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Publication Date: Friday, August 29, 2003

Crooked Vine has roots in Pleasanton

Stony Ridge Winery - newly named Crooked Vine - has deep roots in Pleasanton.

Its name, building, owner and winemaker were all cultivated here.

The first Stony Ridge wines were made in Pleasanton at the site of the Mitchell Katz Winery at Ruby Hill. The Stony Ridge tasting room and cafŽ building, which once housed the Villa Armando Winery tasting room on St. John Street in Pleasanton, was transported to the Tesla Road site on a big flat bed truck in 1989.

Just in time for the annual Livermore Valley Harvest Wine Celebration this weekend, Stony Ridge Winery announces its new name and new winemaker.

Owner Dale Vaughn-Bowen is changing the identity of the winery to Crooked Vine, her line of the premium wines. With renewed focus on high quality wines and plans for growth, Vaughn-Bowen is handing over winemaking duties to award-winning winemaker Tom Lane. And, as she's done throughout her career, she's saving time for family and community projects.

Vaughn-Bowen is a relative newcomer to winemaking after she and her father purchased Stony Ridge in 2000, but her wines garnered 17 awards in 2002, including a double gold at the California State Fair for Malvasia Bianca, the popular dessert wine sold in distinctive blue bottles. This year, she won a coveted silver award for Crooked Vine 2000 Zinfandel in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

Under winemaker Lane's tutelage, neighboring Concannon Vineyard vinified 75,000 cases per year and received "Winery of the Year" accolades from the press.

Why would Lane leave this renowned, venerable winery for Crooked Vine, one-tenth the size? Pleasanton native Lane gravitated to the business values embodied by Vaughn-Bowen.

"I like working for a local, family-owned business. Here we are, two Dons from Amador High, committed to making the best possible wines, full of first-rate Livermore grapes, layered with complex, fruit-forward flavors," he said. "We want to share our wines with friends and family, including all our parents, who live in Pleasanton." Pleasanton roots

When Vaughn-Bowen's father moved to Pleasanton 30 years ago and searched for a side business, the air traffic controller chose to buy a series of liquor stores in Livermore, Pleasanton and Stockton.

"As a young girl, Dale could have turned to any career - she had so much energy," said Clyde Vaughn. "Then she got 'unlucky' and started working for me at the store in high school. Now she's working for herself in the wine industry."

Vaughn-Bowen got her first taste of sales and the business world while working as a teenager at the family's shop at 400 Main St.

"Since I worked weekends and holidays, I greeted the crowds lining up to buy beverages for Oakland Day at the Alameda County Fair on July 4th," she recalled. "Before theme parks like Marine World, the Fair was the place to be, so we stocked up, not with wine, but Schlitz Malt liquor and Hennessey."

At Amador High School, she "acquired" a taste for wine, said Vaughn-Bowen with a smile in her eye. She reminisced about the teenage fun fermented from the fortuitous location of Villa Armando Winery, across the field from the school. "When the folks at the winery loaded up cases of wine on rail cars, sometimes they left the doors open," she said. "Boys were known to poach a bit of wine, which we, on occasion, sampled."

Armed with a chemistry degree from Cal State Hayward, Vaughn-Bowen worked in a lab at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek and then managed the family's business interests. Her husband owns Pleasanton Auto Service; she met him when he fixed her car. Vaughn-Bowen has three daughters, Juanita, who lives in Las Vegas, Jennifer at St. Mary's College, and Morgan, 8, who will be a fourth-grader at Lydiksen School.

While raising her children and managing the family's property at 400 Main, she met Corrine Mavridis, who encouraged her to join the Soroptimists organization.

"Dale was very shy but we 'older' girls groomed her," said Mavridis. "She soon became president, then district director. She helped organize the first charity auction for the Tri-Valley."

Vaughn-Bowen represented Soroptimists in Hawaii, Canada and Japan. These new leadership skills - and the strong objective to support others - helped Vaughn-Bowen grow her businesses while leasing downtown space to nonprofits such as Hope Hospice.

Recently, Mavridis mentioned a barbecue she was organizing for Pleasanton's sister-city program. "Before I asked, Dale offered to donate a case of Chardonnay," she said. The road to winemaking

In high school, Vaughn-Bowen and Nancy Scotto were best friends; Vaughn-Bowen was Nancy's bridesmaid when she married Dominic Scotto. The Scottos owned Villa Armando, then opened Stony Ridge Winery. It was natural for Dale to volunteer in her friends' Stony Ridge tasting room to pour wines and share her tiramisu recipe for the cafŽ.

When the opportunity arose to purchase the winery, Vaughn-Bowen and her father stepped up to the plate, or rather, stepped up to the big Stony Ridge Bacchus-engraved barrels. The pair shared a passion for good food and good wine, especially Zinfandel.

Vaughn-Bowen enrolled in enology classes at UC Davis and learned how to taste wine analytically for technical flavor components such as body, tannins and fruit structure.

And she read - and re-read - the 12-inch-thick government regulatory book regarding labels, varietals, safety and health, sales and shipping.

"To be a winemaker, you have to be part scientist, part technician and part artist," observed Bowen-Bowen.

Since taking over Stony Ridge, Vaughn-Bowen assimilated the bureaucracy necessities, reduced the number of wines from 17 to 10, upgraded the cafŽ kitchen, and introduced "Friday Nights on the Deck" with live music and relaxing ambiance.

The cafŽ attracts tourists and many regulars who taste wine, then feast on smoked turkey with pesto and roasted pork and olive paste sandwiches, provolone terrines with roasted garlic, and tiramisu from Vaughn-Bowen's original recipe. Grafting quality on Crooked Vine

But mastering Stony Ridge winemaking didn't satisfy Vaughn-Bowen. Though she enjoyed Italian wines such as Malvasia Bianca and Nebbiolo, she yearned to find the best grape growers in Livermore Valley, hand sort the just-picked grape clusters, and slowly age the wines to reinforce background nuances.

In 2002 she launched the high-end label Crooked Vine, with strong family connections. The name harks back to father Clyde's initials while the smiling face on the bark of the gnarled Zinfandel vine adorning the label was drawn by daughter Morgan. You have to look closely at the flowing lines on the bark to see the face, which Morgan calls "the spirit of the vine." The Zinfandel sold out in six months. Another Crooked Vine red wine, Sangiovese, sold out in just four months with fans admiring its blackberry and cassis flavors.

It's the family orientation and artisan approach to Crooked Vine that excites Bob Lane about Crooked Vine. Lane is deeply involved in the activities of his children, two at home in Livermore and the oldest just off to college. Vaughn-Bowen volunteers in Morgan's classes to grade math papers.

"I'm looking forward to this harvest. Dale and I share a similar wine palate and the same desire to work hands-on with the fruit," said Lane.

Sblend Sblendorio, lawyer, grape grower and president of the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association, sells grapes to Vaughn-Bowen.

"I go the extra mile in my vineyard to produce intense Chardonnay fruit through water management and leaf canopy techniques," he said. "I appreciate that Dale goes that extra mile in her winemaking, too.

"She motivates other growers to grow the best possible grapes with the best growing techniques. She raises the bar for all the Livermore Valley growers and winemakers."

Vaughn-Bowen vinifies Sblendorio's grapes into a lush wine, full of peach and honey bouquet overtones, with the Sblendorio Estate designated on the Crooked Vine Chardonnay label.

Vaughn-Bowen views Livermore Valley as an up-and-coming wine country destination. Crooked Vine already hosts more than 75 events a year, from weddings to corporate and community events.

An active supporter of other Livermore Valley winemakers, Vaughn-Bowen often tells visitors about the relationship between Stony Ridge and the new Mitchell Katz Winery.

"It's great that Mitch is back at the original Stony Ridge site," she said. "The vineyard is known to produce great fruit and he makes excellent wines." No surprise, she likes his Zinfandel best.

Her winery's future focus is symbolized by its new sign: "Crooked Vine Winery and Stony Ridge CafŽ." Lane is eager to vinify Petite Sirah, Cabernet, Viognier and port under the Crooked Vine label. A new tasting room and winery building is planned, increasing operations from 4,800 to 7,000 square feet. The restaurant and event center will assume the current tasting room and cafŽ space.

During the Harvest Wine Celebration this weekend, Vaughn-Bowen will welcome visitors to the winery and raise a glass of Zinfandel to toast her fellow Don and new winemaker Lane. And their families will probably be off to the side, munching on Chardonnay-marinated chicken sandwiches and garlic fries, listening to the Frankie Ramos Blues Band, watching the winery's Sangiovese vines ripen, and enjoying the late summer day.
For more information: Crooked Vine Winery, 4948 Tesla Road, Livermore 371-8156, www.crookedvine.com and www.stonyridgewinery.com
Harvest Wine Celebration and Vineyard Tour

The 22nd annual Livermore Valley Harvest Wine Celebration on Sunday, Aug. 31, and Monday, Sept. 1, showcases two new venues, Bent Creek Winery and Tenuta Vineyards. With 25 wineries in four communities - Pleasanton, Livermore, Sunol and Castro Valley - discover fun activities for the whole family. Fifth-eight tour buses shuttle visitors along four routes to meet winemakers and owners while enjoying entertainment, wine, food, arts and crafts, and educational seminars.

Some highlights include:
Pleasanton ¥ Stay cool at Mitchell Katz Winery at Ruby Hill with barrel tasting in the temperature-controlled barrel room, and nosh on ciabatta sandwiches.
Livermore ¥ Crooked Vine Winery pours samples of future releases and features Stony Ridge CafŽ menu favorites with harvest specials. ¥ For home winemakers, Thomas Coyne Winery offers winemaking seminars. ¥ Delight the kids at Eckert Estate Winery with interactive games, air jumps, sno-cones and cotton candy. ¥ Tenuta Vineyards on Kalthoff Common offers finger food and wine pairings. ¥ With a '50s theme, Bent Creek Winery features hosts rock 'n' roll and a classic cars display. ¥ Fenestra Winery hosts Cyndy Rymer, author of Wine Country Quilts. ¥ At Wente Vineyards, Caroyln Wente signs copies of her new and highly acclaimed The Casual Vineyard Table Cookbook.
Sunol ¥ Try Tempranillo at Little Valley Vineyard along with barbecue, and micro-creamery ice cream. ¥ Over at Elliston Vineyards, enjoy skirt steak and vegetables - and lots of wine sampling.
Castro Valley ¥ Dessert wines star at Chouinard Vineyard; check out the Granny Apple wine and sweet wine and food pairings.

If you go: Purchase tickets online at www.livermorewine.com; at the wineries; or call the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association at 925.447.WINE (447-9463). Advance sales, $35. Day of event tickets, $40. Monday only, $30.