Albion News

Acorn Soupe Tree Of Life Gala in Napa

 

Some of the most committed friends we know are at Acorn Soupe in Napa, CA. Their focus is no less than opening the minds of our youth to the endless relationships and responsibilities of the world we inhabit. Annually, Acorn Soupe has a benefit auction whose donors include the most well known names in Napa wine artistry. The proceeds go to the programs which Acorn Soupe offers to bettering their community. Please visit a list of the associated donors. Here is an excerpt from Acorn's website:

Join us on Saturday, September 23rd, 2006, as Spottswoode Estate hosts ACORN SOUPE’S 7th TREE OF LIFE Annual Gala featuring London-born charity auctioneer, DAVID REYNOLDS. The evening is set at Spottswoode Estate on the western edge of St. Helena in Napa Valley. The 46-acre estate, established in 1882 by George Schonewald, is distinguished by the historic Victorian home depicted on the label. Classic formal gardens grace the entrance to the house, while the 40-acre vineyard stretches behind to the Mayacamas Mountains.

A vast array of wines, including collectible vintages will be offered at the auction along with marvelous getaways. Join us for a memorable evening of casual elegance underneath the stars enjoying a sumptuous meal complete with fine Napa wines.

Doors open at 5:00 p.m. Seating is limited to 200 - limited tickets still available. $150 per person. For more information, contact us at [email protected].

As this event is a fundraiser to support our children’s programs, we ask that you support our policy to consider all purchased, yet unused tickets/ tables a donation within 45 days of the event.

Book soon as they are almost fully reserved. The Albion Millworks is offering a wine cellar consultation and wine tasting. See you there.  RP

Albion Millworks and Clos du Bois

Our friend in all things wine Erik Olsen, VP and head winemaker at Clos du Bois Vineyards, asked us to build a wine library for his company based in Geyserville, CA. Erik and Deborah Olsen are the nicest and most gracious folks we know. Erik remains very humble about his years of experience with Simi, Chateau St. Michelle, and Mondavi. I had built (along with the help of his great kids Caroline and Christian) a residential cellar in their wonderful Healdsburg home.

The main wine lab and corporate tasting room at Clos du Bois needed organization for the vintages of their numerous vineyards. The task was to create a system suitable to address the various needs of case storage, ease of access and code required health regulations.

Given the commercial budget and needs, we focused on a custom, aluminum system which is two bottles deep so that one case would fit on a shelf. This way a specific vintage could be easily located and tasted over time. Storage was created to accomodate 750's, magnums and 375's. Since the lab is a few feet away, the area is central to all staff for tastings and conferences.

Fortune Brands, which recently purchased Allied Domecq (of which Clos du Bois is a majority holding), manages a broad portfolio of vineyards from Mumm to Jerry Garcia, from Sonoma to Argentina. Erik's love and focus is on the premium boutique holdings and he is on the road constantly connecting with their growers. I believe that Clos du Bois buys 20% of Sonoma County grapes which makes them a major player in sourcing choice grapes. Here is an excerpt from a Santa Rosa Press Democrat article by Kevin McCallum:

Clos du Bois, already one of the largest wineries in Sonoma County, is planning a $28 million expansion that would double the production capacity of its Geyserville facility. The winery, which Fortune Brands purchased last year, gained approval in May to increase production from 1.75 million cases annually to 3.5 million. The project is a sign that yet another leading Sonoma County winery is planning for continued growth.

"The demand for quality Sonoma County wines has never been stronger," said Mary Burnham, spokeswoman for Beam Wine Estates, the Healdsburg-based wine division of Fortune Brands, a consumer products conglomerate. "We are very excited by the future."

Completion of the expansion, which is not expected until 2011, would make the Geyserville Avenue facility the second- or third-largest wine production facility in the county, depending on its competitors' plans. Kendall-Jackson Winery is currently the largest winery in the county, producing 3.5 million cases annually at its facility near the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. Gallo Family Vineyards winery in the Dry Creek Valley makes about 3 million cases, and has approved plans to increase production to 4.9 million cases, which would make it the largest winery in the county.

Clos du Bois has seen steady growth for more than a decade. It is the second-largest U.S. wine brand in the over-$10-per-bottle "super premium" category, Burnham said. The vast majority of its wines sell for between $10 and $18 a bottle, with some reaching over $100.

Try their Marlstone, Dry Creek Zin or Alexander Valley cabernet for a true taste of their quality.  RP

Napa inspiration: Acorn Soupe

In 2002, July 4 precisely, we were privileged to return from several years in Nashville, TN to northern California.

In Nashville, we had tons of lovely friends, artists, musicians and dear bon vivants to hang out with, to work for and to travel with especially to France and back to our roots in California. After Nancy finished her MA from CIIS in San Francisco and began the PhD online, she wanted to return there;, Richard had an opportunity to return us to California, to work in Napa and Sonoma with an excellent green builder whom we have mentioned before, Bruce Hammond of Hammond Fine Homes. After moving across country again, we were privileged to have a few months respite by living on Bruce Neyers' (of Neyers Vineyards and Kermit Lynch Imports) lovely vineyard in a second home Bruce had recently acquired, which we promptly decorated with our art and then spent lovely days and evenings sharing meals and sunsets with friends. Thanks to Bruce and his family.

During that time we became active with Friendly Favors, a world wide, world class networking group started by our friends, Sergio and Gaye Lub, community activists and world travelers of deep heart and wisdom. Through Friendly Favors, we began meeting other lovely Napa and Sonoma folks at our intimate pot lucks where we shared food and discussed important issues with innovative people into the night. (If you would like to know more about Friendly Favors, contact us for an invitation.)

Two of those folks who hosted a dinner during that time were Sandra and Jim Perry of St. Helena. The Perry's opened their new, gracious and elegant home to us all on several occasions and the Perry's have generously hosted Richard and Nancy several times when we've travel to St. Helena from Monterey. We love being able to "go local" and immerse ourselves in the beauty of the area and the intelligence and creativity there even as we appreciate the cool fog, people and stunning nature of the Monterey Bay area.

At the time that Friendly Favors was becoming busier connecting brilliant people, perhaps under some of the influence of what we were all learning, Sandra Perry was also creating an environmental education program, Acorn Soupe, with her mom, Babe McCormick. From Jeff Mathy, Acorn Soupe's Outreach & Marketing Coordinator we got a little snip of the history of how Acorn Soupe came into being:

"Two women, both of whom grew up on a ridge between Napa and Sonoma counties, created Acorn Soupe.  Family heirs Babe McCormick Learned and her daughter Sandra Learned Perry, Acorn Soupe’s invaluable board president, had the vision, spirit and mettle to form McCormick Sanctuary, Inc., inspired by the creation of a 1,000-acre preserve from the historic McCormick Ranch. Their vision of Acorn Soupe incorporates meaningful ways to connect youth to their surroundings, engage them in stewardship activities, and teach them to teach others to make positive, personal decisions about the environment." 

All the emphasis in the above quote is ours, The Albion Millworks, and all we can say is Wow! Donating Napa land to environmental education!

We have now been delighted to watch over these years the program grow and flourish through hard times and now to become embraced and adopted widely in various communities in both Sonoma and Napa counties, through the generosity and vision of Sandra Learned Perry, her family and their community. We are happy to alert you to their work and ask you to consider connecting with them somehow, through a donation or some kind of involvement. To learn more, visit their useful site at www.acornsoupe.org

Their 7th Annual Tree of Life Gala Fundraiser is about to happen September 23rd at the lovely Spottswoode Estate in St. Helena: http://www.spottswoode.com/  If you would like to attend, be aware that seating for the auction and fundraiser is limited and contact Acorn Soupe very soon to participate. (You reading, Nashville and other friends? What a great time to come visit!)

In the next few weeks will be featuring more on The Acorn Soupe Tree of Life Gala and some of the wonderful auction items and generous donors. Stay tuned. A recent list of donors and donations can be found here but will be updated soon: Download donationsweekaug8.pdf

Today's Building Dilemma

I built my first house in 1971 when friends and family conspired to purchase 60 acres outside of Burlington, Vermont. At that time, a couple of local forward thinking advocates named Ben and Jerry set up shop in a gas station and dished up the best ice cream from contented cows. I wonder what ever became of them?? Current US Congressman Bernie Sanders was the mayor and we all lived on the shores of Lake Champlain with the most memorable sunsets in existence.

The house was inspired by Ken Kern's book, The Owner Built House, and built out of recycled railroad ties (pay no attention to that toxic creosote).

Imagine today still living in a place where you are able to go to a neighbor and have him mill up local cherry logs into furniture grade material; living in a place where the biggest thrill on a snowy winter night is having a stranger from New York get stuck in the blizzard on our road and after pushing them out, celebrating with a bottle of wine.  In more sober moments now, as a long time craftsman, I try to revisit those times for a reality check on our current building situation. More and more, I am confronted with what I call The Modern Dilemma of building, the often graceless dance between clients, contractors, budgets and expediency rather than craft.

Most often, the Client hires well known Architect, Architect hires friend General Contractor, General Contractor hires cheap Labor to make his margin and we Finish Guys are hired at the end of the project to fix all the problems that the Labor didn't know how to do, that the Architect didn't have a plan for and that the General Contractor hadn't included in his useless bid.

All the time, the General Contractor is screaming, "you're taking too much time, hurry up, I'm losing money".  Am I leaving anything out??  Don't get me started on Interior Decorators and their charges and timelines.  At the end of the day, the Client has to pay big dollars for useless waste. Hello, Extreme Homes, I am offering you a series on The Great American Rip Off.

I understand that my 35 years in nail banging does not a sage make but I have observed this odd human process called building.  Today, I looked at a friend's house who had hired a cousin with "years of experience" to do a quick remodel. As I stood in a totally demolished shell with a floor 3 1/2" out of level and studs an inch out of plumb, the distraught owners had the "deer in the headlights" look. They hadn't bothered to get a building permit, were red tagged by Codes and were living with above mentioned cousin while he did their suppossedly "quick" remodel. They asked me, "Could I suggest some advice ??". For some reason, my answer of gasoline and a match fell on deaf ears.

My point is, whether its a small remodel or a 20 million dollar architectural wonder, I see the same disconnect happening. All good builders are slandered by unscrupulous contractors. Home owners are also lost in the haze of DIY cable programs, architects beyond their grasp of materials, glitz design magazines and SubZero fever. I am in the difficult position of being a problem solver and also in the money chain of expenses. If I keep my mouth shut and solve the problem, I make more money from the Contractor paying me to fix the problem, that could have been done right the first time, and if I do it quickly, then the Contractor might receive a bonus for completing ahead of schedule. But it all ultimately costs the Client more in the end because costs were so tight on the front end and things were done wrong.

Wait, this isn't new. I can just hear the designer talking to the Pharaoh... Listen Ramses, its a hip pyramid design built out of ten ton stones that come from 200 miles away and it may take 50 years to build. But trust me, you'll love it...

I started building because of my love of space, texture and creativity. The Modern Dilemma in custom building has all these dynamic elements but is missing the one item that the American Dream Machine doesn't offer...integrity.

As a craftsman, I look for intelligent clients; clients who have been through this before and know that doing it right the first time, even if it seems to initially cost more, may in the end, be most effective, aesthetically and financially. Those kind of clients are the ones I like the best: those who know how to be collaborative, co creative and respect the skills and experience of all those involved. We honor each other through our personal committment to integrity in building a home or a commercial space and a relationship. Now that, to me, is art.

Just for the sake of nostalgia, here are a couple of classic books.

Paradoxes of sustainability II: Earthbound and beyond?

I, Nancy, began this blog with a deep intent of honoring my husband's motto for The Albion Millworks, that we are interested in "building sustainable relationships."

I have for some time also wanted to honor and celebrate our local organic growers, Earthbound Farms, where my niece, Sara, had her first ever job, working at their farm stand when it was first opened.

But on this very cool gray August 1, 2006, here on Monterey Bay, as world leaders meet in secret just nearby, and the world many other places nationally and internationally, is literally burning and on fire, I wonder how we can ever honor our intention of building sustainable relationships, such as organic growing promised, at least at first, before corporate growth changed it all?

This entry is not an endictment of Earthbound at all; it is a questioning about how any and all of us live. I personally know that Earthbound has done a pretty good job at trying to manage growth honorably. This is about the fundamental disconnects and dysfunction of the way we ALL grow, economically.

Please indulge my reflections as I begin by asking a few questions and then I hope to point to some materials, from friends, that echo some of these questions and offer options if not absolute solutions, that I and we may find useful as in our mutual struggle to live with integrity,  to honor relationships with each other and the environment, making them as sustainable as possible.

I have written from the beginning of this blog that I wonder how we can be sustained on this planet if we don't understand first of all economics? To that end I posted on this blog a picture and link to our dear friend Tom Greco who has done much to educate and participate with communities world wide to develop sustainable economies. Still, how can we be sustainable if our economic policies exploit and exhaust people and the environment?

How are we to survive a leadership in the US who has openly admitted to believe in "end times"? How did voters get to be lead by a religious zealot rather than a civic servant? How do "we", left, right, center, human and non human, survive when leadership believes in a path of death and chooses it for us? Where is our individualism honored in this kind of authoritarianism?

How do we end this insanity?

It seems that some very hard reality is upon us whether it is the Mideast and the very real potential of world war or the US where the well being of the middle class is being constantly eroded by unelected maniacs who refuse to believe in democracy. What has happened to we the people???

Many of us have embraced the "green" movement including the "organic" movement, and yet none of this will work when our economic system is built on exploitation of the people, environment by dominant the few.

Another friend besides economist Tom Greco is our friend Catherine Austin Fitts, doing Earth changing work as Solari (www.solari.com).

CAT is brilliant but in my experience, she can be sometimes dismissed because she is intense, challenging us to understand the darkness of corruption. (And she can be a bit righteously Christian.) So reading her and following her ideas can feel pretty bombastic to some of us. But that said, she just posted an important critique of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth on the From the Wilderness site in an article, The Source of Hopelessness: A review of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. 

What CAT is saying, is that Al is wrong in not dealing with economics and that its not the environment, its our relationship to the environment, based on an economic system that is a "tapeworm" economy, eating us up from within. A rather brilliant if painfully metaphor for the unsustainable way we live and trade on this dear blue green planet.

Secondly, I have wanted to bring into this blog the work of Geo. Monbiot, a brilliant English social critic who writes for the Guardian who has, on his own blog, one of the best explanations of how, ironically, "going organic" will lead to degradation of the soil and of the planet, ultimately. Thanks to Tana Butler of www.smallfarms.typepad.com for alerting me to Monbiot's blog and posting on the unsustainability of organics: http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2000/11/01/small-is-vulnerable/

For now this is all that I will write. Not very cheery nor upbeat but like all recovery processes, perhaps sobering. I hope that some these ideas might help each of us in just some small way live more sustainably, more tenderly just in case these are, as our leaders would have us believe, "end times."