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W i n e s & V i n e s s e P T e M B e R 2 0 1 4 23 S E P T E M B E R N E W S Wine Foundry acquires Juice Box The Wine Foundry an- nounced its purchase of the custom-crush opera- tions and facility of Juice Box. The Wine Foundry will move from its current location at Opal Moon Winery in Sonoma to the former Juice Box location at 45 Enterprise Court in Napa. The Wine Foundry provides small-lot custom-crush winemaking services. Details: thewinefoundry.com. New president at Clos Du Val Steve Tamburelli is the new president of Clos Du Val Winery, where he will be responsible for all operations of the winery located in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley. Tam- burelli is a native of Napa who has worked in the wine industry his entire career. Before joining Clos Du Val, Tamburelli was the chief operating officer at Flora Springs Winery. Details: closduval.com. Promotion at Kistler Vineyards Jason Kesner was promoted to the position of winemaker at Kistler Vineyards in Sebas- topol. Kesner joined the winery in 2008 after overseeing vineyard operations at Hudson Vineyards in Napa. "This promotion is a recognition of the progress Jason has made over the past six harvests at Kistler," said winery founder and owner Steve Kistler. "I look forward to continue working with Jason at Kistler for years to come." Details: kistlervineyards.com. Fetzer to retire, close Ceago winery Jim Fetzer announced his decision to retire as well as the closure of his family's Ceago Vin- egarden winery on the shores of Clear Lake in Lake County. Fetzer's son Barney will con- tinue to manage the family's vineyards, which Fetzer said will supply wineries throughout the region. Keplinger joins Grace Family Helen Keplinger is the new winemaker at Grace Family Vineyards in St. Helena. Keplinger will oversee the production of the Grace estate wines and work with vineyard manager Kirk Grace. Details: gracefamilyvineyards.com. Quixote sold to Chinese buyer Carl Doumani has sold his Quixote Winery, vineyard and home in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley to a subsidiary of Le Melange, an American company owned by a Chinese firm. Doumani said he sold the property for close to his asking price near $29.5 million for the 42-acre parcel with 29 acres of vines. Doumani kept a nearby 2-acre parcel, where he intends to move and tend the Petite Sirah vines planted on that property. Doumani says he will produce a small amount of Petite Sirah under the Encantado label, which he used for a tequila brand he developed with the late Pamela Hunter. New assistant winemaker at Pine Ridge Michael Conversano is the new assistant winemaker for Pine Ridge Vineyards in Napa. Conversano joins Pine Ridge after overseeing daily winemaking operations as the assistant winemaker at Bell Wine Cellars in Yountville, Calif. Conversano takes over for Jason Ledbetter, who was promoted to the post of winemaker at Double Canyon, Pine Ridge's sister winery based in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA of Washington state. Conversano will work with winemaker and general manager Michael Beaulac on all vine- yard and winery operations. Details: pine- ridgevineyards.com. Vera Trinchero dies at 76 Vera Trinchero Torres, who with her broth- ers Bob and Roger built Sutter Home into a national wine brand and established Trin- chero Family Estates as one of the industry's top wine companies, died July 22 at age 76. Trinchero was 10 when her family purchased Sutter Home Winery in St. Helena in 1948. She later married Ray Torres and worked in the family business overseeing its charitable activities. Trinchero Torres was a breast can- cer survivor and raised more than $1 million to fund breast cancer research. She is sur- vived by her sons Tony Torres, princi- pal and senior vice president of adminis- tration, and Bob Tor- res, principal and senior vice president of operations; her brothers Bob Trinchero, principal and chair- man, and Roger Trinchero, principal and CEO, and four grandchildren. Niner hires associate winemaker Molly Bohlman is the new associate wine- maker at Niner Wine Estates in Paso Robles, where she will focus on the winery's Pinot Noir and Chardonnay programs. Prior to joining Niner, Bohlman worked in winemak- ing at CrossBarn winery in Sebastopol. Bohl- man will work closely with Niner's winemaker Patrick Muran and will make wine in the separate "craft" winery with grapes from Niner's Jespersen Ranch estate vineyard in the Edna Valley near San Luis Obispo, Calif. Details: ninerwine.com. Promotions at Merryvale, Starmont Simon Faury is the new winemaker at Mer- ryvale Vineyards in St. Helena, and Jeff Crawford is the new winemaker at Starmont Winery and Vineyards in Carneros. Both wineries are owned by Schlatter Family Wines, which also announced Charlie Plum- mer is the company's new national sales manager. Crawford has been with Starmont since 2007, most recently serving as the as- sociate winemaker. Faury joined Merryvale Vineyards in 2013 as assistant winemaker. Details: merryvale.com. LangeTwins wins sustainability award LangeTwins Winery & Vineyards in Lodi won the platinum medal in the Botanical Research Institute of Texas's International Award of Excellence in Sustainable Winegrowing com- petition. Five other wineries (four from Eu- rope and one from Texas) also won awards in the competition. LangeTwins has initiated several programs to bolster the sustainability of its business from improving wildlife habi- tat, water-conservation programs, renewable energy and integrated pest management. Red Caboose Winery in Meridian, Texas, won a bronze medal in the contest. California wine laws passed On July 8, Gov. Jerry Brown's office an- nounced that Brown had signed into law As- C A L I F O R N I A Michael Conversano Vera Trinchero Torres Steve Tamburelli News Briefs Wines & Vines welcomes news items from wineries, vineyards and industry suppliers located in the wine regions of North America. Send us your latest news by emailing edit@winesandvines.com. Items may be edited for clarity and brevity.