THE SPIRIT OF NEW WINE steps in front of the camera at KRCB

THE SPIRIT OF NEW WINE stepped in front of the camera this past weekend at KRCB (PBS affiliate in Sonoma County) in every way imaginable!

On Saturday October 18, I (Tom) walked into a room full of KRCB staff, cheerful Kiwanis volunteers manning the phones, and two very funny (and tall) program hosts, Dodds Delzell and Marty Dunn, who graciously stooped down every time I appeared on camera. I co-auctioned a range of different items with Jon Phillips. Jon shared some interesting experiences with me about how he single-handedly started and is now living his "dream": Inspiration Vineyards.

That night, I auctioned off 6 blue board items consisting mostly of cabernet sauvignon and merlot wines, including the Hans Fahden cabs that we partnered to donate to the television station. I also auctioned off the Tom Harpur book The Spirituality of Wine and 12 yellow board items that included everything from lunch in a replica of a Pullman train car to 3 bottles of 'Rock-Paper-Scissors' wine (the name of the wine is Roshambo, although I never prononced it right!). All the money that was bid went to a good cause: funding local public television. We also had the chance to meet some really nice folks at the station, including Mariah Clinton, auction manager, and Nancy Dobbs, station president. Both enthusiastically cheered me on despite my many flubs.

The following day Denise and I were interviewed about our new documentary, THE SPIRIT OF NEW WINE. The interview was a lot of fun, and Mick Aguilera, the interviewer and a big fan of Alma Rosa Pinot Noir (one of Denise's favorite wines) was especially entertaining. After he called Denise "the goddess of wine," it was very hard to keep a straight face on camera.

Later that evening, episode 1 of our documentary, 'California Bounty,' was broadcast. It was nice to finally see our program on television. We enjoyed the show in the company of a delicate fume blanc, a crazy cat named Doree, and Percy Brandon, good friend and general manager of Vintners Inn. Sorry about putting an apostrophe in VINTNERS, Percy. That won't happen again!

Thank you, KRCB and VinVillage, for helping us share the new wine.

Do I hear $200 anybody?

THE SPIRIT OF NEW WINE will be helping KRCB to auction off items donated to the television station. We will be presenting Blue Board and Orange Board items and announcing them with Jon Phillips of Inspiration Vineyards in the late evening of Saturday, October 18.

If you are in the Sonoma/Napa area, don't forget to tune in on October 18 and make a bid!

THE SPIRIT OF NEW WINE on PBS next week!

Everything is in place...

The dates: October 12 and October 19. 

The time: 11 p.m.

The place: PBS affiliate KRCB Channel 22 in Sonoma County, California.

The venue: KRCB's annual live wine auction.

KRCB is premiering the first two episodes of our documentary, THE SPIRIT OF NEW WINE. We are partnering with VinVillage's CEO Rob Barnett to promote the auction. In exchange, Rob is interviewing Denise, the show's host and producer, on the last day of the wine auction (October 19) during a three minute segment that will be broadcast live sometime between 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. during the auction.

Several of our program participants, including Hans Fahden Vineyards, Vintners Inn, Ferrari-Carano Winery and Tom Harpur, author of THE SPIRITUALITY OF WINE, have partnered with us to donate items to the KRCB auction. Look for these items on KRCB's website: www.krcb.org.

So we will soon be in Sonoma and Napa, enjoying the harvest landscapes, meeting new wine afficionados and promoting the doc. Stay tuned!