She soon opened a new practice in Napa and set about looking for vineyard land, as you do when you've grown up in Sonoma and western Marin counties, the daughter of avid gardeners.

"Eric and I have long valued agriculture and land," Rocca said. "We like the idea of growing and producing from the land, so it was inevitable that we would want to have a vineyard."

Still, it took 10 years for Rocca and Grigsby to save money, find and buy the right red-grape vineyard, a 21-acre dream spot on the valley floor in Yountville, now named for Grigsby, at the northwest corner of Silverado Trail and Yountville Crossroad. A few more years passed, and they bought another plantable patch of land in the cooler Coombsville area of Napa, a 12-acre parcel they planted themselves to cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot. They named it the Collinetta Vineyard.

Originally, they sold the Grigsby grapes to thirsty Napa Valley wineries looking for great cabernet sauvignon and syrah, including Stags' Leap Winery, which had been buying the fruit for years.

But as these things so often go, Rocca eventually could not resist the nagging temptation to noodle around with making a little Rocca Family Vineyards wine as well.

"It all started because we had these beautiful vineyards we'd been so meticulous in finding and cultivating, we had the soils of Yountville and we had an absolute love of the land," said Grigsby.

A serious woman when it comes to her passions " people, gardening and food and wine " for her first vintages Rocca hired consulting winemaker Celia Welch Masyczek, considered among the finest cabernet consultants (Staglin, Hartwell, Scarecrow) working in Napa.

With the right vineyards, the right winemaker and Rocca's vision, from the onset the wines have been seriously good " particularly the dark plum and mocha cabernet sauvignon, a blend of fruit from the family's two vineyards, and a smoky, cherry-tinged syrah, also now sourced from the two estates. They produce around 2,000 cases in all.

But Rocca Family Vineyards surprised everyone when in 2007 it won first place at a blind tasting of 2002 California cabernets organized by the American Vintners Club at Chateau Brane-Cantenac in Bordeaux, an event attended and judged by dozens of Bordeaux's upper echelon. Among its competitors were some of Napa's finest, including Caymus Special Selection, Ramey Wine Cellars Jericho Canyon, Ridge Monte Bello and Flora Springs Rutherford Hillside.

That same year at a Vintners Club of San Francisco blind tasting of a dozen California cabs from the 2004 vintage, Rocca's wine again placed first, ahead of Shafer Hillside Select, Ridge Monte Bello, Dominus and others.

Buoyed by such early and unexpected success, Rocca last year decided she needed a full-time winemaker of her own, so with Masyczek's blessing and personal recommendation she hired young up-and-comer Paul Colantuoni. Raised partly in Europe, Colantuoni was introduced to the great wines of France and Italy in his early teens.

"Those wines were a revelation," he recalled. "Being introduced to such beautiful wines at such a young age had a profound impact on me. Those wines continue to influence my winemaking."

Originally planning to be a doctor, at Princeton Colantuoni switched majors in his senior year from chemical engineering and molecular biology to romance languages, with the goal of becoming a winemaker.

"I started looking for a wine job in Napa," he continued. "I had never been to California but I knew Napa was America's wine mecca and I wrote a blind letter to Tim Mondavi and explained that I had no experience but that I was motivated."

Colantuoni soon found himself working as a wine educator and lab tech at Robert Mondavi Winery. Living and working in the Napa Valley, he eventually met a young winemaker named Ehren Jordan, who had trained in Cornas, France, in the northern Rhone. Jordan hired Colantuoni as his assistant winemaker at Neyers Vineyard in Pritchard Hill.

Colantuoni's sensibilities have served him well. After Neyers, he trained at some of the world's most vaunted, old-world wineries, most notably Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, where he further honed a noninterventionist winemaking approach.

"My job is to stand out of the fruit's way," he said. "(Rocca's) sites have wonderful rocky soils with excellent drainage, great climate conditions and sun exposure. All of the pieces are already in place to make world-class wine."

Cabernet is Rocca's focus, but Colantuoni's hire and past training in the Rhone invites questions on whether syrah might take on more weight. Rocca also makes an approachable, Bordeaux-style blend called Bad Boy Red " the elusive, cowboy-hatted fellow on its label rumored to be Grigsby " for $32.

With that name, Bad Boy might be more noticeable on a store shelf, but the true story of Grigsby and Rocca is one of good deeds.

Having worked so much in the field of patient care, in 1997 the couple founded the Grigsby-Rocca Foundation, an international nonprofit that originally provided health education and care in underserved areas of the Unites States, including helping patients with transportation and healthcare at Grigsby's pain management clinic in Napa.

Most recently, their efforts have been focused on providing end-of-life care to AIDS patients in Malawi, Africa, in conjunction with the Mayo Clinic. Grigsby trained in anesthesiology and pain management at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., then later joined the staff, teaching at the Mayo Medical School before moving to California.

"Mary and I moved to Napa with the dream of owning vineyard land, but we never lost sight of the larger international community," Grigsby said. "We consider ourselves fortunate to have some medical expertise and we've made it our mission to establish the necessary medical infrastructure around the world to offer palliative, end-of-life care."

Infused with good people making good wine, Rocca Family remains one to watch, a story still unfolding, one with a very good beginning.

The San Francisco Business Times is reporting that 1-800-Flowers.com may buy what remains of New Vine Logistics, the wine shipping and fulfillment company based in Napa that went bust earlier this week.

1-800-Flowers currently owns Wine Tasting Tasting, also based in Napa, so the thought isn't entirely far-fetched.

New Vine sent out an email statement to the media on Tuesday, June 2, the same day the compoany officially ceased operations. In it, New Vine founder Kathleen Hoertkorn, and chairman of the board Homer Dunn spelled out several points.

One - "New Vine Logistics is currently working with customers to transfer all services to another means of legal direct shipping, and in the meantime, is finalizing all work, including compiling of reports, reconciling inventory and invoices, and performing all of the necessary business operations for the months of May and June."

Two - In response to comments that the company knew it was in financial trouble, Hoertkorn affirmed that they "truly believed that they would have been funded and were not expecting to have to cease operations."

"New Vine has always been committed to quality, legal service, and built the only service that integrated compliance and fulfillment," she continued. "It does cost more to be compliant and follow all the laws established by the various states. The company also pioneered many solutions such as temperature controlled packaging. The whole objective was to allow wineries to concentrate on sales and marketing, versus the back end processes from inventory to fulfillment to special services to compliance."

New Vine was founded in May 2001 by wine industry, technology and transportation veterans to help wineries with the interstate sale and distribution of wine. The company developed proprietary fulfillment systems to enable consumer-direct shipping in up to 44 states.

Hoertkorn stated that she will keep winery customers, employees and shareholders advised of next steps. "We deeply apologize for the situation, and we pledge to work with our customers to make as smooth and expedient shipping transition as possible."

With her pressed blue jeans, boots and done-up hair, it'd be easy to peg Patti Fetzer as the tough yet reticent heroine of a country song. And maybe if the second-generation grape grower were from the Tennessee Mountains instead of Mendocino's Redwood Valley, she would be. Because origins aside, Patti Fetzer has always had the classic American soul of a doer, a survivor, a woman determined to make it on her own.

"She's a get-her-done kind of person," said older brother Jim Fetzer, "a very astute business person, focused, artistic and fun."

Patti grew up the fifth of 11 Fetzer children born to Kathleen and Barney Fetzer, an accountant and housewife who came to Ukiah to work in the lumber industry and restore an old, 800-acre Redwood Valley ranch with grape vines and room enough for the kids to run around. In time, their efforts would evolve into Fetzer Vineyards, among California's pioneering family wine empires, its first commercial release coming in 1968.

"She's a really good people person," added younger sister Mary Fetzer. "People love her. She's always happy, ready to go and likes to have a good time. Party Pat."

But behind the good times and easygoing nature, Patti Fetzer, 56, has had her share of heartache " the early death of her father, the exceedingly tragic, untimely death in 2005 of her first husband and partner in Patianna Organic Vineyards, followed by the fatal rafting accident a year later that took her brother Bobby.

"What she's gone through is pretty difficult. It's been a huge, emotional ride for her," said Mary. "She had to pick up the pieces and move ahead."

The Fetzer brood is used to moving on when the unexpected occurs. When patriarch Barney Fetzer died of a heart attack in 1981, the kids took over, growing the business from 200,000 cases a year to 2.2 million by 1992, the year Brown-Forman bought the name and its brands " Fetzer, Bel Arbors and Bonterra " the latter among the first large-scale wines made from organically grown grapes.

With brilliant foresight and a marked pronouncement of its ties to the land, the family did keep after the sale acres and acres of vineyards they had bought over the years throughout Mendocino County. They split the pieces among themselves, and in 1997 Patti laid claim to 126 acres in the Sanel Valley near Hopland, a pristine former pear ranch bordering a mile or so of the Russian River, already planted in spots to her beloved sauvignon blanc.

"A lot of it was the sauvignon blanc," Patti said of why she chose this property over others. "This ranch really fit the bill for me."

The Russian River's proximity makes for gravelly soils underneath those vines, an ideal set-up for sauvignon blanc and sauvignon musque, which she has also planted here, with a touch of chardonnay, too. Mike Lee of Kenwood Vineyards was the first to take notice of the grapes, certified organic since 1993, and bought them for his own wines. He was followed by Groth, St. Supery, Benziger, Wattle Creek, Sterling, Clos du Bois and Bonterra.

Patti always wanted her own brand. In 2003, she launched Patianna Organic Vineyards, 3,000 cases of crisp, nuanced sauvignon blanc grown on her own land.

Husband and business partner K.C. Burke wouldn't get to enjoy its growing success. He and friends Tom Hobart and Karl Esposti were among the victims of a single-engine plane crash in April 2005. That left Patti, barely 50 years old, to continue on.

"Nothing's easy. If there was an easy way we'd all be doing it," she said. "But (farming) becomes a lifestyle. It's just in our blood."

Since Burke's death, Lee, retired from Kenwood and a close friend of the couple, has stepped in full-time to help Patti make the Patianna wines.

Having grown up on the bustling Fetzer Home Ranch, Patti remembers working every day alongside her parents and siblings, learning every aspect of farming and the wine business.

"Myself and Mary, we got thrown in there with the guys (older brothers John, Joe and Jim)," she recalled. "It was great. We'd drive the tractors, load semis. They'd pull into the dock and Mary and I'd go out there and the truckers would look at you ... 'You guys going to do it?' Yeah."

During harvest they'd pick and as they got older run presses, do payroll " a little bit of everything. It was also growing up that Patti and her siblings learned firsthand to embrace organic farming, a philosophy, along with biodynamics, they almost all still adhere to in their various wine enterprises.

"Our family started that organic movement after Dad passed away. We definitely were the leaders," Patti recalled. "When we first bought the Home Ranch, you'd go down to the river and see salamanders and birds. Well here come the pesticides and herbicides, all of a sudden all that stuff is gone. We said, 'We've got to make a change here.'"

In keeping with that, Patti's property has been farmed organically since 1988; it was certified as such in 1993. In 2000 it also earned Demeter biodynamic certification.

The family remains tight-knit and close by. The Home Ranch, where they all grew up and where, until recently, matriarch Kathleen Fetzer, who is in her late 80s, lived, remains in Redwood Valley, the last physical remnant of their collective childhood. Along Old River Road near Hopland, a stone's throw from and contiguous to Patti's place is younger sister Diana Fetzer Dolan's ranch. Mary is only some five miles away, where she grows grapes under the name Haiku Vineyards. Brothers John (Saracina Winery), Danny (Jeriko Estate) and Joe (a grower) have adjoining ranches in Hopland along Highway 101.

North in Redwood Valley is brother Bobby's place, Masut Vineyards, which his wife and sons continue to farm. Sister Teresa is also in Redwood Valley, where she produces about 500 cases of Oster, an organic cabernet. Brother Jim has left Mendocino County, setting out on his own in neighboring Lake County to develop Ceago Vinegarden, a biodynamic winery and eco-resort on the shores of Clear Lake.

Patti is married now to Gregg Hileman, a former chef alongside John Ash at Fetzer's pioneering Valley Oak Food and Wine Center. She turned over the management of Patianna's national sales to him in 2006. They are building a home together in view of the vineyard and planning to make upwards of 15,000 cases of Patianna sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and syrah.

In the end, Patti is realizing all of her dreams, putting her energy and preference for staying busy to what feels like preordained use.

"I guess it's all more than I expected," she reflects when asked if her journey with Patianna has been all she thought it might be. "This brings it all back home. This is where we started. Farming is the way we began."

The fellows over at Medlock Ames winery in Healdsburg have grand plans for the historic and at the moment closed-down Alexander Valley Store and Bar, including a farm stand, store, speakeasy-style bar, tasting room and outdoor gardens.

Everything at the moment remains on paper, but construction is set to begin fairly soon on the one-acre plot of land around the old-time store, bar, storage sheds and even a house (famously offered to be given away for free to whomever could come and carry it away), with the goal to be open by this year's harvest.

A one-time gas station and landmark along Highway 128, a stone's throw from Jimtown Store, the Alexander Valley store and bar had long been a locals' hangout though not necessarily a gourmet stop for tourists or residents of the valley passing through.

Chris Medlock James and winery partner Ames Morison want to change all that, creating a comfy, inspired hangout for locals and tourists alike, in view of some of Cyrus Alexander's last remaining stand of vineyards.

Many more details to come as rebuilding and demo occurs. But rest assured the jukebox stays (99 percent country, 1 percent Madonna, as Medlock Ames GM Kenny Rochford described), though the selections may alter; the totem pole that served as the bar's dividing line between locals and non-locals will stay somewhere on the property; the restroom (delightfully labeled for "pointers" back in the day) expanded to accommodate non-pointers too. Beers on tap are still TBD.

The founders of Far Niente Winery in the Napa Valley, a great name in Chardonnay and Cabernet, are finally unveiling what has been known as a secret project, a new Russian River project called EnRoute devoted to Pinot Noir.

The initial release of EnRoute is due out this September, debuting with "Les Pommiers," a 2007 Pinot Noir from vineyard sources in the Green Valley and upper Middle Reach area of the Russian River Valley AVA.

The partners include Beth, Erik and Jeremy Nickel as well as Dirk Hampson and Larry Maguire, who jointly own EnRoute in addition to Far Niente, Dolce and Nickel & Nickel. For this project they bought two additional vineyards in Sonoma County - the Graton Vineyard, a 21.5 acre parcel planted to Pommard 5, Mt. Eden, Swan, 2A and Dijon clones 115 and 777. They also bought Amber Ridge Vineyard off Starr Road, 22 acres planted in 2000 to Pommard 5, Calera and Dijon clones 115, 667 and 777. Fruit from the 8-acre Manzana Vineyard also contributed to the blend.

The winemaking is being done by Andrew Delos, a former assistant winemaker at Nickel & Nickely and Pellegrini Family Winery, with the oversight of director of winemaking Dirk Hampson.

1,275 cases produced. Retail said to be in the neighborhood of $50.

Buena Vista Winery in Carneros is one of California's oldest winery and a pinot and chardonnay producer worth knowing. It'll be showing off its wines at a five-course dinner this Thursday night, May 21, at Bistro Boudin in San Francisco, part of the bistro's heritage wine dinner series.

Buena Vista winemaker Jeff Stewart, one of those classic, under-the-radar talents, will be on hand to pour and to talk about the winery's great history, having been founded in 1857 by the famed Agoston Haraszthy.

• Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m.
• $95 per person
  
• 160 Jefferson Street, 2nd Floor, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco
• Reservations: (415) 351-5561

The May 18 issue of The New Yorker features an 8-page (one a classic, full-page illustration) profile of Fred Franzia, the well-known Napa-based personality behind Two Buck Chuck and other inexpensive wines.

Upon the recent sale of his four-hundred-millionth bottle of Charles Shaw (Two Buck Chuck), he tells the writer, Dana Goodyear, "Take that and shove it, Napa... Four hundred million and climbing."

Other highlights from the piece:

• Franzia owns 42,000 acres of vineyards, "more than anyone else in the country."

• He crushes 350,000 tons of grapes a year, more, it's suspected, than anyone other than Gallo

• Bronco, Franzia's company, annually takes in more than $500 million and he sells more than 20 million cases a year

• He believes no bottle of wine should cost more than $10

• He is described as "squarish, like a gourmet marshmallow."

• One of the wineries he owns in Sonoma bottles 18,000 cases a day

• Karen MacNeil is quoted as saying about Charles Shaw Cabernet, "I don't understand how people put this in their mouths."

• He has some 20 brands waiting to be deployed

• His son Carlo, who works for him as head of security, carries a Glock

• In his closing quote, Franzia says, "We make wine for the people.. Napa and all their funny money - they're getting knocked off their thrones. I'm not falling. I'm built on rock."

This list is slated to run in Sunday's Press Democrat, but since that's cutting it a bit close, here are my suggestions for great places to go for cocktails - and of course food - this Mother's Day.

Barndiva

The brainchild of mother Jil Hale (son is Lukka Feldman), Barndiva is among our favorite places any day or time of the week, but seems especially right on Mother's Day. Its commitment to sustainably farmed food is one part of the equation, but more on point is the cocktail menu, seasonal favorites of which include the Arletty (housemade vanilla-infused vodka, Roederer sparkling wine and brown sugar cube doused with Marie Brizard liqueur) and Steamy Windows (cilantro and ginger muddled and shaken with Level Vodka and pineapple juice). The outdoor dining area makes it possible for those who consider their dogs to be children also to enjoy. Open Sunday at 11 a.m.

231 Center St., Healdsburg, 431-0100.

Boon Fly Café

An open, sun-lit dining room halfway between Napa and Sonoma, the Boon Fly has such deliciously fun items as Green Eggs and Ham on the menu (an herbed lemon-leek cream making it green); moms too will love the Brunch Martini (Absolut Vanilla, Lillet with fresh orange juice), Elderflower Sweet Tea (St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and Mighty Leaf California Fields iced tea) or POM Cooler (Domaine Carneros Brut Rose, fresh pomegranate juice and Madhava agave nectar). It also features "Zero Proof" drinks (the Pom Cooler without the champagne) for those moms without the time or spousal support to snooze things off in the afternoon.

At the Carneros Inn, 4048 Sonoma Highway, Napa, 299-4870.

Estate

Sondra Bernstein's latest gem, in the former General's Daughter mansion, has just recently opened its spacious, stately doors and outdoor deck for Sunday brunch. The menu is one part Italian, more parts sustainable Sonoma: much of the salumi is housemade and other starters include roasted red and yellow peppers, asparagus and other options from the Estate gardens. Leave room for the Chocolate Budino if you dare. Drinks wise, if a Bellini (Prosecco and white peach puree) doesn't do it for you, have a Limoncello Drop (vodka, Limoncello and fresh lemon juice) or Italian 75 (gin, Limoncello, Prosecco and fresh lemon).

400 West Spain St., Sonoma, 933-3663.

GG's Earth and Surf

With a bar menu of inspired organic vegetarian fare, GG's has an equally vibrant menu of cocktails, from a Tangerine Mojito to Cucumber Martini to GG's Margarita (fresh squeezed lime, Milagro Silver Tequila, agave nectar, splash of water, lime wheel garnish and half salt rim), enough to do your body good. GG's is named for owner Suzan Fleissner's mom, Grandma Gudran, as Fleissner's kids called her, and Great Grandmothers everywhere. Brunch is served 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

630 Third St., Santa Rosa, 528-1445.

Healdsburg Bar & Grill

The deal-sealer here, in addition to the great burgers, seared tuna, truffle-oil/parmigiano-reggiano fries and chopped salad, not to mention resuscitative Bloody Marys and more, is the sizable, enclosed, grassy run-around area adjacent to the outdoor tables around the patio, leaving just a sliver of a chance a mom might get the time to enjoy her meal. Open Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

245 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 433-3333.

Jack and Tony's Restaurant and Whisky Bar

Sazerac Old-Fashioned or Maker's Mark Manhattan - why not both? Grab some brunch and enlighten your whisky-attuned taste buds at Jack and Tony's, a recent addition to Santa Rosa open since February with an extensive wall of whiskies and single-malt scotch and eclectic, comforting menu - the mussels with chorizo shouldn't be missed. Open Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Railroad Square, 115 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 526-4347.

Rocker Oysterfeller's

Nothing says Mother's Day more than the words "saloon" and "outdoor patio," a worthy combination able to accommodate the dual sides of most of our personalities. The food at Rocker's is exquisite, tinged with the usual Northern California/West County sensibilities (local yogurt and Bloomfield Bees wildflower honey), whacked with plenty of Louisiana hot (Creole Caesar salad, braised chard, black-eyed peas). Cocktails are matronly though naughty - think Ramos Gin Fizz and Brandy Milk Punch. Sunday brunch (plus live blues today) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Valley Ford Hotel, 14415 Coast Highway 1, Valley Ford, 876-1983.

We all know Merry Edwards as la reine de pinot noir, and one of the reasons Russian River Valley pinot noir has won worldwide acclaim. Not to mention Merry's hard-to-find, please-let-me-have-some-more sauvignon blanc, also rocking, and also finally getting its dues.

What not as many people know is that Merry is also the devoted mother to two sons: Ben, who has recently joined his mom in her winemaking business, and Warren, who, as Merry puts it, "left this world on the wing of an angel during the harvest of 2006."

To honor his memory, Merry has made and bottled a small amount (300 cases) of Angel Wing Pinot Noir ($90) from a clonal field blend of grapes from her Meredith estate vineyard. She says that while dealing with all the emotions of her loss at that time it helped to find focus in the making of this wine.

Angel Wing is a moving tribute to Warren's memory, the first vintage of which is being released now, about the time Warren would have celebrated his 21st birthday. Merry plans to continue making blends from exceptional lots in his memory each vintage. This, the 2006, shows Merry's signature aromas of roses and wildflowers; the pinot then goes on to reveal deliciously sweet, rich notes of cinnamon and blackberry.

Or, as Merry's own description reads, "sweet and rich on entry, the fine palate wraps you in a mother's full embrace and doesn't let go."

Buy a bottle for the mother or (grown) children you love. And raise a glass to Merry.

Obit courtesy Marie Gewirtz.

WINEMAKER MCDONALD D. BLACKBURN

OBITUARY

JANUARY 22, 1954 - APRIL 23, 2009

Winemaker, philosopher, ballet dancer, social critic, craftsman, frontiersman, resource conservationist, skydiver, musicologist, writer, surfer, Scottish Presbyterian and devoted husband and father " Don Blackburn died after a valiant battle with cancer in the early hours of the morning on Thursday, April 23 at 54 years of age.

A man of insatiable curiosity, eccentric, noble and endearing with an impish sense of fun, Don lived his life with boundless passion. As a Norwegian-born, French-trained American winemaker, he leaves a legacy as one of the finest creators of Pinot Noir in the world.

Armed with a BS degree in Resource Conservation from the University of Montana, with a minor in French, Don returned to France where he had spent his senior year abroad. In Beaune he gained a BTS with honors in viticulture and enology from the University of Montpelier, and interned in the vineyards and cellars of famous Bordeaux and Burgundian wine estates to further his education. In Margaux, St. Emilion, Mersault, Alsace, Monthelie, and Vosne-Romanee, Don's passion for wine grew. Always the scholar, he studied texts dating back to the 17th century to uncover the roots of the practical aspects of winemaking, learning techniques that we are now rediscovering with the help of technology. While in France, Don also became the first foreign correspondent for the Wine Spectator.

His 25-year winemaking career in America includes winemaking positions at Elliston Vineyards, Bernardus Vineyards, Byington Winery and David Bruce Winery. His career culminated with the crafting of his finest Pinot Noirs at Emeritus Vineyards in the Russian River Valley, where his favorite vineyard has been renamed in his honor as McDonald Mountain.

One of Don's many protégés described him as the Plato of winemaking, although in actuality he preferred Aristotle. Don believed the finest quality a wine could aspire to was charm, not concentration, and while appreciating technology, in the final analysis he relied upon his intuition. Don never made wine "by the numbers," instead he used intuitive metaphors, often from music and poetry, when describing his wines. For Don, a wine might be like a Vivaldi concerto or perhaps a California bikini girl. His most cherished Pinot Noirs took on characteristics of Edvard Grieg, one of his favorite composers from the romantic period " who, like Don, had Norwegian roots.

As an avid social critic, Don cared deeply about cultural responsibility and education and enjoyed speaking about these things to whoever was willing to listen. Perhaps the person who listened most carefully was his son, Devon, who remembers his father as "a loving, caring father who did everything he could to teach me the right lessons in life." Don, in turn, learned the discipline of his life from his own father, a Brigadier General who helped establish the Army's elite Special Operations Forces, yet according to Don, "his whole life was dedicated to saving lives."

A celebration of Don's life will be held at Emeritus Vineyards on June 5 from 12:00 noon until (like his wines) the character of this charming man has been fully revealed, and his family and friends are left with an ineffable sense of well being.

Emeritus Vineyards is located at 2500 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472. Please RSVP at (707) 823-4464, though all are welcome, with or without notice.