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August 2016 WINES&VINES 23 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS the post of farming manager over- seeing the olive orchards, vineyards and ensuring the property retains its certification from the California Cer- tified Organic Farmers organization. Sessions named leader of Sonoma vintners Sonoma County Vintners (SCV) named Jean Arnold Sessions as executive director. Sessions has been serving as interim executive director since February 2016, when Carolyn Stark resigned after serv- ing in the post for a year. Before her interim role with SCV, Sessions was president of Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma from 2002 through 2013. She is founder of the Jean Arnold Group, a consulting firm, and creator of Women in the Business of Wine, a platform for mentoring women in the wine, food and hospitality industries. Sessions also serves on the board of directors of the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation. Sonoma growers add board members, donate for housing The Sonoma County Grape Grow- ers Foundation board added five new members to address the group's commitment to the social responsibility element of sustain- ability. As part of the Sonoma County Winegrowers' effort to have all of the county's vineyards certi- fied as sustainable by 2019, the group relaunched its foundation to improve existing assistance pro- grams that serve local agricultural workers. The new Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation board members are: Duff Bevill, owner of Bevill Vineyard Management; Terry Lindley, chief marketing of- ficer of American AgCredit; Hugh Reimers, president of Jackson Family Wines; Ron Rubin, owner of The Rubin Family of Wines, and Lisa Wittke Schaffner, executive director of the John Jordan Foun- dation. The group's members also donated nearly $100,000 for the construction of a new farmworker housing project in Santa Rosa. 'Napa' protected in two more nations The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) association representing 525 Napa Valley wineries announced Korea and Singapore have agreed to respect the Napa Valley name related to the sale and production of wine by granting it "geographic indication" status. The term Napa Valley has the same protections in China and the European Union and similar protection assurances in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Tai- wan, Thailand and Turkey. New winemaker at Brassfield Brassfield Estate Winery hired Matt Hughes as director of winemaking. Hughes will continue to collaborate with consulting winemaker David Ramey in producing estate-bottled wines at the family-owned vine- yard and winery in Lake County's High Valley AVA. Hughes has held positions at Wildhurst Vineyards, Jackson Family Estates, Verite Es- tate, Six Sigma Ranch and was the founding chair of the Lake County Winery Association. CAWG announces annual awards The California Association of Wine- grape Growers (CAWG) in Sac- ramento has selected Jerry and Bruce Fry of Mohr-Fry Ranches in Lodi as the 2016 Grower of the Year, and Richard Smith and Smith Family Wines in Soledad, was named the 2016 Leader of the Year. Jerry Fry is the president and CEO, and Bruce Fry is the vice president of operations of the family-run Mohr-Fry Ranches. Mohr-Fry Ranches was one of the original six Lodi growers to certify their vineyards under the Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrow- ing. Richard Smith, who died in December 2015, was the owner of Paraiso Vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands. www.ivifho.de My wine deserves the best technology! Fresh ideas for winegrowers Hans-Peter Wöhrwag Wöhrwag Winery Stuttgart, Germany Samantha Dorsey