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22 WINES&VINES May 2016 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS CALIFORNIA Bettinelli named Napa Grower of the Year The Napa Valley Grapegrowers announced Larry Bettinelli of Bettinelli Vineyards in Napa is the 2016 recipient of the Napa Valley Grower of the Year award. Bettinelli currently serves on the Napa County Disease and Pest Control District board, is the chairman of the Napa Valley Grape- growers Industry Issues Committee and president of the Pope Valley Farm Center. He is the former gen- eral manager for Christian Brothers, vineyard manager for Beringer Vine- yards, vineyard manager for Jaeger Vineyards and served as a helicopter pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps. New GM at Salvestrin Scott Lloyd is the new general manager of Salvestrin Winery in St. Helena. Before join- ing Salvestrin, Lloyd was the vice president of national sales for Frank Family Vineyards in St. Helena for 12 years. Lloyd will oversee Salves- trin's sales and marketing efforts including direct-to-consumer wine sales. NGWI names King president Camron King is the new president of the Na- tional Grape & Wine Initiative in Sacramento and succeeds Jean-Mari Peltier. Since 2012, King has been executive director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission, which represents 750 growers farming more than 110,000 acres of wine grapes. King is charged with overseeing the NGWI's efforts to secure government fund- ing and support for research and extension as a means to strengthen the competitiveness of America's grape and grape product industries. Sonoma groups donate nearly $3.5 million Representatives from the Sonoma County Vintners and Sonoma Valley Vintners & Grow- ers Alliance on March 31 donated $3,486,726 raised during the 2015 Sonoma Wine Country Weekend. The childhood literacy initiative Fund the Future was awarded $1,985,000, with the remainder divided among 81 charitable groups. The 2016 Sonoma Wine Country Weekend is Sept. 2-4, and the auction will be held at Cha- teau St. Jean Winery & Vineyards in Kenwood. Promotions at Thornhill Chris Brown has been promoted to the post of senior director for production planning and op- erations, and Clay Brock is the new director of winemaking at Thornhill Cos. in Santa Barbara. Brown previously was in charge of winemaking for Thornhill's Turn Key Wine Brands and man- aged both Central Coast Wine Services and Paso Robles Wine Services. Brown takes the position as an independent consultant, and Turn Key Wine Brands is the first client of his new business, Diligent Wines. He will lead opera- tional planning while building a foundation for the companies' future growth. Brock has more than 30 years of winemaking experience and will oversee all winemaking and bottling procedures at Turn Key Wine Brands, Central Coast Wine Services and Paso Robles Wine Services. Lake County auction raises $150,000 for fire relief A charitable wine auction hosted by #LakeCoun- tyRising for victims of the 2015 Lake County wildfires raised more than $150,000. More than Regional News Larry Bettinelli BRIE BUHMAN