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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
I love getting wine release invitations. It’s the closest thing a foodie freak like me gets to a red carpet movie premier.
Wine release parties are held in a variety of venues, whether it is a tasting room, vineyard, or sometimes even in the winemakers’ actual home. Six Sigma Winery held their spring release party last Saturday on their ranch just outside their cave. Instead of being a long red carpet you get to travel a long dirt road, which is much more fitting for the event.
The Six Sigma ranch can be a little bit intimidating upon entering since just after the “welcome” barrel is a sign saying that you only have two more miles to go. You will drive slowly down the one lane road looking at the vineyards, then the vineyards turn to cattle ranch, and just before you hit vineyard again you see the cave. To a guy who has never owned a plot of land that I couldn’t throw a rock across, it’s quite an impressive place.
Kaj Ahlmann, the owner of the Six Sigma ranch, was there talking to everyone as we tasted his wines accompanied with many different cheeses and crackers.
Christian Ahlmann surprises me every time I see him. Every time we meet, Christian remembers my name and where he saw me last, even if it’s been years. If my wife goes on a trip and comes back a week later I have a problem recognizing her so he’s definitely got an ability that I lack.
The first wine I tasted was the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from the Rooster Vineyard, which is aged in stainless steel vats. This is a very subtle wine that has a very light color and fruity flavor with what I thought was just a hint of lemon. If someone had never tasted wine before in their life this would be the perfect wine to get their proverbial toes wet with. I would want to pair this wine up with a halibut steak poached in a court bouillon.
The 2006 Tempranillo, arguably the most popular Spanish wine grape in Spain and gaining popularity everywhere, is aged in oak. I noticed a slight peppery start with black cherries and cinnamon. Being a tannic red wine it would pair well with meats but it is a little lighter than say a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Zinfandel, so I feel it would be a good pairing with barbecued pork.
The 2008 Tempranillo was being tasted right out of the barrel using a wine thief (a special siphon used to sample the wine from the barrel, which I can only not too eloquently describe as a glass turkey baster minus the bulb.) This was a very young tasting wine that I know is going to age into something great.
If you ever get a chance to taste a finished wine right next to a young wine still in the barrel, jump at the chance. It is quite an educational experience. I’d compare it to looking at professional photographs of a 25 year old supermodel right next to her high school class picture.
On the whole winemakers are very generous people and I have personally experienced that generosity on many occasions. For instance, Six Sigma is one of the wineries that donated to the inaugural Catfish Cook-off. At this release party I was again the beneficiary of this generosity as Michael Ahlmann was kind enough to let me sample a couple of wines that weren’t widely available.
The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from the Michael vineyard isn’t ready to be released but is oak aged. It is now my favorite wine with its peach nose (fancy wine guy speak for smell) and rich color without having an overbearing oakiness to it. This is a wine that I thought should be brought to a potluck dinner (I attend them frequently) because this wine would go well with all of the dishes that you associate with potlucks: ambrosia, asparagus in cream sauce, fruit salads, ham, cold cuts, even sweet potatoes with those little marshmallows. I hope the Ahlmanns take that comment as the compliment I intend it to be.
The 2006 Rose is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Sauvignon Blanc mix that is the perfect wine to encourage a white wine drinker to start dabbling into reds. It’s far from the cloy Rose that you can get at the kwik-e-mart in a jug. This is a wine that as I sipped I thought would be the perfect wine to sit on the porch and drink after a day of gardening, because it’s so refreshing and drinkable.
These are just the wines that are being released now. If you’d like to learn more about the wide variety of their entire line, take a look at their very informative Web site, www.sixsigmaranch.com .
Visit Six Sigma Ranch and Vineyards at 13372 Spruce Grove Road, Lower Lake, telephone 707-994-2086 or toll-free, 888-571-1721.
Ross A. Christensen is an award-winning gardener and gourmet cook. He is the author of "Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide" and is currently working on a new book. He has been a public speaker for many years and enjoys being involved in the community.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
I lay awake nights and ponder world troubles
And my answer is always the same
That unless men put an end to this damnable sin
Hate will put the world in a flame, what a shame…
Poet Laureate of the Blues, Percy Mayfield from his song “Please Send Me Someone To Love,” Circa 1950
In about 1979, I had backslid into the town of Hayward from where I’d graduated high school some 11 years prior to that. Wandering aimlessly downtown one day, I noticed that the marquee on the Brickhouse nightspot proclaimed, “Percy Mayfield, One Night Only.”
At the time my Blues well didn’t run very deep, but I did know that Percy Mayfield had written a couple of poignant tunes that I was familiar with, one of which was “Hit The Road Jack,” one of many large hits for Papa Ray Charles.
I didn’t even know what Percy looked like. One thing is for sure. My nose was wide open for this man of the Blues. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my life path had already taken a serious detour into Blues territory and this excursion to the Brickhouse was to be one of many.
That evening when I entered the club, the house band was already rockin’. (For the faint of heart and parents of minor children, please be advised that it gets a little kinky, probably in the next paragraph. You have been forewarned and disclaimed!)
Furthermore, CyberSoulChildren, this account is not meant to slander or besmirch the genius of Percy Mayfield. I was there and this is how it went down.
When Percy Mayfield was let out of the crooked booking agents white Cadillac in front of the club, he was very drunk. He also thought he was in Oakland, which, mind you, happens to entertainers who do a lot of one nighters, all the time.
Trouper that he was, Mr. Mayfield sauntered up to the stage, took the microphone and cued the band into a slow Blues. He then sang the following:
“You know I cried last night baby
and I cried the night befo’.
‘said I cried last night baby
and I cried the night befo …
Then to most folk’s astonishment, Percy Mayfield sat down not to far from me. He was done. The band played on and I struck up a conversation with him. Strangely enough, I don’t recall even addressing his abrupt performance. Neither he nor I, or for that matter even the club’s management said anything about it.
At some point a cocaine-addled person of the Brickhouse citizenry offered Percy a toot or three. To my surprise he accepted the offer. I followed them into the bathroom. To my further surprise, I took a couple of snorts myself. (Mind you, I’ve been clean 10 years. If I wasn’t would I be so blatant?)
When the little toot session was over, I noticed Percy about to go back into the club with a dirty nose.
“Percy, you can’t go out there like that,” I said. “Man you are a legend. Clean yourself up for your public.”
“You right, little brother,” he said. “You right.”
In that moment I became his guide for the evening.
We hung together until the club closed at 2 a.m. Blues legend or not, they bum rushed Percy Mayfield and I out of the club before the clock stuck 2:01 a.m.
I thought my guide shift was over. As I bade Mr. Mayfield farewell, he appealed to me solemnly, “Don’t leave me, little brother.”
“You right, man,” I said. “You’re a legend. I can’t leave you.”
I don’t remember much conversation in the two and a half hours I stood in the doorway of the Brickhouse with Percy Mayfield. I remember it getting pretty cold though.
Finally, after 5 a.m., the crooked booking agent in the white Cadillac pulled up and scooped up the Poet Laureate of the Blues, taking him, I imagine to the fify-leven hundred thousandth motel of his career. Percy thanked me as I shook his hand.
I watched the Cadillac carefully navigate down Mission Boulevard. I turned up B Street and headed home in the pre-dawn chill. A pickup truck cruised by at some point. The occupants slowed down to nonchalantly spew the N-word in my direction. The sting of it was deflected by my Karmic Muse.
About a year or so later, I read what was titled “The Last Percy Mayfield Interview” in the Pink Section of the Chronicle. It might’ve been written by Joel Selvin. I do remember that Percy Mayfield was terminally ill during the interview and it was published posthumously. To this day I feel righteously honored and blessed to have been in his presence that night.
One of the most detailed biographies on Percy Mayfield that I found on the web is at the following location: http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/percy.html .
Keep prayin’, keep thinkin’ those kind thoughts.
*****
Upcoming cool local events:
Blues Farm with Dave Broida, Blues Monday, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 15, Blue Wing Saloon & Café, 9520 Main St., Upper Lake. Telephone, 707-275-2233, or online, www.bluewingsaloon.com .
Open mike night, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 18. Blue Wing Saloon & Café, 9520 Main St., Upper Lake. Telephone, 707-275-2233, or online, www.bluewingsaloon.com .
Chicken & The Defenders play the Lakeport Summer Concerts at Library Park on Friday, June 19. Library Park, 200 Park St., Lakeport.
Pablo Cruise Friday, June 19. The Charlie Daniels Band Saturday, June 26. Cache Creek Casino Resort, 14455 Highway 16, Brooks. Telephone, 888-77-CACHE, or online, www.cachecreek.com .
Chris Botti in concert, 8:15 p.m. Saturday, June 20. Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, 8727 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville. Telephone, 800-660-LAKE, or online at www.konoctiharbor.com .
Smokey Robinson in concert, 7:15 p.m. Saturday, July 31. Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, 8727 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville. Telephone, 800-660-LAKE, or online at www.konoctiharbor.com .
The Four Tops in Concert, 9 p.m. Saturday, July 31. Cache Creek Casino Resort, 14455 Highway 16, Brooks. Telephone, 888-77-CACHE, or online at www.cachecreek.com .
T. Watts is a writer, radio host and music critic. Visit his Web site at www.teewatts.biz .
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKEPORT – Hundreds of community members gathered on Friday morning for the solemn opening ceremonies for “The Moving Wall” Vietnam memorial visiting the county this week.
The 9 a.m. ceremony took place at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Martin St.
The event drew men and women of all ages, and veterans from many wars and generations – from Pearl Harbor survivors up to veterans of the wars in the Middle East.
This is the only Northern California stop for the wall for the rest of the year. Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951, which is hosting the memorial, is expecting visitors from all over this state this weekend.
The Moving Wall will be open for visitation 24 hours a day until the closing ceremonies on June 15.
Speakers at Friday's event included Supervisor Jim Comstock, a Navy veteran who served during Vietnam veteran. Comstock noted that there was “no better place to be than right here, right now.”
Dean Gotham, president of VVA Chapter 951, the organization which is hosting the wall, thanked the community for its support and for making the wall's visit a success.
A table with a single place setting stood in front of the stage, representing prisoners of war and those missing in action. Each object represented a notion for POW and MIA soldiers: the white table-cloth represents the purity of intentions to respond to the call; the red rose represents blood and the family and friends who keep faith; the lemon represents fate; the salt the countless volunteers and families involved in the POW and MIA’s life; the Bible, strength of faith; the candle, the light of hope in loved ones' hearts and the illumination of the path home; and the overturned glass represents the fact that they can not toast with us today.
Three sculptures by local artist Rolf Kriken stand in the field before the wall. Each one has a strong tie to the meaning of The Moving Wall and all that it represents.
Chaplain Herman W. Hughes, LT, USN took the podium to share a few stories and a poem he wrote after Vietnam, entitled “The Street Without Joy.” He introduced the poem, explaining it was named for a stretch of Highway 1 from Dong Ha to Hue that came to be called “The Street Without Joy” during the French-Indochina War. Hughes was in Vietnam in 1968 and wrote the poem, which he dedicated to the people whose names appeared on the wall.
Street Without Joy
Verdant fields like manicured gardens,
Laced delicately with blue and
Starkly contrasted against barren
Dunes and rust hills, flash by
As cool monsoon rains pepper
The windows of the Huey
That carries me high above
The Street Without Joy.
Far below me unimposing.
Ancestral homes are carelessly
Sprinkled across a patchwork of
Rice paddies and stately hedgerows.
Majestic churches lift their
Spires in silent prayer as
Children tend water buffalo on
The Street Without Joy.
Peace and tranquility seem to
Pervade this pastoral scene,
The pain and ravages of war
Long past and almost forgotten.
But, alas, it’s only a sad
And transitory illusion, for
I know that Charlie still walks
The Street Without Joy.
Hughes then read the benediction.
The ceremony ended with a dedication and everyone rose to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, as a bugler with the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team played “Taps.”
Following the ceremony visitors began walking the length of the wall, with the Avenue of Flags – composed of 50 flags that had adorned the caskets of veterans – flying close by. Mementos – flowers, poems and pictures – had already begun to gather along the base of the wall.
E-mail Caitlin Andrus at
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During the past several days, Department of Health Services, Division of Environmental Health has received numerous inquiries regarding suspected raw sewage along the shores of Clear Lake near Austin Park, Clearlake Highlands and the inner harbor area of the City of Clearlake.
Upon initial investigation, the substance appears to be a blue-green algae species known as Aphanizomenon. The appearance of this form of algae easily can be mistaken as raw sewage.
According to the Lake County Water Resources Division of Public Works, recent weather and water conditions have been conducive to this type of algal growth.
Further analysis is in progress to confirm the exact species and to clarify any potential health impacts.
As a precaution, it is recommended that individuals of all ages and pets avoid swimming in or ingesting lake water in the affected areas.
Families should exercise caution in keeping children and pets away from the water.
For more information, contact Lake County Environmental Health at 707-263-1164 during regular business hours; after hours call 707-263-2690.
