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YOSEMITE VINTNERS’ HOLIDAYS 2008 LINEUP OF WINEMAKERS ANNOUNCED
Media Release
August 2008
Popular Series at The Ahwahnee Turns Wine Consumers into Connoisseurs
The celebrated wine tasting tradition of The Ahwahnee continues during the 27th annual Vintners’ Holidays series from Nov. 2 through Dec. 4. Robert Mondavi, Silver Oak, Mumm and Grgich Hills Cellar are a few of the prominent names featured from the 33 participating California wineries.
Executive chef Percy WhatleyEach Vintners’ Holidays session includes four informative panel discussions and wine tastings presented by prominent vintners. At the conclusion of the session, participants enjoy an impressive dinner in the elegant Ahwahnee Dining Room. Executive chef Percy Whatley (pictured) and his Ahwahnee culinary team create gourmet menus comprised of unique entrées, salads and desserts which are designed to compliment the selected vintners’ wines over five courses.
“We’re bringing in a truly stellar lineup of winemakers this year,” said Ahwahnee beverage manager Stew Good. “Guests attending each of the eight sessions this November are in for a treat – waiting another six months will be difficult, even for me.”
Special packages at The Ahwahnee and Yosemite Lodge at the Falls include lodging, two tickets to the Gala Vintners’ Dinner and admission to the “Meet the Winemakers” reception. The following rates are based on double occupancy, subject to change, and do not include room taxes. Individual tickets for the Gala Dinner may be purchased for $149 per person, inclusive of wine and tax (gratuity extra).
Two-night package Three-night package
The Ahwahnee $948 $1255
Yosemite Lodge at the Falls $574 $695
Internationally recognized, The Ahwahnee is a full-service, AAA Four-Diamond hotel located in scenic Yosemite Valley. Long considered the jewel of the national park system, The Ahwahnee is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and has been accepted as a member of Historic Hotels of America, a program that recognizes hotel properties for preserving and maintaining their historic integrity, architecture and ambiance.

Ahwahnee Dining Room
The Ahwahnee Dining Room is renowned for its elegant candlelit evening ambiance, innovative cuisine, scenic forest views through 24-foot-high windows and an award-winning wine list of more than 150 wines. In addition to the Vintners’ Holidays series, the hotel is also known for its magnificent Bracebridge Dinner, an 18th century-themed Christmas dinner and pageant, and the Chefs’ Holidays series (January and February) which highlights prominent guest chefs and culinary demonstrators in a format similar to Vintners’ Holidays.
For more information on Yosemite Vintners’ Holidays at The Ahwahnee or to make reservations, call 801-559-4949 or visit online at www.YosemitePark.com/Vintners.
Vintners’ Holidays 2008 Lineup
Session I: Sun.-Tues., Nov. 2- 4
Robert Talbott, Talbott Vineyards & Winery
Genevieve Janssens, Robert Mondavi Winery
Larry Brooks, Tolosa Winery
Cathy Corison, Corison Winery
Session II: Wed.-Thurs., Nov. 5-6
Susie Selby, Selby Winery
Chris Howell, Cain Vineyard & Winery
Lawrence “Buck” Cobb, Karly Winery
Chris Benziger, Benziger Family Winery
Session III: Sun.-Tues., Nov. 9-11
Rob McNeill, Mumm Napa
Ed Sbragia, Sbragia Family Vineyards
George Bursick, J Vineyards & Winery
Tom Rinaldi, Provenance Vineyards

Session IV: Wed.-Thurs., Nov. 12-13
Peter McCrea, Stony Hill Vineyard
Milla Handley, Handley Cellars
Michael Crumly, Gloria Ferrer Vineyards
James Fetzer, Ceàgo Vinegarden

Session V: Sun.-Tues., Nov, 16-18
April Gargiulo, Gargiulo Vineyards
David Duncan, Silver Oak Cellars
Daniel Baron, Twomey Cellars
Joel Peterson, Ravenswood Winery
Session VI: Wed.-Thurs., Nov. 19-20
Hugh Davies, Schramsberg Vineyards
Julie Johnson, Tres Sabores
John Conover, Plumpjack Winery
Robert Foley, Robert Foley Vineyards
Session VII: Sun.-Tues., Nov. 30- Dec. 2
Dan Goldfield, Dutton-Goldfield Winery
Fred Schrader, Schrader Cellars
Andy Beckstoffer, Beckstoffer Vineyard
Violet Grgich, Grgich Hills Cellar
Kent Rosenblum, Rosenblum Cellars
Session VIII: Wed.-Thurs., Dec. 3-4
Jason Haas, Tablas Creek Vineyard
Randall Grahm, Bonny Doon Vineyard
K.R. Rombauer III, Rombauer Vineyards
Merry Edwards, Merry Edwards, Wines

FOREST SERVICE EXPLAINS ITS ‘LET IT BURN’ POLICY
Chris Bowman
Sac Bee
18 July 2008
If every cloud has a silver lining, what good can be said of the big brown dome of wildfire smoke that capped much of California these past few weeks?
Plenty, say ecologists who study the effects of fire on the landscape.
While the siege of lightning-sparked fires continues to inundate parts of Northern California with hazardously smoky air, the blazes also consumed more than 1,400 square miles of dangerously overgrown forests and oak woodlands – the size of nearly three Lake Tahoe basins – leaving that much less fuel for future, more catastrophic and expensive fires.
Federal land managers in California are retooling their firefighting strategies to capture more of the public safety, economic and environmental benefits of letting wildfires run their natural course without overwhelming the public with smoke and destroying homes.
That’s a tough balancing act in the nation’s most populous state, which already endures the smoggiest and grittiest air in the country. But in a select few remote national forests, parks and wilderness areas, ecologists say, the federal government has been weaning itself off Smokey Bear’s admonitions with measurable success.
“We didn’t have any injuries. We didn’t burn any houses, and we cleared out 15,000 acres of dense vegetation that hasn’t seen fire in decades and, in some places, a century – and that’s a good thing,” said Brent Skaggs, a U.S. Forest Service fire management officer who let nature take its course under close watch – and tricky weather – in the Clover fire that was recently contained in the Sequoia and Inyo national forests.

Federal officials call it “reintroducing fire” to the landscape. Historically, wildfire smoke filled the Central Valley and draped the mountains flanking much of the summer and fall. Extinguishing the fires became a federal mandate with the creation of the Forest Service at the turn of the 20th century.
The firefighting made it safer to extend development into the woods, but also made for more dangerous forests with the buildup of deadwood that would have otherwise gone up in smoke. As a result, modern blazes recur more frequently. And they often do more damage than good to the flora and fauna – humans included.
Backing off from total fire suppression and letting fire run more of its natural course effectively inoculates the forest from more virulent fires that denude large swaths of the landscape, which in turn invites mudslides.
“We could have suppressed it and had the thing out earlier, Skaggs said of the Clover fire, which was discovered May 31. “But by doing that we would be just prolonging the inevitable. We had an opportunity to manage fire or have it manage us.”
The practice, of course, could backfire. A sudden shift in wind direction or unexpected gusts in the unnaturally dense forests could turn such experiments into disasters – plastering communities with smoke or, worse, burning them down.
Fire managers have reduced the chances of a hands-off fire running awry by limiting the practice to the remote backcountry of the central Sierra and the desolate northern corners of the state.
Namely: Portions of the Mendocino, Klamath and Shasta-Trinity national forests that encompassed large wilderness areas; Lassen National Park and the neighboring Lava Beds National Monument and Modoc National Forest; and Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks and surrounding Stanislaus and Sequoia national forests. Managers of these forests have plans in place for using the let-it-burn approach, known in firefighting parlance as “wildfire use” or “appropriate management response.”
Even then, the practice cannot be used without a series of approvals up the Forest Service line of command, from the ranger on the ground to the brass at headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Beyond that, forest officials in many cases need the permission of local air pollution control districts.
The Forest Service had a tough time getting the cooperation of pollution regulators when it began “wildfire use” about five years ago, said Trent Procter, air quality program manager for the agency’s Pacific Southwest region, which includes California.
Working against the agency were earlier “prescribed burns” – deliberately set to thin out fire-prone thickets – that went awry at Lake Tahoe and the Stanislaus forest.
Relations have since improved. “They realize that in the absence of (natural burns), we’ll end up with more catastrophic wildfires like those we have now, where the smoke will be worse, Procter said.
For its part, the Forest Service recently added at least a dozen portable air pollution samplers to the state Air Resources Board’s network for monitoring the smoke levels, which reached the hazardous level Thursday in the Trinity County seat of Weaverville, said Jeff Cook, an emergency response coordinator with the air board.
Starting today, the federal agency will be providing “smoke forecasts” enabling the air board to give the public more advance warning of unhealthful conditions.

YOSEMITE TRAM BURNS
Sierra Star
20 June 2008
An open-air tram run by Delaware North caught fire in Yosemite National Park Saturday at 2 p.m. between Yosemite Valley and the Tunnel View area of the park. Park ranger and spokesperson Scott Gediman said traffic was stopped for about two hours and added that no one was injured. Delaware North has roughly 15 trams that run throughout the day, seven days a week, with each featuring a two-hour loop through the valley. Gediman said that roughly 0 people were on board the tram that caught on fire. Those on the tour were then transferred to another tram.