March 3 was an unusually pleasant day with the temperature soaring into the 70s. At Six Sigma Ranch, nearly a dozen professional vineyard workers competed in Michael's Vineyard for the title of Lake County's Best Professional Grapevine Pruner - and for cash prizes.

After the spectators had watched the pros' competition, Six Sigma winemaker Matt Hughes demonstrated the principles of winter pruning, and everybody got a chance to try the new skills in an amateur competition.

THE WINNERS (pictured from left to right): Amateurs: 3rd place (tie): Thomas Maddock and Dennis Fay; 2nd place: John Salvante; 1st place (tie) Mary Spencer and Kimball Shirey. Professionals: 3rd place (tie) Roberto Cisneros, Snows lake Vineyards and Arturo Martinez, Shannon Ridge Vineyards; 2nd place: Luis Fajardo, Shannon Ridge Vineyards; 1st place: Carlos Moscaul, Bekstoffer Vineyards.

This holiday season, Six Sigma Ranch & Winery is partnering with World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that has helped children in poverty for more than 60 years. Before Thanksgiving, we launched our holiday campaign  – "Buy a case of wine – we'll give a goat..." and "Buy half a case of wine – we'll give two chickens..." The response has been overwhelming, and a great number of goats and chickens are headed to their new families.

According to World Vision's web site:

Goats nourish hungry children and families with healthy milk, cheese, and yogurt. They are practical animals — flourishing in harsh climates while producing valuable manure to fertilize crops and vegetable gardens.

Chickens provide fresh eggs that are rich in protein and nutrients, and extra eggs and chicks can be sold to pay for basics. They are easy to raise  and will naturally multiply to impact generations of children. Each family that receives chickens is asked to give back hatched chicks to help another family in need.

As a farming family, we are thrilled to help fellow farmers get on their feet. Thank you for helping us reach out!

Back in June, the professional judges in the Lake County Wine Awards competition deemed our Michael's Vineyard 2009 Sauvignon Blanc "Best in Class", and several of our wines were selected to be part of Lake County's 3rd Annual People's Choice Wine Awards. The People's Choice competition took place on November 5, and we were thrilled to learn that two of our red wines were voted the best in their respective varietal categories: our 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and our 2010 Pinot Noir.

We invite our Wine Club members to be part of a fun photo contest.

The prize is our last Imperial bottle of 2006 Six Sigma Cabernet Sauvignon. (6 liters of wine in one spectalular bottle. Value: $700)

(click on the title to read more...)

RULES

• Each Wine Club member may submit up to three pictures.
• Pictures must be e-mailed to Else by January 31, 2012
• Photos must be sized 100kb-2Mb and include our logo.

We will post a selection of photos on Facebook and on our web site. On February 7, 2012, we will notify the winner.

Please note: By submitting your photos you give Six Sigma Winery permission to use the images in future marketing activities.

It was Saturday morning, and the lawn at the old stage coach site was hustling and bustling with activity. A hundred people mingled as they enthused about the Six Sigma wine and food pairings. Across the road, a couple of energetic Border Collies moved small groups of sheep back and forth under the mulberry trees. History buffs and designated drivers gathered around the display that was set up to depict the pioneers who settled the land of Six Sigma Ranch.

In a far corner, visitors took turns wrestling a pile of barrel staves into a perfect pot-bellied wine barrel; one young lady succeded and then there was a loud ... crash! ... as the bands were removed from the finished barrel and the staves fell to all sides, ready for the next person. In another corner, two dozen people were climbing onto a picturesque horse wagon, preserving the perfect KodaK moment. Just as you thought it couldn't get any livelier, a San Francisco trolley rolled in and another group of joyful guests quickly hopped off.

What was going on? Six Sigma Ranch & Winery participated in the 7th annual Lake County Wine Adventure and, during this last weekend of July, close to 800 people paid us a visit.

We were thrilled to see so many old and new friends, and grateful to all our helpers who made this event our best Wine Adventure ever: Madelene and her team who created delicious appetizers to go with our settler theme; Colleen who brought in her sheep and Border Collies and worked with them tirelessly all weekend; and friends, family and employees who served wine, answered questions, took photos, directed barrel building, provided decorations and props, manicured the grounds and, in general, worked to make every guest feel at home.

A heartfelt "Thank You" from

Kaj & Else

Our small herd of Black Angus cows have produced this year's crop of calves - a total of nine, including one set of male/female twins. The female twin was rejected by her mom and needed help. Jim and Bill Davis, our friends and cow experts, helped us get her jump-started on colostrum and a proteine-rich first meal. (Thank you to Bill's chickens for providing the eggs). Her name is Chiquita, by the way. She is now proficient in drinking formula out of a bottle, and she happily downs a gallon a day.

Next step is grain, and we've enrolled her in "Grain 101 - how to eat grain by hand-feeding." The main goal of this class is understanding the basics: 1) Grain goes into the mouth, not the nose. 2) Grain is not milk - no sucking required. 3) Grain is not grass - no front teeth needed to get it into the mouth. (Ouch!)

When Chiquita graduates from "Grain 201 - how to eat grain out of a bucket," she'll soon be ready to join her brother and her seven half-siblings who are having a blast in the valley.