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22 WINES&VINES November 2016 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS Regional News by Your Prime Source for Quality, FDA Grade, U.S.A. made Maturation Tanks Not ones that come on a slow boat from China Call Mike Humes direct at 360-241-1832 or John Smeaton direct at 706-714-2662 to learn more about these workhorse and cost effective tanks and about the 3 choices for permeability available. GEMINI STACKER APOLLO Highest quality, at the lowest cost to you. With competitive tanks being made, and then shipped from China with questionable materials, why take the risk? Award Winning Wines Made in Flextanks Wide range of products for the winemaker CALIFORNIA New executive director for Lodi Winegrape Commission Wendy Brannen is the new execu- tive director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission. Brannen previously was the director of consumer health and public relations for the U.S. Apple Association, and in Lodi she will oversee marketing, public relations, strategic planning and regional branding efforts, as well as grower relations for the commission, which represents more than 750 wine grape growers and 85 wineries. Brannen also will lead the commission's staff of 15, under the direction of the board of directors, and will be the primary spokesperson for the Lodi wine industry. In addition to her time with the apple association, Bran- nen previously served as executive director of the Vidalia Onion Com- mittee for eight years. Founder of Spottswoode winery dies Mary Weber Novak, the founder of Napa Valley's Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery, died Sept. 25 following a brief fight with cancer. She was 84. Weber Novak settled in the Napa Valley in 1972, after her husband, Jack Novak, sold his San Diego medical practice. The couple moved to Napa with their five children after buying the 31-acre Spottswoode estate and an adjacent 15-acre parcel of land. Jack Novak died unexpectedly in 1977, and Mary Novak took over management of the vineyard. Five years later, after establishing Spott- swoode's reputation as a source of high-quality grapes, Novak hired winemaker Tony Soter and founded Spottswoode Winery. Three years later, on Soter's recommendation, Novak began farming the Spott- swoode Estate Vineyard organically. Seavey founder dies William Seavey, founder of Napa Valley's Seavey Vineyard, died at his St. Helena ranch Sept. 21. He was 86. In 1979, Seavy and his wife, Mary Seavey, purchased the 200-acre estate at the base of Howell Mountain near Lake Hen- nessey in Napa County. During the early 1980s, the couple revived the original vineyard, which had remained unplanted for more than half a century and was being used primarily as a cattle ranch. By 1990, they had remodeled an 1881 stone dairy barn into a small winery and barrel-aging cellar, preserving the stone walls of the building, and began producing small quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon and Char- donnay from estate-grown grapes. Over time, they added small blocks of Merlot and Petit Verdot, along with a second winery building and an underground wine cave. Seavey was preceded in death by his wife and is survived by five children and four grandchildren. Matthiasson joins Acumen Steve Matthiasson is the new winemaker at Acumen, which is an estate that specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley's Atlas Peak sub-AVA. Matthiasson suc- ceeds winemaker Denis Malbec, who died in a car accident earlier this year. Steve Matthiasson and his wife, Jill Klein Matthiasson, Wendy Brannen Steve Matthiasson