The end of September is here as is the departure of our intern, Edgar Guignard, on Monday. Edgar hails from Cognac, France where his family has a vineyard, winery and distillery. As many of you know, we have a longstanding internship program; it began in 1985 when a friend of a friend asked me if we would host a French enology student. As former interns in Burgundy, France, Sarah and I understood how an internship could inspire and influence young people, so it was easy for us to say “yes!”. Edgar is our 37th intern. 

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I have painted the cave entrance before; the focus then was springtime and the blooming of the dogwoods that grace the entrance. This time, I wanted to portray a day at work with both doors open and the stacks of barrels that sometimes seem endless. First I take several photos from different vantage points and together with Scott, we decide on the perspective. I've painted barrels many times before, so those were not the challenge on this project. Instead it was the rock wall and its varying shades of grays and greens. You'll see someone made a guest appearance in the watercolor as well!

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Here at Hafner Vineyard, we are very fortunate to have a small, tight-knit, talented team. Many Bay Area patrons know Spencer as the man who makes their day brighter when he delivers cases directly to their homes. But everyone who receives Hafner wine knows Spencer’s impact: he packages every order and ships them to all across the country. He has been an integral part of our team for several years but now he is off on a new adventure in Kansas City, Missouri. We now welcome Matt! Patrons may recognize Matt as he has poured wine at our Barrel Tastings for many years. We are excited to have him onboard!

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For almost four decades, we’ve been honored to be many patrons’ “secret winery” that they share with friends and family. Since travel and group gatherings are no longer part of our 2020 plans, and patrons aren’t able to visit us here, we decided it would be fun to bring Hafner Vineyard into people’s homes…virtually. We invite you to watch the recording of our virtual tasting where we shared some history, introduced the team, tasted a few wines and had a lively Q&A session.

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When we began selling wine in 1984, we decided to deliver case orders of wine ourselves to patrons in the Bay Area. Not only did this save us on shipping expenses but more importantly, we got to know our patrons well, and vice versa! In the beginning, I got to do deliveries, and now Spencer has taken the reins. When the pandemic first hit, we discussed our strategy for continuing to do deliveries. “What is best for our patrons? What do they need?” It was an easy two-word answer: “Wine”, “Safely!”

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