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W i n e s & V i n e s A P R i L 2 0 1 4 23 New estate director at Mayacamas Jimmy Hayes is the new estate director at Mayacamas Vineyards, located near the summit of Mt. Veeder in Napa Valley. Hayes is a former sommelier who most recently was the vice president of sales and marketing at Araujo Estate, which is also in Napa Valley. As estate director, Hayes will manage day-to-day business at the win- ery including administration, winery operations and hospitality. Details: mayacamas.com. Beckstoffer buys vineyard land Beckstoffer Vineyards announced the purchase of the 190-acre Feliz Creek Vineyard in Hopland (Mendocino County) and a 60-acre walnut orchard adjacent to Beckstoffer's Crimson Ridge Vineyard in the Red Hills of Lake County. Both properties will be planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. Beckstoffer purchased Feliz Creek Vineyard from the Brutocao family. The new purchases will increase Beckstof- fer's holdings to more than 1,900 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon vine- yards in California's North Coast. Details: beckstoffervineyards.com. Winery son named winemaker Alex Sokol Blosser, son of Sokol Blosser Winery founders Bill Blosser and Susan Sokol Blosser, is the new winemaker for the estate winery in Oregon's Willa- mette Valley. Sokol Blosser takes over the post from Russ Rosner, who has retired after 15 vintages as winemaker. Alex Sokol Blosser and sister Alison Sokol Blosser have been co-presidents of the winery since 2008. Details: sokolblosser.com. WAWGG breaks attendance records The Washington Association of Winegrape Growers' annual con- ference in Kennewick, Wash., set a record with more than 2,500 members of the wine industry attending the convention and trade- show in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state. The tradeshow sold out and hosted more than 160 vendor booths, and the industry banquet (a charity auction for the Walter Clore Scholarship Fund) raised $4,600 for raffle tickets to win wine magnums. Details: wawgg.org. Bitner Vineyards earns LIVE certification Bitner Vineyards in Caldwell, Idaho, is the first vineyard in the state to earn certification from the Low Input Viticulture & Enol- ogy (LIVE) organization. Dr. Ron Bitner, who planted the 16-acre vineyard in 1981, learned about LIVE certification in 2010. Bitner, an entomologist and expert on bees, created a certification plan for the vineyard to support a beneficial environment for bees. Details: bitnervineyards.com. Tokyo Sapporo Osaka Hiroshima Nagoya Japan N O R T H W E ST Alison & Alex Sokol Blosser A P R I L N E W S