Notes from Clay around 4th of July weekend

Woke up this mornig to find dew and fog at the ranch. Very cool up here right now. Ivan pitched a tent last night down where the fiesta was and I checked on him at 6am and his sleeping bag was wet, and of course both of the dogs that were sleeping with him were wet too from the dew.

Just a few vineyard notes. We have pulled leaves in the fruit zone of most of the vineyards, we normally don’t like to do this but considering all the uneven fruit this year due to the frost we decided to spend around 175,000$$ , so we could open up the vines and then after the leafing (on the cool side of vine only) go in and thin off the uneven fruit. In some cases the vineyards have been blooming for 6 weeks , therefore the fruit is very uneven . but not for much longer. We did not have a committee meeting or a budget review meeting to make this call, we just did it . so I feel comfortable we will be able to have some great quality this year. Some other companys I know are not even considering doing what we have done.

The crop looks on the light side except for zinfandel, it always seems to be heavy.

Next week mike and I will be looking at our chardonnay vineyards and getting a feel for what we have there.

Chris , I saw that roadrunner again yesterday at the picnic area on top of the la sierra vineyard, have not seen him since February. I thought the little bugger was dead. Ivan and I think he is a male as he is very colorful.

Lots of important people taking a look at lake county these days, so finally people are starting to see the value in lake county wine. AND THE REASON IS BECAUSE OF YOU OUT THERE SLUGGING IT OUT AND TALKING ABOUT SHANNON RIDGE EVERY DAY. THANKS

Anyhow, have a great weekend. We will see you soon.
And if anybody asks you for a wine recommendation for the weekend, tell them, “ I GOT 2 WORDS FOR YOU, SHANNON RIDGE”

Happy 4th of July from Shannon Ridge

Wow! It's been almost a year!

Time flys like an arrow, fruit flies like a bananna.

That was a favorite saying of a former employee of mine many years ago. Kind of a clever saying but the point is that time does fly straight and true when you are working hard. Many successes have occurred during the almost 1 year since I joined this venture...here are a few that come to mind...

• Distributor assignments have taken place in over 26 states.
• Shannon Ridge Sales staff has grown from 1 (John Girty) to add 4 regional managers and a brand manager.
• Production has approached 40,000 cases.
• Shannon Ridge has been and is being poured in high profile accounts like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Marriott Hotels, The Speedway Club at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Ballantyne Resort, The Cliff's Communities and Fleming's Steakhouse to name only a few.
• Shannon Ridge wines have earned over 20 Gold Medals and several 90 point scores from major wine publications.
• Another 500 acres of property in the Red Hills AVA was added to the 1000 acres of the original property in the High Valley AVA.
• Wine Warehouse in California picked up Shannon Ridge as one of the few California brands added to their portfolio this year.
• Clay Shannon is interviewed on the Wine Crush radio show syndicated in over 100 markets.
• www.justwinepoints.com awards 93 points to the 2007 limited release Shannon Ridge Roussanne (563 cases made) as well as 90 points on Sauvignon Blanc.
• Two industry publications awarded Shannon Ridge "Top 100" status for producing an exceptional Sauvignon Blanc. Both the Wine Enthusiast and Wine & Spirits Magazines awarded this distinction to Shannon Ridge.

There are many talented people that touch the wines before they ever make it to your glass, folks like Mike Wood, Director of Winemaking production, Celestino Castañeda, Vineyard Manager and the hundreds of workers that hand pick the grapes at the perfect ripeness. We could not be where we are without their tireless efforts.....

Continued success, be sure to ask for Shannon Ridge wines at your favorite restaurant or retail establishment and raise a glass...salute.

Proprietors – Clay and Margarita Shannon
Vice President Sales & Marketing – John Girty
Northeast Regional Manager – Kevin Conboy
Southeast Regional Manager – Chris Baker
Northwest Regional Manager – Kathy Brock
Senior Winemaking Consultant – Marco DiGuilio
Director of Wine Production – Michael Wood
Tasting Room Manager – Joey Luiz
Operations Manager – Adawn Wood

Venture Magazine article on Shannon Ridge

Click on each page to enlarge to a readable size. Very nice article written in Venture Magazine about Shannon Ridge...enjoy, spread the word.

Shannon Ridge welcomes newest member of the family.

Good Evening Folks,

I’m sorry to say but without your approval I have once again added another member to our family business. She is gorgeous, I met her today at the Entremont Ranch as I was viewing our vineyards and watching a golden eagle soar over the top of our chardonnay vineyard. As I drove around the corner I heard a cry of distress. I immediately jumped out of my pickup and started to chase this young babe through the vineyard. After crossing under three rows of vines I realized that this 46 year old man can’t chase the Babes anymore! As I retreated back to my Dodge Megacab pickup I un-holstered my blackberry and called upon our longest term family member, Martin Mendez. He answered the phone and said “Bueno”, I said Martin, this beautiful long legged, red haired, freckled faced lady has escaped through the vineyards and I want you to see if you can find her, can you help me out? Martin said “no problem, where is she?” I said “I last saw her jogging through block 4 in the north-west corner”. He said “I’ll go see if I can find her”. He called and said “I chased her down and captured her”. I told Martin that Margarita and Masha would rescue her.

I arrived home tonight at 7:30 to find that this gal is just unbelievable. She likes us and she fits right in. We think that she can definitely be in charge of the marketing department (sorry Blythe). This gal Rocks!

Please meet Clarice Kringle. She does not have much education; she’s young and new to America. I truly believe even with her skinny, long legs and extremely big ears and long nose, she will guide this company to a new level. Again, sorry to all; in a following email will be a picture of our new director of marketing – Clarice Kringle!

Sincerely, clay margarita ivan and masha

Ps , as long as everything goes well , you shall meet her at the end of june. And again , she will be living here on the ranch

Clay Shannon

Latest news from the road...Shannon Ridge wine news.

Wow, time flys when building a brand. Lot's of street work, meeting customers, working with distributor sales representatives, travel and yes, a lot of wine tasting. So without further adieu, here's the latest and greatest in a nut shell.

• We are at our 4 year plan in 2 years, we have now hired Kathy Brock and Carolina Gasman for the Northern California and Southern California markets as well as some surrounding states.


• We welcome aboard Blythe Beaubein who came to us from our Public Relations firm. Blythe brings a wealth of experience that we will all benefit from...look for some really great things soon.


• Joe Cumberland is now on the ranch (all 2600 lbs of him), some people have rescue greyhounds, we have a rescue bull.


• Sheep are now up to 90 head.


• Horse count is 3


• Dog count is 3


• Grape count is now 720 acres


• 2007 Chardonnay, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc. 2007 Viognier and 2007 Roussanne now being shipped. Sauvignon Blanc is now in the clear glass and the package looks incredible.


• We've just begun a relationship with The Cliffs Communities with a Shannon Ridge "Holdenried Ranch" Chardonnay and "The Cliffs Red Cuvee" wines. The wines should be shipping next two weeks. Please visit their website, this is a special place and very special people.


• Virginia distribution is now in full swing with Service Distributing Company. Product was very well received in the market and the brand continues to grow despite the economy.


• John Girty, Kevin Conboy and I spent a week working the Florida markets in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa. Made many new placements and friends along the way.


• Clay met me in Atlanta last week (his first time to Georgia) and we spent the day working with Dave Mason from Quality Wine & Spirits. Highlight of the day was when Cork wine shop was so blown away by our 2006 Chardonnay that they bought 10 cases on the spot. We had dinner with Joe Best, President of Quality. He had us meet him at Muss & Turner, a great boutique restaurant for some good food and wine (Shannon Ridge of course). Next day was spent with Wine educator and writer, Jane Garvey and then over to Quality to work with Scott Cochran making some good presentations and gaining commitments for future placements in the stores around Atlanta.


• Clay and I left Atlanta for the drive back to Charlotte for a good nights sleep and off the next day for the Historic Beaufort, NC Wine & Food Festival. Jessica Ferrari, our representative from Empire Distributors had been very busy selling Shannon Ridge before we arrived. She had sold over 40 cases before we arrived so we spent our time going around and meeting the customers that are helping to build the brand. Clay signed bottles and shook hands...life is good. That evening we participated in a Chocolate and Wine pairing using our 2006 Barbera and 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon along with artisian home made chocolate flavors like chili, coffee bean, sea salt etc. Guests had a great time and we sold the Cru Wine shop out of Barbera and Cabernet.
  

Clay Shannon explaining the unique growing area in Lake County as Tom Kaiser listens during the wine & cheese seminar as part of the Beaufort Wine & Food Festival.

Beaufort is a great town full of friendly folks, history and fun. Gaskill's Hardware is over 102 years old and full of stories and just about anything you might need. Ask for Grey, the owner and tell him Shannon Ridge sent you in. OK, out the door for some more sales calls in Asheville, NC this week. Off to Miami next week for more successful placements

Unique Shannon Ridge wine by the glass program.

Bradenton Beach, Florida
April, 10, 2008

Special thanks to Steve Soboleski at Opici Wine Company of Florida for helping to put this program together.

The Sun House Restaurant & Bar
111 Gulf Drive South
Bradenton Beach, Florida 34217
www.thesunhouserestaurant.com

Starting May 1, 2008, The Sun House will be featuring Shannon Ridge wines by the glass with a unique concept for a table tent. No table tent will be used. Instead, volcanic rocks from the vineyards of Shannon Ridge will be hand selected by owner Clay Shannon and his son Ivan. The rocks (size of a softball to baseball) will simply be set on the table top as a "Conversation starter" says Chris Fielder, General Manager of The Sun House. Chris goes on further to explain: "If we had a traditional table tent with the wines printed on it with prices, our servers would never get to make the presentation about what makes this place and the wines so great". "With the rocks on the table, guests are sure to ask what that is and why it is on the table". "This provides a perfect opportunity to make the presentation".

Please visit The Sun House during May, 2008 and order up your glass of Shannon Ridge......giddy up!