Gracianna - June 14th, 2012
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WINEMAKER DINNERS AT JOHN ASH & CO.
Gracianna Winemaker Dinner - June 14th, 2012
The Gracianna story pays tribute to the Amador Family's maternal grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. Born in the French Basque Pyrenees, Gracianna emigrated to the United States as a young woman after World War II where she was a very active member of the French Underground. The hardworking and beautiful Gracianna and her beloved husband, John, raised thousands of sheep in Santa Barbara County after settling in Santa Maria, California. Money was tight especially the months before slaughter. As practiced for centuries by European sheepherders, John would offer "chits" in the form of coins good for a certain number of sheep as an IOU to pay for goods and mercantile - to hold them over until the herd was sold off.
The Amadors cherish the single remaining coin that their great grandfather used of the 1000 minted. The analogy to winemaking is not lost on the Amadors. Sheepherding families, like winemakers know it all starts outside, in the field. A sheepherder would "trail" their flock of one to two thousand sheep where they would feed and water the herd in the summer. His job was to manage a huge amount of lives in an enormous space just like a vineyard. They loved these animals and knew each by sight. A sheepherder had responsibility for the herd year round, during the busy and active Spring and Summer preparing for the slaughter but also through the dreary and lonely winter and rains. A single herder and dog could managed thousands of animals - it was a thankless existence. Gracianna, a sheepherders wife, would prepare simple but gracious meals that always included wine, a food staple as necessary as lamb. Her meal presentations, filled with thanks were drawn from the legacy of hundreds of years of satisfying hungry herders with sustenance. This effort was delivered with grace and that is what today's descendants aim to keep alive.
The Amadors take seriously the care the devotion that goes into crafting and detailing each bottle of wine. Gracianna uses proven winemaking best practices and processes assimilated from the world's leading winemakers that combines science and craftsmanship mixed with the desire to make the perfect wine experience. Gracianna will present wine lovers who have something to be grateful for an ultra-premium wine experience
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