their winery and how they are running it as a retirement avocation.

The vineyard is the largest in Lamorinda covering 2 acres and containing 3500 vines. They cultivate five red varietals with the primary grape being Petite Syrah.

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

NEXT WEEKS MEETING November 29, 2011 PROGRAM: All Member Club Assembly Greeter and Thought for the Day: Al Simonsen

~~ COMING UP ~~

Dec. 4 Stocking Stuffing and Pot Luck Dinner at Trinity Hall. *Dec. 6 Official Visit of District Governor, Dave Dacus Dec 6 Night at the Races 2012 Organizational meeting at The Dochterman`s 762 Augusta Drive 5 PM. Dec. 13 Annual Christmas Dinner at Miramonte Gardens (no noon luncheon.) 6:00 pm *Dec. 20 Holiday Theme Meeting of Fun and Song Dec. 27 No Meeting Today *Jan. 3 Program: St. Marys Womens Basketball Program Coach Paul Thomas *Jan. 10 Program: St. Marys Mens Basketball program Coach Randy Bennett *Jan. 17 All Club Assembly *Jan. 24 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, Sophie Dowse *Jan. 31 CPR Presentation and Instruction
*Indicates a regular Tuesday noon luncheon meeting
th

Susan stressed the importance of the education activities when she began this endeavor. Both the growing and wine production side of the business require a great deal of knowledge in order to be successful. Before bottling their own wine, they started producing grapes with their production being used by Parkmon Vineyards, another association member here in Moraga. Captain Vineyards is a green winery receiving an award from EBMUD recently in their Pipeline magazine. In 2009, the winery became bonded which allows them to bottle and sell wine to the public. Susan discussed how the hilly terrain found in Moraga is conducive to growing vines. The winery produced 250 cases this year making it the largest in the association. 1200 pounds of grapes make a barrel of wine which contains about 25 cases. Susan also discussed the winegrowers association which is made up of five wine producers in the Lamorinda area. The members help each other through education. All of the members are small growers with Captain being the largest. The association provides wine tasting at community events including the recent Pear and Wine Festival and the Community Faire. A couple of interesting facts came from questions from the audience. The area around St. Marys College was a wine producing area prior to prohibition. Wildlife does take some of Captains wine production but the philosophy is to fence in the vines but share with animals unless they get greedy!! Rotary Wine Tasting

VISITORS

Karen Orwig Mary Elena Dochtermans daughter Emily Orwig Mary Elenas granddaughter Susan Captain President, Lamorinda Wine Growers Association and our speaker today.

PROGRAM FOR TODAY

Our speaker, Susan Captain, was introduced by Gary Irwin. She is the president of the Lamorinda Wine Growers Association and, along with her husband, runs Captain Vineyards here in Moraga. Susan began her talk by describing

Susan Captain offered to host a wine tasting for interested Rotarians sometime soon. Let Frank May know if you might be interested. Frank will research possible dates (probably in a week or two) and find out any other information.

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED?

The meeting was opened by Ron Mucovich offering an th invocation commemorating the 48 anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy and leading us in the pledge of allegiance . Nora Avelar announced that the board meeting will be held tonight at the Serbian Church beginning at 5PM. Debbie Roessler announced that there will be a Stocking th Stuffing Potluck at the Serbian Church on Sunday Dec. 4 beginning at 5:30 PM. Please come and help with this fun activity! Tony Schoemehl announced that the Christmas Party will be th held on Tuesday evening, Dec. 13 in lieu of the noon meeting. Sign up or call Tony with your reservatio0ns. Remember to contact John Erickson of you are interested in rd signing up for the Reno Train Trip on Feb. 21 through the 23 . Reservations (and money) are due by the end of the month. Nora also announced that Dave Dacus, the District Governor th will be attending our meeting on Dec. 6 . Debbie and Lou Roessler attended the last Rotaract meeting where WAPIs were constructed. This popular activity attracted 25 young people. Debbie and Lou were the only Rotary folks in attendance. She encouraged us all to attend a Rotaract meeting when we are able. Emily Orwig, the current Interact President (and granddaughter of Mary Elena and Cliff) described the current club at Campolindo high school. She described the international project they are supporting, to providing free eye surgery as well as the proposed fundraising activities for their club. Reach out to Emily if you would like to visit a meeting. They are held most Fridays at Campolindo at noon. It will be necessary to sign in at the office to attend a meeting. The Interact club is sponsoring a Luminaria project for the holidays. We will distribute a flyer describing this fundraiser as soon as it becomes available.

Gary Irwin offered Happy Bucks for the undefeated Campolindo football team that plays again at the high school on Saturday night.

KUDOS FOR THE WEEK

Last Saturday, a group of our members and their spouses/friends travelled to juvenile hall to work on decorating Xmas stockings. They worked along with 8 girls from the center. Thanks to Nora Avelar and friend, Lou and Debbie Roessler, Vickie Devlin and friend, Tony Schoemehl and his daughter, Cliff and Mary Elena Dochterman, Louse Schopke, Jim and Linda Campbell, Barb Bruner and three other interested folks for participating in this great event. Please note the follow on stocking stuffing potluck on th Dec. 4 .

CALENDAR OF FUTURE EVENTS

Dec. 4 Stocking Stuffing and Pot Luck at Trinity Hall Dec. 6 District Governors Official Visit Dec. 13 Annual Rotary Christmas Party at Miramonte Gardens Feb. 8 Annual 5 Club Meeting at Rossmoor (No Meeting at St. Marys on Tuesday, Feb. 7) Feb. 14 Annual Valentines Day Club Dinner Mar. 10 Annual Nite at the Races Fundraiser

FUN AND FELLOWSHIP

Al Simonsen just returned from a week in Hawaii. He also announced a bet between himself and Tony Schoemehl on the upcoming Cal/Missouri football game. George Renworth announced the celebration of he and Pats nd 62 Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations to you both. Frank May offered a Happy Five for the recovery of his granddaughter from a serious bout with asthma that required a five day stay in Childrens Hospital. . Nora Avelar offered a Happy Five for the Xmas Stocking Project at juvenile hall, her fantastic performance in her Fantasy Football League and the stellar performance of the 49ers.

MORAGA ROTARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2011-12 President..Nora Avelar President-elect..... Frank May Past President .....Tony Schoemehl Secretary.........Kevin Reneau Treasurer.....Louise Schopke Community Service Chair.Barbara Bruner New Generations...Rich Render International Service Chair..Colin Barnard MembershipFrank May Rotary Foundation...... Lad Lynch Public Relations Gary Irwin Director at LargeDebbie Roessler Director at Large..Mary Elena Dochterman Director at Large...Cliff Dochterman President, Rotary International...Kalyan Banerjee District Governor, 5160 ...David Dacus Assistant District Governor.Debbie Roessler
Newsletter Editor - Frank May

Rotary International Theme for 2011-12 REACH WITHIN TO EMBRACE HUMANITY

OUR EDITORIAL COMMENT

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. ~Erma Bombeck As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy