Jean Davia just made me aware of this video that will give you a little flavor and history about the the place where we will meet in about a week. I can not wait to taste George's wines. It is not too late to make your reservations if you have not done so already, so do it now..... and don't miss the fun and good times.
We got good coverage about our reunion today on the first page of the Business and Technology Section. Check it out!
Just a couple of weeks before our reunion folks!. Please make your reservations and send your check as soon as possible. We really want to get an accurate head-count. Is there any reason why you can not make it? Great food, scenery, wine and old friends. Probably our only reunion, so don't miss it!
Thanks to the generosity of George MacLeod and his winery, we were able to reduce the price for the fantastic luncheon. The price is now only $40 per person. We want to make it as affordable as we can so that you all have the opportunity to attend. Please make your reservation as soon as you can!
Just learned from Elka Duffy, Peter Duffy's wife that he is suffering from stage IV colon cancer. Peter was the quality control manager at Monsanto Opto. We will surely miss him at the reunion. We wish Peter all the best and send our prayers to Peter, Elka and the Family.
In a fairly recent article in "Travel and Leisure" Magazine, an editor described his experience at George's Vineyard. I thought I would share this with you as this is what we can expect at our May Reunion.
ONE MORNING AT 7:15, THE PHONE RANG. IT WAS GEORGE MacLeod, a local winemaker. "You've got to come right now-they're here!" It was the first of a few harvest days for the Sauvignon Blanc grapes at MacLeod's vineyard, which happened to be just next door. The harvesters had arrived-a group of Mexican workers who'd been picking his grapes for the past 30 years. They'd come before dawn and would be done within hours-20 tons of grapes later. MacLeod and I had been introduced by the owner of the house we'd rented, and he'd invited me to the harvest. His is a relatively tiny vineyard: most of his grapes go to larger producers, though he also bottles his own (very delicious) wine. It was a beautiful morning-cool but with the promise of warmth soon to come, and heat not long after that. There was mist hanging over the vines, and disembodied, otherworldly voices calling out now and then in Spanish. We'd met at the barn and now MacLeod was walking me through the property, stopping to chat with various foremen and workers, handing me grapes to taste, and generally talking without pause, like the born raconteur that he is. About the grapes, the wine, and the soil, and about the rocks in the soil (there were many of them when he bought the land, dug up and removed with backbreaking effort). He was wearing an old Monsanto Roundup branded windbreaker-he retired from the agribusiness giant in 1979; the vineyard was his dream, a "retirement project" that became the family business. He explained, all irony aside, how the vineyard was now going organic. A few days later, we returned for an open-air wine tasting. My wife, father, daughter, and I sat at a picnic table in the shade of a huge old oak tree in the middle of the hilly vineyard with MacLeod and his daughter-in-law Marjorie. We picked some grapes and compared the taste of the sweet juice with the wines they eventually produced, taking measure of the winemaker's alchemy. It tasted like magic. Hello Monanto Opto folks!
You have the opportunity to write here about any interesting history or story that you would like to share with us. Give it a try! We look forwadr to seeing you May 5th! John Torok |
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