Hello Friends of Beltane!

Spring Gardens  

A sunny beginning to May gave us a head start on spring, only to be followed by much longer and later than usual rainy spells. This has prolonged our spring wild flowers and pasture grasses but delayed the summer crops. The fruit trees finished blooming before the late storms hit, so we're hoping for a great crop of summer fruits. The olives were blooming during the heavy rains and we won't know the impact on the crop until later in the year. We enjoyed an excellent spring crop of asparagus and now the raspberries are in coming in by the pound; soon to be followed by blackberries. We're looking forward to summer veggies including heirloom tomatoes, peppers, onions and potatoes. See our Spring 2011 photo album.

 

New Release: 2010 Beltane Ranch Estate Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc  

The 2010 Vintage is now available!  This intensely flavored, mouth-watering Sauvignon Blanc balances flavors of pear, apricot, and passion fruit with refreshing crispness and a touch of minerality. The 2010 vintage was harvested in two separate lots and blended in the spring. Alex and winemaker Kevin Holt sample the blends at right. The fruit was harvested in the cool morning hours, whole cluster pressed and then fermented in a combination of stainless steel and French oak barrels. The new vintage has received an exceptional response and is available directly from us as well as at our favorite wine country restaurants! At right: Beltane's Anne and Jean enjoy a glass with our friend Irene at our 2010 Release Party.  

2009 Vintage - Sold Out Gold Medal Winner! Our 2009 Vintage (our very first wine) was awarded a Gold Medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, The Largest Competition of American Wines in the World!  

 

Meet Greg

We are pleased to introduce to you the newest of our talented Breakfast Chefs at the ranch, Greg Markey! Greg comes to Beltane with extensive fine dining experience, including notable rolls at Auberge du Soleil, Masa's, and Brannan's Grill. What brings him to Beltane? Greg says he enjoys meeting people from all over and that people "are their happiest and seem content" when they visit the ranch. That might be caused by the delicious three-local-cheeses and ham rolled crepes he just served them....either way, we're glad to hear it! 

 

New Chicks!

We've expanded our flock of heritage breed laying hens and are currently integrating 20 new chicks into the group. They include Light Brahmas, Partridge Rocks, White Orpingtons, Columbian Wyandottes and Brown Leghorns.   

 

Vineyard Report

Luckily our Sauvignon Blanc vines were not quite ready to bloom when the storms hit. The photo at right shows the pre-bloom clusters. Each tiny bud must flower and be fertilized in order to form every grape. The photo at left shows Alex mowing the grasses between the rows of Sauvignon Blanc.  

 

 

 

 

 North Bay Sustainability Award

We welcomed our California State Assemblymember, Jared Huffman to the ranch this Spring and are honored to have received his North Bay Sustainability Award. We spent over an hour touring the ranch and discussing the property's diversified agricultural background as well as our current projects including a ranch-wide composting program. We enjoyed meeting Huffman and his team and ended our visit with a tasting of our Sauvignon Blanc. 

 

Grassfed Beef  

The rainy weather this spring has made for exceptionally lush grasses and a longer grazing season.  Our youngest cattle are crosses between Angus and Short Horn. These smaller and lighter boned British breeds flourish on our native grasses.  

 

Plein Air Artist Timothy Horn at Beltane

The Sonoma Valley Plein Air Festival brought talented painter Timothy Horn to the valley and he chose Beltane as his location. See all three works of Beltane (that's Old Yeller, our '53 Chevy). 

 

  

Sonoma Community Center TRASHION Show

Beltane's entry - handmade by Alexa and modeled at right by our friend Danae - in the Sonoma Community Center's annual Trashion Show was a crowd favorite! The fashion show and accessories contest features creations of all recycled and repurposed materials. Our "Cock-Tail Dress" featured recycled chicken feed bags, vintage ranch turkey inseminators, bird netting, dog food bags, old pvc pipe and mouse traps. The event featured a fantastic array of creative entries. See more photos and the video.

 

Where do you enjoy Beltane Ranch Wine?

 

John  & Laura from Kenwood, CA sent us this photo of a bottle of Beltane enjoyed in the gorge at Los Barriles, Mexico! 

 

Send us a photo of where you enjoy Beltane.

 

 

 

 Upcoming Events:

 

SONOMA FOURTH OF JULY PARADE 10am July 4th, 2011, Sonoma Plaza 

First place two years in row....Don't miss the best Fourth of July event anywhere! 

     

 

SONOMA WINE COUNTRY WEEKEND September 3rd & 4th, 2011  

Sept 3rd: Taste of Sonoma at McMurray Ranch (We love this event!)

Sept 4th: Harvest Wine Auction (Check out the Beltane Lot!)

 

 WINESONG! September 10th, 2011 

Food & Wine Tasting and Live Auction inside the Mendocino Botanical Gardens. We'll be there pouring our 2010 vintage and enjoying this beautiful location. Tickets available online.

 

 VINTAGE FESTIVAL September 23rd - 25th, 2011 

Patron's Night Gala, Weekend Plaza Wine Tasting and Art Fair and the Fire Department Water Fights! See you there!

 

SONOMA COUNTY HARVEST FAIR  Sept 31st & Oct 1st, 2011 

Grand tasting at the Annual Sonoma County Harvest Fair. Medal Winners & Great local food.

 

 

GLEN ELLEN VILLAGE FAIR Oct 9th, 2011 

The only time of the year when the main drag of Glen Ellen (all half-mile of it!) is shut down for a town parade and street fair. Come drink some wine with us!

 

   

We hope to see you at the ranch soon! 

The Beltane Ranch Family