An End to Wine Direct Shipping???

Wholesalers and states convince Congress to consider new legislation to prevent direct-shipping lawsuits in a campaign to protect the three-tier system

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/42526

Rielle Event Calendar

Click on this link for the links to the following events:



Fri Apr 23, 2010
5pm - 7pm Sheraton Petaluma

Sat May 1, 2010
Angel Island Wine Fest

Sat May 15, 2010
Tiburon Wine Fest

Sat Jun 5, 2010 –Sunday June 6, 2010
Infineon Raceway Historic Motorsports Festival

Thu Jun 10, 2010 – Sat June 12, 2010
Monterey Wine Festival

Sat Jun 19, 2010
CigarBQ

Sun Jun 27, 2010
Mill Valley Food and Wine Festival

Rielle at Petaluma Sheraton

Rielle to pour at Petaluma Sheraton, Friday 4/23/10, 5-7

Rielle New Bottlings

Rielle just finished bottling our 2008 Sonoma County Zinfandel and Chardonnay. We will be releasing these wines soon. Sign up on our mailing list to be notified when they are available.

Rielle Wines Pouring at Petaluma Sheraton 3/5/10 & 3/12/10

Rielle will be pouring at the Petaluma Sheraton friday 3/5 from 5:00 to 7:00pm and friday 3/12 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Petaluma Sheraton Website

745 Baywood Drive
Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 283-2888

Come try our wines, we will be pouring:

Rielle 2007 Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay

Rielle 2007 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

Rielle 2006 Sonoma County Red Wine, a blend of cab sauv and syrah

Rielle Wines Pouring at Pacific Orchid Expo Gala Nite 2/26/10

It is time to escape and enjoy an evening of beauty and fun. For the first time, the Gala Benefit will take place on Friday night. This prestigious fundraiser will provide a valuable chance for participants to view and purchase award winning orchids from 50 national and international nurseries and hybridists. This glorious evening celebrates the mission of the San Francisco Orchid Society and their efforts to enrich the public through Orchids and Orchid cultivation. Monies raised at the Gala go to theConservatory of Flowers, the Helen Crocker Russell Horticultural Library, and a scholarship for a horticultural student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Click on this link for more information.

Are Wine Spectator reviews biased towards advertising wineries?

.....The implication is thatWine Spectator ratings of advertisers’ wines are approximately one point higher than their ratings of comparable wines from non-advertisers.” .......

For the text of the blog and link to original research click on this link.

Larger wineries pay for advertising and get higher scores which result in higher prices and much higher revenues?

How do smaller wineries compete, or even get their wines tasted?

Grape growers face restrictions on stream-water use

A showdown is looming between grape growers and the agency tasked with protecting fish in the Russian River.

Russian River grape growers are collecting data to counter a nearing state decision on how to protect endangered fish from the impacts of water pumping for frost protection. Click on this link for the rest of the article.

Rielle at Petaluma Sheraton

Rielle wines will be pouring at the Petaluma Sheraton on Friday November 27th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. We will be offering special holiday prices, especially on case purchases. We will also be taking orders for our gift packages.

We will be pouring at the Petaluma Sheraton every Friday through the end of the year.

Rielle Wines Thanksgiving Savings and Menu

Rielle Thanksgiving Food and Wine Pairing Dinner Menu 2009


Enter Coupon Code 8011 for 25% off website orders or call 707-849-7359 to place your order. We are looking forward to sharing our wines with you this holiday season!

All Recipes for dishes listed below are on our Website www.riellewines.com


STARTERS
•Rielle 2007 Ritchie Vineyard Russian River Valley Chardonnay
•Onion Pie
•Green Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

MAIN COURSE
•Rielle 2007 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
•Rielle 2006 Sonoma County Red Wine Blend
•Juniper-Brined Roast Turkey with Chanterelle Mushroom Gravy
•Simple Stuffing
•Bacon Smashed Potatoes
•Brussel Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots
•Carrots with Sage and Thyme
•Cranberry Tangerine Conserve


DESSERTS
•Salt Roasted Pears with Rielle Chardonnay Caramel Sauce
•Spiced Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
•Apple Tart with Rielle Chardonnay Caramel Sauce
•Cranberry Cheesecake with Rielle Red Wine Fudge Sauce

Growers prepare for watershed moment at frost meeting

Groups rally to show they can protect vines while saving water for fish
SANTA ROSA – A coalition of farming trade groups and major winegrape growers in Mendocino and Sonoma counties plans to demonstrate the state water regulators at a meeting Wednesday that growers have made significant recent progress toward protecting fish while protecting their vines from frost, despite a new letter from federal fish wardens to the contrary. Click on this link for the rest of the article.

Rielle at Woodlands Market

Woodlands Market in Kentfield (Marin County) is now carrying Rielle Wines. The 2006 chardonnay has been flying out of the store!

Taste our new releases

Friday July 24, 2009
4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Gallery Market at Union Square
222 Powell St.
San Francisco, CA
415-434-7222


Friday July 31, 2009
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Sheraton Petaluma
745 Baywood Drive
Petaluma, CA
707-283-2888

Saturday August 15, 2009
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
San Rafael Food and Wine Festival
Falkirk Cultural Center
Mission Ave, D to E Streets
San Rafael, CA
800-310-6563


Saturday and Sunday August 29 & 30, 2009
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Bodega Art, Wine and Seafood Festival
Benefitting: Bodega Volunteer Fire Dept. & Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods
Watts Ranch
16855 Bodega Hwy
Bodega, CA
707-824-8717

Wine Water Issues Simmer in California

Mendocino and Sonoma counties face restrictions; Gallo may pay penalty; vineyard will demo conservation options.....
A third consecutive dry year is heating up debate about water resources in California's North Coast vineyards; agriculture in general and the winegrape industry in particular are seeing increased official and public scrutiny of their water-use practices. A recent article in a Mendocino newspaper cast light on the controversy. Addressing "struggles with lack of water for agriculture," the Ukiah Daily Journal described a historical anomaly (or governmental misstep) that gives most of the water in the Lake Mendocino reservoir to Sonoma County, forcing Mendocino's Redwood Valley to purchase water from the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA). The article drew numerous reader comments, most of them vehemently hostile toward the grapegrowers who comprise Redwood Valley's largest industry, contributing an estimated $30 million annually to the local economy. Clic on this Link for the rest of the article

Wine Adds Five Years to Life, More Than Beer, Dutch Study Finds

Half a glass of wine a day may add five years to your life, a new study suggests. Drink beer, and you’ll live only 2 1/2 years longer.
Dutch researchers followed 1,373 men for more than four decades, noting their eating and drinking habits. Men who had about 20 grams of alcohol daily -- equivalent to a half a glass of wine -- had 2 1/2 years added to their life expectancy at age 50, compared with men who didn’t drink at all, according to the research published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Men who consumed only wine had twice as much added longevity. Click on this link for the rest of the article.

Rielle 2009 Charity Wine Tasting Calendar

We will pouring our wines at the following fundraising events. These venues provide opportunities to support important community organizations, taste our wines and place orders at special discounts as well as receive free shipping within California.

We hope to see you there!

Saturday & Sunday April 25th & 26th 2009
11:00 am - 4:30 pm
Apple Blossom Fair Wine Garden
Benefitting: Sebastopol charities
Ives Park and the Sebastopol Veterans Memorial Building, 282 High Street, Sebastopol (Parade on Main St.)
Sebastopol, CA
877-828-4748

Saturday April 25th 2009
6:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Great Chefs of Marin
Benefitting: Lifehouse
Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.
777 San Marin Drive
Novato, CA
415-472-2373

Our wines will be poured at the dinner and will be part of the silent auction.
The Great Chefs of Marin is one of the premier food and wine events in the Bay Area. Over 20 of Marin's finest restaurants prepare gourmet food accompanied by the wine country's finest wineries. Other libations include margaritas, martinis and beer. Bud E. Luv and Huey Lewis chair the event which also include live music, dancing, a silent and live auction. It is a black-tie event, held on the grounds of Fireman's Fund and attended by about 550 guests. It is the major fundraiser for Lifehouse, a non profit agency serving people with developmental disabilities in Marin and Sonoma Counties.

Since 1954, Lifehouse has opened the doors of opportunity and independence to individuals with developmental disabilities through life skill training, community integration, advocacy, referral and information. Our mission is to improve our clients' quality of life by providing a lifetime of compassionate support in an atmosphere of respect, inspiration and purpose.

Home wine shipments legalized in Kansas

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed into law legislation allowing Kansans of drinking age to order up to 12 cases of wine a year to be shipped directly to their homes. Click on this link for the rest of the article.

San Jose lawmaker's beer/wine-tax plan is back

SACRAMENTO — Jim Beall's first stab at a beer tax was downed last year by opposition and ridicule. Undeterred, the South Bay assemblyman is back at it — and this time, his proposal for a hefty new fee on alcohol may have a better, ahem, shot at passage.

Beall's Assembly Bill 1019 would slap a roughly 10 cents-a-drink levy on beer, wine and hard alcohol. And he's structured it as a fee, which can pass the Legislature with a simple majority vote, rather than a tax, which takes a two-thirds supermajority to be enacted.

Also possibly aiding his cause this time around is the fact that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year proposed his own nickel-a-drink alcohol tax as part of his budget plan. The governor eventually dropped the tax and his office said Monday he's not interested in revisiting it. But the fact that Schwarzenegger once was on board with the idea could bode well for Beall's idea, particularly if the state budget outlook continues to deteriorate.  Click on this link for the rest of the article

Ultraviolet tool may reduce need for sulfites

A new piece of technology built in South Africa and being tested at various wineries around the world, including California, may have a solution. It uses ultraviolet rays to zap unwanted microbes and yeasts, reducing the need to add the sulfites that have traditionally done the job of preserving the wine - and making some people feel lousy.  Click on this link for the rest of the article

Rielle 2009 Charity Wine Tasting Calendar

2009 Rielle Charity Wine Tasting Events

Sunday, March 29, 2009
4:00pm - 6:30pm
Symphony of Food, Wine and Art
Benefiting: Santa Rosa Symphony Music Education Programs
Wells Fargo Center For the Arts
Santa Rosa, CA
707-546-8742

Saturday, April 4, 2009
6:00pm - 8:30pm
Pick of the Vine Wine Tasting
Benefiting: Senior Advocacy Services of Sonoma County
Garrett Hall
Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Santa Rosa, CA
707-526-4108


Saturday & Sunday April 25th & 26th 2009
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Apple Blossom Fair Wine Garden
Benefiting: Sebastopol charities
Ives Park and the Sebastopol Veterans Memorial Building, 282 High Street, Sebastopol (Parade on Main St.)
Sebastopol, CA
877-828-4748


May 16, 2009
Tiburon Wine Festival

May 23, 2009
Newport Beach Food and Wine Festival

May 30 & 31, 2009
Wine Country Classic
Infineon Raceway Historic Car Races

June 2009
Cigarbq
Santa Rosa, CA

August 29, 2009
Petaluma Wine, Jazz and Blues Festival

August 15, 2009
San Rafael Food and Wine Festival

August 29 & 30, 2009
Bodega Art, Wine and Seafood Festival