaker Dinners planned for Dec. 11 and Dec. 18

2010-11-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

The Holiday Season is fast approaching. We hope you can join us in one or both of the Winemaker's Dinners that we've planned at Barona Oaks Steakhouse in December.

Our last winemaker's dinner at the Barona Steakhouse was a great success. Everyone enjoyed it and was glad that they attended. Now, they've asked for a repeat! I must say the wine-food pairing was expertly prepared and executed. OMG, it was a gourmet meal that one cannot easily forget. Our wines were beautifully and deliciously paired with gourmet dishes that were delish.

So if you love wine and enjoy gourmet wine-food pairing dinners, RSVP as soon as you can as the seating is extremely limited. You'll enjoy an excellent culinary wine food pairing dinner prepared by a world-class chef. There will be a 4-5 course meal including amuse-bouche, appetizers, choice of main course and dessert.

You can reserve one or both of the following dates:

Date: Saturday December 11 or Saturday December 18
Time: 6 pm
Price: $60.00/person

Seating is limited.

Must pay in advance by December 1st.
You can pay via Paypal from our website winelist: http://www.mahoganymountain.com/ or pay with cash or credit card.

Email or call us if you have questions.

If you wish to join us for both dinners, it would be fine as Chef Duncan will have a different menu for each dinner!

Cheers

Love + Faith + Technology = Life

2010-10-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a very productive month! The harvest was all done just before the rain came. Thank God. Our timing couldn’t have been better. Our 2010 vintage is progressing nicely. All wine varietals were fermented and pressed. Although the harvest is over, we still have lots of wine making work to do between now and January.

Miracles do happen as we witnessed the rescue of Chilean miners this week. To commemorate the miraculous rescue of the 33 Chilean miners this week, we’ll name one of our 2010 wines, “Los 33”. The wine that will be named after the Chilean miners will have to demonstrate some if not all of the miners’ characteristics that we so admired: Hope, Faith, Strength, Courage and Love for Life.

Most of the summer, we all witnessed the despair and sorrow of the Chilean miners and their families. But their faith and hope inspired the whole world. Then through sheer determination, unity and love, the whole world came to their aid. How technology combined with faith and tenacity uniting the humankind would always be one of the few bright spots in a world that is sometimes filled with negativity and pessimism. Their story inspired us to live our dream and have faith!

Harvest Report

2010-09-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

The harvest season is over at Mahogany Mountain Vineyard!

Our harvest season lasted for the entire month of September. Although we had a cool summer and lots of uncertainty in August, we ended up with a bumper crop. The fruits tasted and looked so good, much better than we had expected. If God is willing, our 2010 vintage will be a great one.

Our European friends had told us that during the harvest season, their whole village would show up at each vineyard to help harvest when it was time to harvest. We experienced the same level of support from our friends, relatives, neighbors and their friends. We felt so blessed and grateful for their love and support.

We started the harvest season a week before the Labor Day. Our friends, Carol and Jerry T., helped harvest the Merlot at 6 am. During the Labor Day weekend, despite the scorching heat wave, we were so touched when our friends and relatives (as far as Bakersfield) showed up to help harvest the Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvedre. Afterward, we all indulged a huge Mexican food fiesta that Carol T. and Carol I. helped prepare and set up the buffet. Everyone seemed to enjoy iced cold sangria, appetizers and the food and wine pairings. The following weekend, with help from Geoff and Amie, we harvested more Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. This weekend, our neighbors and their friends helped us harvest more Cabernet Sauvignon. Susie, our cousin, helped set up and prepared the harvest feast. Susie made all of the desserts including her famous chocolate fudge sauce. Needless to say, we are so thankful for each and everyone of you who came and helped with our 2010 harvest. Thank God for the bountiful harvest and for the priceless memories that we shared with our friends and loved ones!

We have another good news! Our tasting room has been approved and is open for business!!!

Cheers!

Welcome to San Diego Wine Country

2010-08-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

On August 4, 2010, by a unanimous historic vote, San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors have approved a tiered winery ordinance allowing small “boutique” wineries to open tasting rooms and offer retail sales. Their vote represents four long years of hard work and lots of heartache (and heartburn). I’d like to salute a group of our winemaker and winegrower peers from Ramona Valley AVA; spearheaded by Carolyn Harris, for their courage, skills, legal knowledge, determination and perseverance.

Of course, it all came down to having the right sponsors who helped pave the way. The San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors and San Diego Farmers Bureau were the advocates for the ordinance and worked with San Diego county Department of Planning and Land Use to have a reasonable approach for wineries to have tasting rooms in light of zillions of requirements.

For those of you who may be concerned about tasting rooms popping up all over the place in your urban and suburban neighborhoods. Don't worry, there are measures that would keep that from happening. First and foremost, the new ordinance only applies to agricultural zoned land (A70 & A72). As you may have guessed, besides the local counties agencies, there are many federal and state agencies regulate wineries and tasting rooms. For example, all wineries are required to have a valid permit and bond issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and a current Winegrowers license issued by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. In other words, besides growing grapes and making wines for the fun of it, there are a lot of hoops, pains, frustrations and sufferings one must go through and deal with in order to establish and operate a winery and tasting room legally.

San Diego Channel 6 News and San Diego Union Tribune are among news worthy organizations that reported a balanced view of the new ordinance without bias.

Yeah, of course, we are delighted by the opportunities and possibilities the new ordinance has to offer to grape growers and winemakers in the county who like us have worked so hard in the last 15 years to establish San Diego County as wine grape growing region. From this point forward, we all can look forward to proudly telling our grandchildren of this historic day in San Diego County!

Cheers!

Veraison

2010-08-01T08:44:00.001-07:00

Véraison is a French term meaning "the onset of ripening". The official definition of veraison is "change of color of the grape berries." Fête de la Véraison is a medieval festival held in the famous winemaking village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Fète de la Veraison takes place every year the first weekend in August. To celebrate the ripening of their grapes, villagers dress up in medieval costumes for parades, performances and a torch-lit banquet. It sounds like fun. Maybe, we should start having our own Fete de la Veraison, playing flute and dancing in our medieval costumes in our vineyards.

From the beginning of veraison to harvest, the berries will increase in volume, weight, and sugar content (brix). The 2010 growing season has been slightly cool in June and July, with occasional showers. We have had plenty of sunshine during the day which has helped our grapes to start their veraison on schedule. Phenology is the study of plant life cycles. Phenologically, we estimate it to be 5-7 days later than normal for the grapes. Having said that, it is hard to predict when the grapes will reach our desired Brix level. As we know from experience, August and September weather can define a vintage. With rare exception, Ramona Valley generally has hot August weather and sunny, pleasant fall weather. Stay tune for our next veraison to harvest report!

2010 Barrel Tasting Notes

2010-07-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

We had a great turn-out for our 2010 Barrel Tasting. It was a beautiful day, sunny and breezy. The 2008 vintage was introduced to our friends, family and friends of friends. We felt so blessed that our friends, cousins and some neighbors were able to join us in our celebration of another great vintage which we were very proud to introduce to the world. As you know, up to this point, we do all this for the love of the wines. We were gratified that our labor of love was enjoyed and appreciated by a few of those who matter to us. Thanks again to all of you who came and spent a beautiful afternoon with us and showed us your love and support for our wines. We love y’all!

Everyone was first greeted with a Greek white sangria. I decorated and infused it with raspberries and white peaches that were soaked in brandy for several days. The beautiful sangria tasted just as good as it looked.

As I was in charge of the wine food pairings, I was relieved when I was told how much people enjoyed each dish that I had selected for each wine. The BBQ pork marinated in our port wine was tender, delectable and full of flavors. It was great with our 2008 Zinfandel and Merlot. It brought out the spiciness of the Zinfandel and the berry fruit flavor of the Merlot. The tri-tip beef marinated in our merlot wine and roasted until tender was juicy and a perfect companion for our 2008 Mourvedre and Cabernet Sauvignon.

I wanted to make sure no one drank on an empty stomach. So I had a spread of delectable appetizers and salads that were specifically selected and prepared to compliment our 2008 wines. I especially enjoyed the smoked salmon slices and feta cheese spread which were so good together, especially with a sip of our 2008 Zinfandel. The saltiness of the smoked salmon brought out the peppery spiciness and berry flavor from the wine. I also savored a little spread of the smoked salmon cheese ball on toast while sipping our 2008 Merlot. The antipasto platter was a perfect pairing for our red wines. It had all of the ingredients for a wine and cheese love fest. The wheat berries salad was a meal by itself for those who wanted to stay with a vegetarian diet. Yes, I know I overdid again in the food department. Oh well, it’d always be better to have too much food than not enough.

I told everyone to save some room for the desserts which were specifically selected to pair with our Port-style wine and White zinfandel. The homemade lemon custard dessert with fresh strawberries was a big hit. Our famous homemade brownies with port wine were yummy. For those who had to watch their weight (who doesn’t?), the big bowl of fresh fruits gave us an illusion that we were “good” (after stuffing ourselves all afternoon with other delectable dishes).

We all had a great time. Salute!

On Memorial Day

2010-06-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day, after an active weekend working on various projects around the house, the vineyard, and in our winery, we went to a BBQ held at our friends’ vineyard. We had lovely time. The weather was absolutely sublime, sunny and warm enough but not too hot. My contribution to the feast was a huge pitcher of Sangria infused with lots of fruits, mixed together with our red wine and brandy. It was a nice drink to go with the appetizers and grilled meat served at the BBQ. It was a hit. I also made a rum cake from scratch. The cake was soaked in rum that I bought and carried home from Grand Cayman. My piece of rum cake was yummy with sips of Sangria. It was quite a pleasant day. Of course, being among wine lovers and winemakers, we also have various wines from Ramona as well as other places in the world. Good food, good wines, wonderful company and lively conversation with lots of laughter. It was indeed a wonderful world!

Before the BBQ started, our friends had a Memorial service carried out with help from the local VFW chapter and a local couple who provided a cannon and a WWII Jeep. So there we were having our own private Memorial service for the veterans on Memorial Day. Sweet! As I listened to the speeches, the salute and music, and watched the whole scene played out in front of me, my heart was filled with gratitude for the freedom and liberty that I have enjoyed as an American because of the sacrifices of the men and women who serve this country with courage and honor. Then my thoughts went to the three important men of our lives who had sacrificed and served their countries with honor: Carl James, my God grandfather, my father and my father-in-law. Although they are no longer with us, they are always our heroes. To the present, I am thankful for having our cousin, Frank, in our lives. Frank has inspired us and continues to be our role model just by being who he is and what he represents. Frank has served in both Korea and Vietnam wars. His long service in the U.S. Marines meant so much to me and all of us in the family. What we have today is because of many people like Frank who have given so much to this country and to the world by their actions and sacrifices.

Wine: Natural is Better

2010-05-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, after our presentation on winegrapes growing, vineyard management and wine making at MiraCosta college in Oceanside, I found myself explaining our minimalist approach to grape growing and winemaking to the winemaking students. I told them that our philosophy was to grow grapes and produce wine as naturally as possible. Over the years, we had benefited from experimentation. In the final analysis though, after blind tasting our “natural” wines and wines that had been “adjusted”, we liked our “natural” wines a lot better because they retained the body, fruitiness, bouquet and natural flavors that the “adjusted” wines lacked. Although we cannot proclaim that we practice 100% organic and biodynamic viticulture, we can say that we focus on making wine as naturally as possible. It’s like the difference between a well cooked meal prepared with only fresh wholesome basic ingredients vs. trying to attain the same natural taste by cutting few corners and then relying on artificial enhancers to provide the ‘Missing’ flavor. You just can’t duplicate some natural occurring flavors, aromas, mouth feel, and other intrinsic qualities in wine via artificial means……. In our humble opinion.

My final advice to them was to start with high quality wine grapes at the desired Brix level as the best wines were made in the vineyard.

Presentation at MiraCosta College!

2010-04-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

You are cordially invited to attend a talk that we plan to give this coming Saturday 4/24/2010 at 10 am at MiraCosta College – Oceanside Campus located at 1 Barnard Drive, Oceanside, CA 92056. We’ll be in room Atztal B (next to cafeteria).

The topics of our talk will be on grape growing, vineyard management and wine making in San Diego County.

If you have questions, feel free to call us or send us an email.

Cheers
Michael and Kim

Impact of wine-grape growers and wineries on California economy

2010-03-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

As wine drinkers, when we savor our glass of liquid sunshine, we enjoy the health benefits from drinking wine. But most of us only have a vague notion of the economic impact of California wine industry to California economy. According to the Economic Impact of California Wine and Grapes 2009 released by the Wine Institute and CAWG, the wine industry has a 61.5 billion impact on the state as a whole. The report’s numbers illustrated that the economic impact of the wine industry stretches far beyond the vineyards and tasting rooms. For example, in 2009 Napa County had a gross payroll of 79 millions and 319 millions for vineyard and winery-related jobs and 533 millions in tourist dollars and Sonoma had a gross payroll of 73 millions and 235 millions for vineyard and winery-related jobs and 263 millions in tourist dollars. Even more impressive, Statewide allied industries such at tourism, trucking, packaging, printing, labs, research and more account for 28,546 jobs with total wages of $921,421,000.

Although I was not surprised to see the economic benefits that Napa, Sonoma and a couple other well-known wine regions in California have reaped from their vineyards and wine businesses, I was shocked by the astronomical dollar amounts. Furthermore, the numbers from the rest of the counties listed in the report really surprised me, from Alameda to Tulare, the economic impacts were huge and significant.

I noted that San Diego county’s numbers were not highlighted in the economic impact report. What a shame, considering that San Diego county has much to offer compared to other counties such as Riverside. But yet, Riverside county was listed, thanks to the commercial success of Temecula wineries. This lack of representation was not a surprise as the wine industry in San Diego county has not grown much in the last 20 years.

I’ve recently had an interesting conversation with a wine-grape grower in Ramona who used to live in Sonoma County for 20 years. He and his wife decided to move to Ramona to be close to their children who live in San Diego. He told me that in the 80’s, the Healdsburg/Alexander Valley/Dry Creek area had about a dozen of wineries. Now, Healdsburg has so many wineries that one cannot possibly visit all of them in one weekend. Although it’s hard for any of us to imagine that San Diego County wine industry could ever achieve the economic numbers that other counties have done, this eye-witness account and the 2009 economic impact report tell me that nothing is impossible if we have public policy and American entrepreneur spirit work hand-in-hand.

The conversation about Sonoma county's wineries reminded me of the movie, Bottle Shock, which told the story of the historic Judgment of Paris in 1976, and the Napa vintners, Bo and Jim's struggles and ultimate victory as the owners of the Chateau Montelena winery who made the winning Chardonnay. This movie was based on a true story. Chateau Montelena took the top prize in the white wine competition. As a winemaker, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie not just because of the characters but also the story and history of the struggles that California wineries had to go through to make a name for themselves 30 yeas ago against the formidable French wineries. I highly recommend this movie to wine-grape growers, winemakers and wine drinkers who love wines and have an appreciation for the hard work that goes into grape growing and wine making.

In a nutshell, the economic impact report helps us hold on our hopes that our winery would someday reach its full potential and become a viable business. As for now, when our balance sheets are filled with red ink, we have to remind ourselves of an old adage, to keep ourselves from being depressed and discouraged, “It’d take a big fortune to make a small fortune in wine business” while hanging on to our dreams for a better future.

PIDWS = Exercise+Wine+Friendship

2010-02-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

What do winemakers do in their free time to release stress besides drinking wine? For me, regular exercise is the best thing for releasing stress and keeping our body strong and healthy at the same time. I always feel great after exercising.

I am fortunate enough to have a group of friends who have been in the same aerobics class with me for several years. Our love for aerobics exercise and staying fit helped create a strong bond. Then, of course, our love for wines and each other's company helped seal the deal! One thing lead to another. One day, one of our classmates suggested that we should get together on a quarter basis to have a wine tasting party so we could enjoy each other's company in a more relaxed environment. What a great idea! Who could have said no to that? Our first wine tasting party was an instant hit! We had so much fun. Lorraine, who loved to entertain and had a perfect house and backyard for entertainment, even had a game night and invited all of our significant others to join. She was like a combo of Julia Child and Martha Stewart in one package! We were treated to a fabulous gourmet cookout and games! I felt like I was in one of those reality cooking/entertainment show. PIDWS was born and there was no turning back. PIDWS stands for Pumping Iron and Drinking Wines naming after our group's love for pumping iron and drinking wines. We have had many get-together's since then and also established our own annual Christmas get-together with a full-blown gourmet wine-food pairing and ornament exchange. It takes efforts and work to make these get-togethers happen as all of us lead such busy lives. But our love for one another keep these PIDWS get-together's going. I love the PIDWS. They have added much joy to my life. Life is short. Enjoy!

Year of the Tiger

2010-02-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we celebrated Tet, the Luna New Year, which fell on Valentine's Day this year! Our house was filled of red roses and red gladiolus flowers. For Valentine's gifts, besides the red roses, I also received a bottle of French champagne and a bottle of Italian Prosecco, along with a new treadmill machine, was it a subtle hint about my expanding waistline, I wondered.

We gathered at my aunt Lily's house in LA for the big family dinner. "Bring your best bottles of wines," was the marching order from Aunt Lily, not second best, but had to be the best, LOL. Since eating good food is the main reason for living in our family, our aunts and uncles created a great and healthy gourmet meal to go with our wines. Although it was an unusual pairing, but the eel and mushroom soup actually tasted great with our 2007 Zinfandel. Our White Zinfandel was an excellent choice with the green papaya and beef salad. There were so much food and so many wonderful and favorite homemade dishes that my taste bud was overworked, but very satisfied. Needless to say, our Red wine was heavenly with the red velvel cake that my cousin bought from her favorite French bakery.

So what should we expect in the Year of the Tiger? In the past, the year of the Tiger was often associated with turbulence and massive changes. I predict that the Year of the Tiger will be a wild year full of unpredictability!

From what I've read so far, well, 2010 is going to be a rather turbulent but exciting year, as Tigers are known to be unpredictable, volatile and dangerous. So be flexible for possible changes in your life and get ready for an exciting and wild rollercoaster ride in 2010! My personal advise is to stock up on good wines from your favorite winemaker for those times when you'd need a good glass of wine to calm your nerves. Cheers!

Good Luck and May the Year of Tiger bring you Love, Happiness and Exciting Adventures!

Pruning Season

2010-01-30T22:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend weather could not have been more perfect for pruning our grapevines. Over the years, it has become an event we both dread in some ways and look forward to in others. It is a bit of an endurance test like running a marathon. You start out pruning one vine correctly then multiplying that times a few thousand. Each vine is similar in some aspects and completely different and unique in others. Pruning is a series of very quick decisions which cannot be undone, there is no ‘undo’ button and a mistake may take a few years to correct. Incorrect pruning can result in a severely reduced crop or a high volume crop which lacks many quality characteristics, and every variation in between.

Learning to prune is best started with a text book, then try your hand in the field and as my vineyard mentor John Schwaesdall says “Listen to everyone, then make up your own mind about how to proceed based on your conditions”, I’ve found this to be sound advice.

Pruning has basic principles which are true in all situations; however there are nuances which are specific to your varietal, microclimate, personal preference, wine-making technique and wine style. There are a few absolutes, but not many. Start out by speaking to someone in your area growing the same varietal successfully, this conversation and the peak at the freshly pruned vines is worth gold.

Here's to a Healthy New Year!

2010-01-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

People often ask us how we stay fit and not become alcoholic, considering the fact that we are afterall wine drinkers who also love food and love to pair our wines with food.

On the one hand, we are thankful for having good metabolism and a certain amount of will power that helps keep us from over indulging ourselves too much. On the other hand, we believe that the physical aspects of grapes growing, maintaining a vineyard, harvest work, grape processing and winemaking work are plenty to keep us in good shape. Working on wine and pruning the grapevines during this winter season hopefully would help us take off some of the weight gained during the holidays.

Some diets do not allow wines. We would never go on those diets! We believe that having wine with dinner in moderate amount is a healthy habit, unless one has medical conditions that prohibit alcohol consumption.

Here is our final secret for staying fit in 2010: Keep eating wholesome and natural food grown by local farmers and drinking good wine made by your favorite local winemakers from locally grown grapes!

Salut!

Mahogany Mountain wine-food pairing event

2009-12-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

Our Winemaker's Dinner at Barona Steakhouse was a huge success. It was sold-out! We had almost double the number of guests than originally planned for the private dining room. The gourmet dinner that Chef Duncan prepared to pair with our wines was excellent. Our wines received rave reviews from the dinner guests. The food was beautifully presented with artistic flair. I was too busy with the guests to take pictures of each course, now I wish I had because each course looked like a piece of art. I am thankful for the pictures that Holly, Michael's sweet and beautiful cousin, took for us while we were busy.

Let me savor one more time the delicious meal that was served. For a muse bouche, we had a salmon mousse in a puff pastry. It was paired well with our white wine and white zinfandel.

Then we had a surf-and-turf carpaccio of Ahi steak with olive tapenade and avocado. We paired it with our 2007 Zinfandel. The Ahi was fresh and delicious. The spiciness and rich fruit flavor from our Zinfandel went down so well with the rare Ahi and the olive tapenade. I will definitely take a bottle of our Zinfandel next time we go to Hawaii.

While I was still savoring the Ahi with our Zinfandel, the mixed green salad with warm St. Andre cheese was served. I still had some white wine left in the other glass and decided to drink with the salad. It was a perfect choice.

Then the server started to pour our 2007 Merlot. I had a sip of the Merlot and remembered why it has repeatedly been a sold-out wine at the Barona Steakhouse. The richness of the Merlot fruit blended beautifully with the natural oak flavor, as a result, the wine is balanced and smooth on the palate. I need to save a few bottles for next year wine competitions. Maybe, it will win some medals.

I hope I can find a similar recipe for the Roasted Buttersquash and Heirloom Apple soup. We all loved it so much. Surprisingly, it paired so well with the white Zinfandel and the Merlot too.

By the time, I finished the soup. I was half-full already. It was time to get up and started the raffles and prizes. The two tables in the main dining room kept winning all of the prizes! Teri and Sherry were two lucky ladies as they celebrated their birthdays together.

We were then served with the main course of our choice. I had the NY steak because I remembered how good the steak was last time we ate at the steakhous. It was perfectly prepared as I had requested: Medium with bright pink in the middle and no running blood. It was divine with our 2007 Syrah and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon even though we had intended to pair with the 2007 Zinfandel. I told Shari and Mike who live next door to us that our Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon were planted right next to their property line. The rest of the guests loved our 2007 Zinfandel. Two tables each asked to order one bottle extra to have with their dinner. All of the red wines that we featured at the dinner had really nice color, nice leg and their aromas were beautifully released as I inhaled the fruit character of each wine.

Even though the servers were kept busy the whole evening pouring one wine after the other and exchanging wine glasses continually, we only allowed 1-oz pour for each wine and a moderate amount of wine during dinner. So nobody in our party had too much to drink. Everyone tried to keep their head clear for some chance at the slot machines or blackjack tables after dinner.

I had to get a doggie bag for the rest of the steak with the incredible baby potatoes, carrots and winter vegetables because I wanted to save some room for the dessert. The chef had informed me that he would use a bottle of our Port wine to make the grilled fig tart.

For the grand finale, the servers brought out tiny dessert wine glasses. These people really know how to get to my heart: they use the correct glasses for our Port wine! When the dessert plate was presented, I was in heaven. The fig tart was so fresh and with perfect sweetness from the fruit and the Port wine. The fresh fig halves were delicious. The vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce that was drizzled around the fig tart completed a picture of perfection in food artistry. I didn't detect any extra sugar in the tart. Its sweetness was so natural without any hint of added sugar. Do you think the pastry chef would be willing to share the tart recipe if I asked?

The evening flowed like a dream. Before we knew it, it was almost 10 pm! We started at 6 pm. Time flied when we had so much fun. It was simply the best wine-food pairing dinner that we ever participated. We pinched ourselves to make sure it was our OWN winemaker's dinner featuring our very own Mahogany Mountain wines.

I feel extremely humble and grateful for the excellent efforts that the Chef, Sous-chef, pastry chef, the restaurant manager and the three servers have put into the dinner. They represented the finest and the best in their profession. What a team! They made the evening a magical culinary and wine tasting event for all of us. I am so glad we have such a fine-dining place to go to in the back country!

Have a Happy Holidays! May you have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year surrounded with lots of Love (and good wine!).

Winemaker's Dinner featuring Mahogany Mountain wines!

2009-12-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

The winemaker's dinner that we are planning is coming along nicely. The chef finalized his wine-food pairing selections. The menu reads like a culinary dream! The chef is going to make a dessert using our Port wine. I know I will be in heaven when I taste the dessert knowing that our Port wine is one of the ingredients!

We are gratified that our dearest friends, co-workers, fellow winemakers, Ramona's vineyard association members, neighbors and Michael's cousins are all coming! It will be a huge turn-out! A lot more people have RSVP'ed than I had imagined in my wildest dreams. I told the chef and the restaurant's manager at Barona that I have built up their expectation and that everyone was so excited and they could hardly wait until next Friday. The chef calmly assured me that everything would be fine and they would be ready for us. Wow! I am so excited!

Field Trip to Sonoma

2009-11-22T14:39:00.000-08:00

In early November, we went to Napa and Northern Sonoma to visit vineyards, buy winemaking supplies/equipment and do wine tasting. We met some winemakers and tasted limited-production wines, new releases and wines that were only available to wine-club members. The wineries that we visited paired their featured wine with just the right food in their cozy barrel rooms. The weather was perfect, sunny and clear. The vineyards were absolutely beautiful displaying vines in magnificent colors in various shades of gold, yellow and red. In Sonoma, Russian River and Alexander Valley, the winemakers and winery staff were especially down-to-earth, friendly and gracious to us when we introduced ourselves as winemakers from San Diego county. They shared with us their hospitality and traded secrets on winemaking techniques. Their wine-food pairing was divine. We loved the lamb meatballs paired with a hearty Russian River Zinfandel. They were very generous in pouring their best wines. We tasted excellent Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet and Zinfandel that were only available directly from the wineries ranging from $70+ to $150 per bottle. We loved the pork sliders paired with the mellow red wine at one winery and a delish slow-cooked pork paired with Pinot Noir and polenta at another winery. At one winery, the winemaker generously gave us a barrel tasting experience of their wines as he shared his thoughts on winemaking techniques. His wife served us an excellent coq-au-vent dish with polenta to pair with their Pinot Noir and then chocolate cake with their port wine. As a foodie, I could go on forever about the wine and food pairing experience. However, the trip was also an educational event. So, with all the will power that we could muster, we dragged ourselves away from tasting rooms, from the wine and food pairing to tour winemaking facilities and check out winemaking equipment. We enjoyed chatting with winemakers, equipment sales people and vineyard managers. I remembered a nice chat with a husband and wife winemaker team as they pressed their estate Zinfandel with the help of their two young two sons. We’ve learned so much how established wineries set up their winery facilities and tasting rooms, equipment that they use, fermentation techniques that they practice, etc.

As we’d plan to convert to solar energy as a main energy source for our winery in the future, we noted that many wineries in Napa and Sonoma have gone green, lots of solar panels everywhere we looked.

It was a very enjoyable fact-finding field trip. I went home with a great sense of humility and compassion for all of the winemakers and winery owners whom we met during those three days because I know how hard they have worked to build their winery business and how much time, efforts and money that they have poured into these wineries. As an old adage has said, “It’d take a big fortune to make a small fortune in winemaking business”. But winemakers like us do it for the love of wine!

Mahogany Mountain 2007 Merlot featured wine of the week!

2009-11-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

I am so excited about this good news! We heard from our friends last week that Barona Casino's steakhouse featured our wine along with two other wines on their menu. Too bad that we had plans to go up to Sonoma for the weekend. Otherwise, I'd have loved to go to Barona and had a good steak dinner with our Merlot while the wine was being featured.

Coincidently, Mike's Mom happened to be in town so we told her that we would take her out to dinner at the Barona's Oaks Steak house and would have our wines with dinner! How fantastic would that be for Michael to show off his wines to his Mom. Then, the drama began. Just before heading to dinner, we found out that the restaurant has sold out our Merlot. Although we were disappointed, but since we already made reservation, we decided to go ahead with our dinner plan and would make do with ordering our white zin to go with the first course and maybe a red wine to go with our steak dinner.

It was our first time to go to the Barona Oaks steak house after their latest renovation that cost $15M. Oh My Gosh, it was posh! The dinning room had a delightful ambiance and was beautifully decorated with high end decor and furnishings. There was a piano player playing beautiful soft music the entire evening.

The wait staff treated us very well as soon as they saw us. They all were friendly and greeted us with big smiles. They gave us the best table in the house, right in front of a big fireplace. The table was magnificently decorated with very nice china and silverware. They even had a huge orchid flower arrangements at our table. There were very nice and "correct" wine glasses for wine tasting and enjoyment. That alone put us in a happy mood immediately. I took in the whole scene with great anticipation for a marvelous gourmet meal.

Our waiter was a really nice chap with a Germany accent but was born in Mexico! He told us with a big smile that he had been briefed that we were the winemakers from Mahogany Mountain. So he proceeded with his recommendation for the dinner. We ordered our Mahogany Mountain white Zinfandel to pair with a very good spinach salad with goat cheese, walnut and cranberries, at the recommendation of our waiter. It was fantastic. I loved the wonderful combination of the goat cheese, tangy dressing, walnuts and the dry sweetness from our white zin. Then we proceed to order the featured red wine (a Ramona red zinfandel from our friends' winery) to go with our steak dinner since the restaurant has sold out our Merlot. Lo and behold, the waiter came back with a beaming smile because while looking for the other red that we had ordered, he found the last bottle of our Mahogany Mountain 2007 Merlot! It must have been good karma! We all were so happy, especially Michael and his Mom! They were beaming ear-to-ear! His Mom was so proud of her son! After years of seeing him working so hard on the vineyards and building up the business, Ruby finally had a fleeting moment of pride. Of course, our Mahogany Mountain 2007 Merlot was an excellent wine for the steak dinner. The wine was dry but robust with fruit character, beautiful color and had a fantastic bouquet. Perfect match for the steak dinner that everyone at the table had ordered. The chef did an excellent job on the steak that I ordered medium rare: juicy, tender like butter and perfect rareness (without blood running everywhere).

We were so touched that the chef came out and said "Hi" to us. He was so nice and down-to-earth! We told him how much we had enjoyed the meal and thanked him for preparing the staff for our visit.

You should go check out the Barona Oaks Steakhouse. The dinner menu has excellent choices of steak, seafood and other white meat. Their prices are very competitive to other steakhouses of the same class. Our wines are listed in their wine list. On the main wine list (last page - local wines) our two wines (Mahogany Mountain White Zinfandel and Mahogany Mountain 2007 Merlot) are included by the bottle. The price of our wines is so puny compared to a bottle of a French wine that costs $7,500.00. Can you believe that? When we win lotto, we'd come back and order that!

Cheers
Kim

Estate Red Wine won Silver Medal!

2009-11-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

We've recently received a Silver Medal from the Lum Eisenman Wine Competition for our estate Red Wine, a delicious blend of estate Cabernet Sauvignon and estate Merlot. The wine was aged for 18 months in American oak barrel. Having a medal with Lum Eisenman's name on it a lot to me even though this wine competition is a tiny competition compared to other medals that we've won from much much bigger competitions with entries from established wineries from every corner of the world. This medal means so much to me personally because of Lum Eisenman himself. Lum is our mentor from ground zero! He taught us the basics of winemaking 15 years ago. I still have a tattered copy of notes that I took during the two year "internship". Considering the fact that I was a wine novice with no background in winemaking whatsoever and a woman, Lum did not laugh at me when I first met him and told him that I was interested in his mentorship program and wanted to learn how to make wine from him. Anyone else would have laughed their head off and would have told me to go away. But not Lum, he created a mentorship program for us and tutored us every step of the way. I attribute all of the best winemaking practices to Lum. Lum is the most giving and generous person in the wine industry that I've met.

Grape Harvest

2009-09-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature was generous and gave us a bumper crop this year. But Mother Nature also wanted to test our perseverance and stamina. We had to pick our grapes two weekends in a row when the daily temperature was between 90 -100 degrees. Murphy's law was at its best.

It was hot and humid the weekend before the Labor Day's weekend. We picked the Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot. We had to pick very early in the morning before sunrise and late in the afternoon before sunset. It was not easy. I lost 2 lbs. from that streneous exercise.

Thank God, we had 50+ friends and family showed up for the harvest "party" on Labor Day's weekend. Without their help, I don't know if we could have picked all of the Zinfandel and Mourvedre in one evening. Afterward, we all relaxed, took a dip in the pool, having appertizers and drinking Sangria while waiting for the food to finish cooking on the grill! Thanks to cousin Jared, our friend, Hector, and, brother-in-law, Ngon, all three took turn at the grill cooking kabobs and three different kinds of burgers for the large crowd while Michael and Geoff tending to the grape crush.

The theme of the dinner menu was Mediterranean as I tried to serve only healthy food made from fresh vegetables, whole grain products, grape seed oil and lean meat/fish. I paired each dish including dessert with the wines that were served. Everyone asked for the recipe of the Sangria that I made from our Merlot wine and fresh peach. We also served dishes that were made with ingredients harvested from our organic garden. Everyone loved the pear and cherry tomatoes that Michael grew this year. The salsa that Amie made with fresh basil, tomatoes, peppers grown from our garden was a hit. Of course, the watermelon, rum cake and homemade brownies were well received. Everyone told me that our Port wine was especially good with brownies. I just drank it by itself as my dessert! I earned it.

Everyone had a good time. The kids, especially, loved the game quiz and prizes. Justin and Nathan just went nuts. Our friends and family showed their support by bringing friends to join in the fun. The children seemed to have the most fun at the vineyard and in the pool. Michael's cousins showed up in a large number. They are fantastic in helping with everything. Melinda and Derrick were there two weekends in a row. My two sisters and brothers-in-law and friends made up the rest of our loyal workforce for the harvest.

I am grateful for the love and support that our family and friends have showed us during the harvest by volunteering their time and sweat!

I am so glad the harvest is over! We still have lots of wine-making work to do the rest of the year. But, at least, no more worries about the weather, and birds and bees eating up our wine grapes.

Cheers!

Wine Matters: It's harvest time

2009-08-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks, we've been very busy bottling wines, tending our vineyard and getting ready for the harvest.

Our grape vines are doing really well. We expect to have another bountiful harvest this year. Wild creatures are staking out their shares of the crop and making their presence known. Birds are gathering in the vineyards singing their happy tunes and keeping an eye on the grapes. A big coyote shows up every morning walking up and down the rows.

At this time, it is too early to determine the exact dates because we cannot control when the grapes will reach our desired Brix (sugar) level. It all depends on the weather, air temperature, humidity, fog and rain fall in the next few weeks.

We expect a big turn-out for our annual harvest party. Friends and family started to ask about the harvest bash. That's nice to know that they look forward to the harvest as much as we do. We certainly plan to have a good time during the harvest even though there will be a lot of work. But the excitement is building up. Can't wait to see how the 2009 vintage will turn out.

Tribute to Dad

2009-06-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

This week, we've just received a letter from the Orange County Commercial Wine Competition congratulating us for winning a Silver Medal for our Zinfandel estate-bottled wine. I wish my dad could have been here so I could have run over to my parents' house and told them about the good news. Like a child, I still crave and long for my dad's attention and words of encouragement. I always could imagine the love and pride in his eyes as he would look at me.

Every Father's Day, I thought of my dad and wished I could give him a bottle of our wines for Father's Day and have him and my mom over for his favorite dinner: a juicy rare filet mignon steak, cooked just the way he liked it with lots of butter in high heat, served with homemade pommes frites, with a big glass of our Mourvedre or Merlot or Syrah wine and a tossed green salad with vinegard-and-oil dressing and slices of slightly green tomatoes.

To Dad! Bon Appetit!

2009 Barrel Tasting Bash

2009-06-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Our barrel tasting bash with friends and family last weekend was a blast. We introduced four estate wines from 2007 vintage that have been aged in oak barrels for 18 months: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Zinfandel.

The whole winery was washed and shined inside out. The vineyards were mowed and looked beautiful. Landscrapers were hired to plant trees and pruce up the landscape around the winery building. We re-arranged the equipment in the winery to make room for tables and chairs and put on tablecloth and fresh flowers. The tasting area turned out really nice. We displayed some of our wines that have won awards from recent wine competitions. Above long tables laden with appetizers and desserts, we hang Eugene's painting of our wine bottles. We ordered and also made some appetizers to go with each wine. My Mom helped prepare some scrumptious appetizers. She also made her delicious chicken and cabbage salad which was perfect as the first course with sparkling wine. Michael gave a vineyard tour to our friends who have not seen the vineyard. After everyone enjoyed some refreshments, Michael gave a talk about each wine before Geoff extracted the wine from the barrel. Everyone was excited and thrilled to have the opportunity drinking wine directly from the barrel. It was rewarding to see people interested in where the grapes came from and the wine-making process.

Anthony put his bartending skills in good use by pouring tastes from the four 2007 estate wines that were introduced: Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot and Syrah. The 2007 Syrah received rave reviews from everyone. Fans of Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel remained faithful and loved every drop.

Here are some notes from the barrel tasting and food that were served:

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon wine is a full-bodied wine with dark ruby color and very nice berry aromas. It has soft tannins and supple finish on the tongue at the end. We served a rare beef with olive oil and caper and Gorgonzola cheese with it.

2007 Zinfandel wine: This zin is a full-bodied red wine, infused with powerful berry aromas, soft tannins and nice mouth feel. It was excellent with the BBQ beef appetizer and a platter of Italian antipasto filled with salami, black and green olives and cheese. Our Zinfandel fans will love this wine a lot.

2007 Merlot wine is a dry, full-bodied wine with beautiful dark ruby color and nice bouquet of ripe berry fruit. We served it with a spicy shrimp and mango appetizer.

2007 Syrah wine is our first release of Syrah. We are so thankful that it has turned out wonderful! It has a very dark color and powerful aromas of berries. It has a wonderful combination of spicy and dry with pepper notes. It is definitely a full-bodied wine that would go well with grilled meat, sausages, pasta, and spicy dishes. It went well with the petit ham sandwiches made from with garlic and olive dip that we offered to our guests.

Of course, we had to serve dessert with our wines. Susie’s chocolate fudge sauce was a big hit with fresh strawberries and Kim’s rum cake. Ruby’s strawberry dessert was all gone in a flash. I was glad that I was able to sneak a small piece during a break. Dark chocolate was served with our Port-style dessert wine. It was heaven.

We were so glad to have our friends and family members joined us in this first-ever barrel tasting bash. Our friends from last year's grape harvest, Carol I. and Letitia, were there. Carol T. and Jerry looked so happy in their retirement. We envy them. They are so lucky that they get to retire in style. Although we are too young to retire now, but the way the economy is heading, we may not get to retire. Our neighbors, Bill and Jayn, came with their nieces and nephews. Our friends, Jackie, the famous fiction author, and her husband, the successful realtor, Thomas, came with their sweet daughter, Allie, and their friend, Andrea, from New York. Michael's cousin, Jim and his friend, Wendy, came. I loved the wine shirt that Wendy wore. We have to get some of those for the girls in our PIDWS club. My friend, Nhu, brought her significant other, Cliff, and a bunch of friends. They were fun. My Mom enjoyed chatting with Nhu and her friends. Other grape harvesters, James and Maria, came and both won prizes from the games. Maria always won something. James told us that she is quite a card player. Maybe, we'll take her to visit the Barona casino next time they come up here. Some of the prize winners went wild and created some excitement and good laugh. Next time, we have to put on some rock-and-roll music (instead of classical music) and watch them move!

After spending many hours getting ready for the party, we were totally exhausted but happy because everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. We’ve received many positive feedback and thank-you notes with requests for making it an annual event.

The word was out and orders have been pouring in steadily for the 2007 vintage. Amie has done an excellent job taking orders! We depend on word of mouth and hope the 2007 vintage will sell out fast. No pain no gain!

Got Wine?

2009-05-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

I am excited about our 2007 wines that have aged in oak barrels for the last 18 months. We must have done something right all along because all of them are outstanding in their own right without requiring further TLC or intervention. I can hardly wait to share them at our barrel tasting party.

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Our 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon’s flavors range from black currant, cherry, plum, jammy, bell pepper, chocolate and spice. It should pair well with rich roasted meats such as prime rib with a reduction sauce or with grilled meat and grilled vegetables.

2007 Merlot

Our Merlot by nature is a soft, drinkable wine with rich, plum-like flavors with blueberry and cherry notes. I call it "smooth." We have planted our Merlot grapes in well-drained soils in our sunny vineyards in Ramona. IMHO, our Merlot is an outstanding varietal in its own right. Our Merlot is a wine that people have ordered for their wedding receptions. Perhaps, they fell in love with its beautiful aromas?

2007 Syrah

Our Syrah has a rich crimson color, with enticing aromas of ripe black cherries, violets and sun ripened plums that follow through on the palate. The wine is full bodied, with lush fruit flavors balanced by soft, supple tannins. Our Syrah should pair well with lamb chops, beef steaks, robust and hearty meat dishes and even with roasted chicken with rosemary and garlic.

2007 Zinfandel

Our Zin wine is wildly popular. An extremely versatile wine, Zinfandel pairs well with dishes ranging from BBQ beef to grilled chicken or roast game. In fact, our Zinfandel is usually sold out shortly after each release. Our 2007 Zin is jammy raspberry fruit and hints of pepper, soft and well-integrated tannins and a dry finish. With its balanced acidity, forward fruit and soft tannins, it should pair well with hard to match spicy, and highly seasoned foods and sauces. I love our Zin with practically everything chocolate and especially with Mexican or Asian cuisine. It is heaven on earth.

A good glass of wine can go a long way!

2009-04-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

This recession brings many uncertainties. But, one thing you can be certain about is that wine in moderation is good for your health.

With all the buzz from numerous scientific studies that I have read about the health benefits of resveratrol and flavonoids in red wine, wine lovers gotta love that. In the last couple of years, there have been numerous studies which have found evidence that resveratrol, the polyphenolic compound found in red wine from fermentation and maceration with the skins and seeds, may be a tool for fighting an array of health problems, from cancer to aging to Alzheimer's to obesity. I read somewhere that a doctor in Australia even sells his 'Wine Doctor' wine to his patients!

The bottom line is that you shouldn't have to trade down in quality just because the economy is in the tank. These days, a good glass of wine can go a long way. A votre sante!

A good start in 2009!

2009-02-28T23:17:00.000-08:00

Mercifully, we had a good start in 2009 despite the daily dose of bad news about the economy. We decided to focus on the vineyard and winery work to take our minds off the downward spiral of the stock market. We even got our own student intern from UCI, Anthony. Sweet kid! We immediately put together an "internship" program to suit his curiosity and eagerness to learn everything about wine making. Good wine starts in the vineyard. So his first lesson was pruning grape vines, between the showers in January. Second lesson: tying new vines to posts. Third lesson: bottling and labeling. Fourth lesson: wine racking. My Goodness! Thanks to Anthony's willingness to learn and our desire to teach; we are catching up and doing really well. Geoff and Michael are happy to have an extra hand around the winery while I am busy preparing for this tax season.

With Geoff, Michael and Anthony's help, the four of us were able to bottle another barrel of 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. Well balanced, good color, nice aftertaste and pleasant aroma. Very approachable, as Michael would say, at a good price! Look for it at Albertson's and our web store.

Kim

Finally!

2009-02-24T03:26:00.000-08:00

MMVW now has a Blog!