Furry Scurry fun!

One of Cru Vin Dogs favorite events of the year is happening this Saturday. 

It’s the 19^th annual Furry Scurry!

The Furry Scurry is a two mile walk in Wash Park that benefits the Dumb Friends League. And for the second year in a row, Cru Vin Dogs is a part of it!

Photo courtesy of the Dumb Friends League

Last year, Cru Vin Dogs showcased the not-yet-released Loyal Companion wines at the Furry Scurry. These wines are part of our “Save a Life, Pour It Forward” movement – where we encourage people to share the Loyal Companion Chardonnay and Red Blend with their friends and family, knowing that they are helping a canine friend in need. For every bottle sold, $0.50 goes back to a local animal shelter. In the Denver metro area that charity is the Dumb Friends League and in 2011 we donated over $4,600 to them based on the sales of The Loyal Companion!

It’s not just the charities who have noticed the wines: The Loyal Companion Red Blend has received 88 points and “Best Buy” status from Wine Enthusiast. It also received a gold medal from the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The Chardonnay has received a bronze medal from the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and 88 points from Food & Beverage World.  

This year, we are going even further by promoting the Furry Scurry with the Loyal Companion Feature. You can help the Dumb Friends League, even if you can’t attend the actual Furry Scurry -- just look for this smiling face in the windows and wine stacks at your favorite restaurant or liquor store. Pick up a bottle of the Loyal Companion wines at any of those locations and $0.50 of every bottle will help support the 19th annual Furry Scurry. Click here to see a list of participating restaurants and retailers. 

If you are attending the Furry Scurry, be sure to stop by our booth and say "hello".

For more information on the Furry Scurry, please visit ddfl.org.  

Everyone needs a little TLC

Happy Thursday! Hope everyone is having a good week. 

I wanted to let you all know about a little competition we have going on at our Facebook page.

Here’s the idea:

You post a photo of your dog, tell us why he or she is your Loyal Companion, ask your friends and family to vote for your photo, and you could win a case of wine and a donation to the charity of your choice!

The person whose submitted photo receives the most “likes” will get a case of The Loyal Companion wine and $100 donation to their favorite dog charity. There are also great prizes for second and third place.

We’ve had a lot of great submissions so far and people are having tons of fun telling us all about their adorable pups.

Here are a few of my personal favorite submissions:

Charley is a cancer survivor. He runs, jumps, and plays on his three legs with the vigor of a puppy.

  

Brixton is a retired Canine Companion for Independence who now helps raise other CCI puppies.

This one is just fun. If there are two things I love (beside wine, of course) it’s snow dogs and basketball.

Which photos are your favorites? Have you voted already? Which one did you choose and why? Did you submit your own dog to the contest? Make sure you tell your friends and family to vote for your pooch!

Have a great weekend everyone and be sure to check out our Facebook contest!

We're back!

Welcome (back) to the Cru Vin Dogs blog!

Jenn's dog, Sasha, visiting the gallery

 

Just a few months into 2012, and it is shaping up to be a huge year for our wine group. Considering all the exciting developments that have happened recently, we thought there was no better time to re-launch the blog.

We are dedicating this space to better developing a relationship with you, our supporters and friends. Here you will find tales from our events and experiences and updates on any happenings with Cru Vin Dogs. There will be information about our wines, charity partners, crew members, wine education, and useful information for you and your furry friend. 

We want to share stories about how we are “Pouring It Forward” – giving back to our canine companions and the people who help them. We also want to share your stories – how you found us, how you are “Pouring It Forward”, why our wines matter to you, and what makes your dog special.

Cru Vin Dogs prides itself in being more than your average winery – we’re not just about selling delicious wines -- we’re about fine art, giving back to canine causes, and community. This blog is an opportunity not just for you to learn more about us, but for us to learn more about you. Please feel free to email us any stories you have or send us questions or comments. We would love to hear from you and would love to share your tales with the rest of the Cru Vin Dogs community. Email us at info@cruvindogs.com, and remember, if you’re talking about your canine companion, it always helps to include a photo.

Cheers!

"A Bird Story" by Tony Wasowicz

A couple of weeks ago I was walking my Whippets (Devo & Jimi) around the neighborhood when we were suddenly stopped in our tracks by the sight and sound of around a dozen extremely agitated crows in the trees above us, staring down at us and squawking wildly. Crows are quite common in this neck of the woods (northern California) but I’d never seen them make such a commotion. After stopping and standing and staring back at them a minute or two we moved on. But a few steps later both dogs and I jumped back as a small, but furious, crow hissed and snapped at us from behind a small shrub along the sidewalk.

We backed away and crossed the street and continued our stroll. It was a classically beautiful Sonoma County evening – the fog was rolling in and you could smell the sea -- but I found that I had lost all appreciation for it. I kept thinking about that bird. I knew that the crow was injured and I knew it wouldn’t be long before a cat came along and discovered an easy meal. It was very tempting to try to forget the whole incident and get on with my busy day but I simply could not. I turned and walked the dogs quickly back home.

Not knowing exactly where to turn I leafed through the phone book until I found the answer – Bird Rescue Center. Perfect, I thought. I felt a bit smug as I dialed the number. I was taking the time to help an injured animal. I was going out of my way to do the right thing.

The lady at Bird Rescue was both pleasant but business-like. I described the situation and she immediately diagnosed it as a fledgling crow that likely wasn’t so successful on its first flight from the nest. But then she surprised me.

“Can you secure the bird?” she asked.

“What?” I said. “Ummm, well… I found it on a walk. It’s several miles away.”

“You need to get a pillow case and carefully secure the bird and bring it to us.” She responded.

I have to admit that I was taken aback. I guess I expected a hearty “Thanks!” and assurance that a bird expert would be dispatched immediately to get the bird, nurse it back to health and release it happily back to the wilds. It seems like that’s how it works in the movies, anyway.

I think the lady sensed my disappointment. “I’m sorry. We have very few volunteers.” she told me. This, of course, makes perfect sense. Who in the world has the time and energy and desire to drop everything at a moment’s notice, drive around picking injured birds up off the sidewalk and nurse them back to health for a few weeks? And do it for free?

So I found an old pillow case and hopped in my truck and secured the bird. Then I drove it out to the Santa Rosa Bird Rescue Center. Wow – what a cool place! It’s a small operation with a very homey feel to it. Inside there’s some fun and informative displays on various local birds. Out back there are numerous large cages filled with recovering and resident hawks, owls, vultures and a sleek and shiny peregrine falcon. The fledgling crow I dropped off was deposited in a cage with other crows in a similar predicament. They would be hand fed several times a day and released when able to fly.

I went back to the Center the next week for an open house and met many of the volunteers. I filled out a membership card and wrote them a check. And now I’m hoping to help organize a fundraiser in the fall. Now, I’m not writing this to congratulate myself. Like everyone, I’ve used the excuse of too busy, too tired, too broke many, many times. In my case it took a wounded little bird on the sidewalk to remind me that there’s a lot more to life than work and bills and my next vacation.

So what does this blog have to do with winemaking and vineyards? Well, look at it this way – think of how much more amazing that first sip of wine is going to taste at the end of the day if you’ve tried your best to help others and be a good person.

Cheers!

Tony


P.S. I had a bottle of the 2006 Cru Vin Dogs Chardonnay last night. It was KILLER!

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Cru Vin Bugs

I’m a huge fan of bugs. I find them extremely cool in both appearance and behavior. They live pretty much everywhere and outnumber us humans by some astronomical factor. And, most important to me, they’re environmental indicators – they tell us about the health and balance of the world we live in. But what do bugs have to do with making great wine?

A lot.
(Honey bee foraging on a mustard flower. This picture involved a little camera and a lot of luck.)


(Right:Chardonnay shoot among flowering cover crop.)

Insects have co-evolved with plants for millions of years. It’s simple -- without bugs there can be no grapevines. And the vineyard manager can choose to either fight insects, ignore them, or work with them. Sadly, most vineyards are not bug friendly. And ironically, it’s when we try to “clean the slate” and eliminate bugs from the system that problems quickly arise.



Conventionally farmed vineyards are continually tilled, compacting and destroying soil life and exacerbating erosion. Furthermore, the application of caustic chemical pesticides and herbicides kills all bugs, good and bad (you won’t find many bugs of any kind in a conventional vineyard). And since the very first invaders to a sterile system are always weeds and pests then it’s pretty easy to see the folly in this hyper-management approach to farming. Obviously, I’m a huge fan of organic and sustainable farming.

The amazing west Dry Creek Valley vineyard where I source much of the fruit for Cru Vin Dogs wine is farmed organically. In place of tractors and salty fertilizers is a herd of English babydoll sheep, which convert the weeds and grasses to fertilizer, naturally. Instead of spraying Roundup herbicide we encourage and foster a healthy ground cover to provide food and habitat to the ladybugs, soldier beetles, lacewings and syrphid flies that naturally feed on any grapevine pests before they can get established. This vineyard is never sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. There’s simply no need. This is not only a very good thing for the environment but also a very good thing for wine lovers – happy vines produce great grapes which make outstanding wines.


So I encourage everyone to give bugs a little respect. After all, we cannot exist without them. But just to prove I’m not completely bug-obsessed I’d like to close this blog with a couple of pictures I took recently of warm and furry mammals. Keep drinking great wine!

---Tony

(Left:Betty and Mowgli -- very happy vineyard dogs.)



















(Right:This lamb was born just hours
before I took it's picture. Seriously cute.)




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"Jasmine, the Mother Theresa Greyhound"

Hello Readers,
One of the benefits that have come from hosting this blog is that I get to hear so many great stories about animals. I'm a total sucker for them and I've loved every one. I also enjoy getting to share them with all of you. Who couldn't use beautiful stories like these?

I received one recently that is particularly moving. It's about a Greyhound named Jasmine, who was found in 2003, in Warwickshire, England, in need of help and shelter. She then took to mothering all the animals in the shelter, giving them comfort and love, regardless of their species. If you love animals, you simply HAVE to read it.

Check it out at:
http://www.greatpetnet.com/630/jasmine-the-mother-theresa-greyhound/#more-630

She and other animals from the shelter, such as a parrot named Barney with a foul vocabulary, have attracted some great press for the shelter. Animal shelters can never have enough support and recognition.












I'll also take this opportunity to recommend a book I just finished, (no doubt, most of you have already heard of it), "Marley & Me", by John Grogan. I've heard the movie is cute, but varies, and you can't beat the full experience of reading the novel films are based off of.

It's a beautiful book about life and love as a pet owner and it takes you through the life of Marley and all the changes the family goes through in his lifetime. From Marley's puppy-hood to life as an elderly dog, John keeps you laughing, and certainly crying. I don't recommend finishing the book on a plane, (especially in the window seat without Kleenex like I did. I was a blubbering mess with Southwest cocktail napkins in a pile on my tray table). But the tears are worth it and it's proved to be a great catharsis for many others who have read it and have also lost their beloved furry family members. See the website for the online community of fans who have found comfort in the book and each other at http://www.johngroganbooks.com/marley/share/index.cgi

All the best to all of you out there, bipedal and quadrupedal alike, and keep the stories coming!
Kristin

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Tony's "Bud Break and Blending"

I get asked a lot – “What is your favorite vintage?”

My answer is always the same – “The next one.”

I certainly love and enjoy every wine I make from every vintage but I must admit that my focus is always on what’s ahead. Especially this time of the season. With longer and sunnier days of early Spring comes bud break in the vineyard. The bare, dormant vines have weathered the cold, dark, wet winter and now the green shoots are just starting to burst from the swollen buds. It’s hard not to see this event as the very birth of the 2009 vintage wines. Soon there will be a heck of a lotta work to do in the vineyard – mowing and suckering and keeping tabs on the multitude of beneficial insects that inhabit the vineyard cover crop. But until then there’s plenty of work to do in the Cellar. Early spring is blending season in the winery. So rather than wandering the vineyard I’ve been spending most of the time wandering the Cellar, tasting through wine lot after lot, barrel after barrel.

(Left: Bud break on a chardonnay vine.)

A great blend is a great thing. And whereas the goal of our Best In Show series is to showcase the terroir of an individual great vineyard, the Cru Vin Dogs Portrait and Puppy series wines are crafted to highlight the very best features of carefully selected fruit from my favorite vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties. The key to a great blend, I think, is familiarity with the grapes. I’ve worked with some of the vineyards used to source Cru Vin Dogs wines for as long as 13 years. So although the flavors, aromas and textures of individual lots of wine in barrel may evolve month to month, I have a pretty good idea of where each wine is headed and what it can contribute to the final blend.

(Right: Dry Creek Valley on the western edge of Sonoma County. One of the most beautiful wine growing regions on earth.)

Once I’ve selected the components for a blend it’s time to focus on the composition. I spend a lot of time with a table full of sample bottles and a graduated cylinder -- tasting, tasting, tasting (I know – it’s tough work but that’s my job!). Blending, for me, is kind of a Zen thing. I don’t pay much attention to the lab numbers from the Enologist. I also don’t rely on standard “recipes” or try to follow what others have done. I do have a very specific idea of the style of wine I want – wines of balance, character, finesse and age-ability.

Eventually, I’ll narrow the huge field down to just a few favorites. This is actually fairly easy for me – either a blend “clicks” or it doesn’t. I try not to over-think it. And once I’m happy with a blend I always look for fresh opinions from trusted sources. I’ve got a lot of good friends with some of the finest palates in the business – Winemakers, growers, sommeliers, and, of course, the entire Cru Vin Dogs team.

In the end, the final blend sent to bottle is the product of years of very hard work by countless people. My goal is to justify all that time and effort with the creation of something really special in every wine I make. Ultimately, the wine must befit such a label as Cru Vin Dogs. It’s gotta be good. Really, really good. And I think it is.

-Tony

(Left: The grapes for the Cru Vin Dogs 2005 Bloodhound and 2006 Golden Retriever chardonnay came largely from this hillside vineyard in Dry Creek Valley. This vineyard is planted with strips of insectary flowers between the rows. These plants provide food and habitat for beneficial insects which provide natural pest control. Organically farmed, this vineyard is never sprayed with pesticides or herbicides.)

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