The blending went well. The wines are really beat up, because of the pumping and the addition of 40 parts per million of sulfites (SO2). I originally thought it would be wise to close down until the 22nd and still do. But I probably will make an exception or two depending of the timing of the people who want to visit. The wines are already interesting to taste and for me it is hard to say NO! to someone who is searching me out. A nice foursome came by yesterday with the Winespectator's book on wineries written by James Laube. They had found me mentioned in there. I sent them away, but felt guilty later. I feel I have an obligation to please people and if wine can enrich their visit to our area I should make an exception. Unfortunately if someone is persistent, I usually give in. It really isn't fair, because not everyone is that bold. 

Diets!!! As some of you remember last January I sort of went on the Coffaro wine diet in the evening: one bottle of Coffaro wine (600 calories) and little else. It didn't work. I am 56 years old and realize I must make some new changes. What I have been consuming since I started the winery in 1994 has not kept the weight off. I have given up many of the foods I love to eat--no help. This last 30 days I have done a lot of soul searching and I am still doing research on the type of diet I want to start now and the lifestyle of eating I want to continue the rest of my life. Of course I have checked out a few of the so called fad diets and I am interested in at least cutting down on my carbos. Not surprising the one that interests me the most is the Drinking Man's Diet. This little book came out in 1964 way before its time. The only requirement is that you keep under 60 carbos a day. It is interesting that when Atkins diet came out 15 years later he used 60 as the average in his Maintenance Program. Unlike the Atkins' diet you can consume all the red wine you want. In wine with no residual sugar like we produce, there is virtually no carbs. I have also started taking Xinical and I am doing some research on Chitosan---both natural fat blockers. 

Monday, January 10, 2000

I know all of you have been waiting with baited breath on the results of my diet research ([:-))::: Well I made a trip down to Costco today and stopped off at Crown Books. I picked up at least 6 books on dieting including: The Zone, Suzanne Somers', Sugar Busters, 3 Carbohydrate Addict's books, The new Dr. Atkins book, Protein Power, The Rotation Diet, 3 counter books, and the most interesting one: The Metabolic Typing Diet (interesting copyright of February, 2000). It tries to type you into three different categories. I had the family captivated with the test in the book consisting of 65 questions (at least Pat and Susie were interested-- of course thin Kate who had no definite tendencies only stayed for 15 questions). The first question and the last set the tone: {{"#1 Anger and Irritability Sometimes we all get angry "for good reason." But for some people, feelings of anger or irritability occur frequently or even daily, and are specifically influenced by what is---or isn't---eaten. Skip this question if you do not experience anger or irritability that is affected by food."}} and then the book goes on to ask you to answer yes to one of the types A, B, or C. {{"(A.) When I feel angry, eating meat or fatty food seems to make it worse. (B.) Sometimes eating relieves my anger and it doesn't really matter what I eat. (C.) I often notice that feelings of anger or irritability have abated after I eat something heavy and fatty like meat.}} {{#65 Dinner Preference  Pretend you're on vacation in the American West. It's nighttime and you're driving across the Death Valley Desert. You just spotted a sign that says DINER AHEAD. 10 MILES. NEXT EATING PLACE, 150 MILES. You're hungry, so you decide to pull into the diner. There you find that there are only three choices on the menu---Dinner Plates 1, 2, and 3. Since you have a long drive ahead of you, it's essential for you to eat the kind of food that will keep you awake and energized. Which dinner plate would you choose to give you the best stamina, energy, and alertness? (A) Dinner Plate 1---skinless chicken breast, rice, salad. Apple pie. (B) Dinner Plate 2---a combination plate including a little of everything from Plates 1 and 3. (C) Dinner Plate 3---pot roast cooked with carrots, onions, and potatoes, served with biscuits and gravy. Cheesecake." 
I answered (C) on both. There are other great questions and many hard to answer, but as far as I have gotten in the book, if you have a tendency to (C) questions you should cut down on carbohydrates. More research tomorrow!! It has to be more fun than doing my taxes!!([:-)):::: 

Dave 

Wednesday, January 12, 2000
(By Brendan) 
 As some of you may have heard, we have been having some seismic trouble over the last couple of days in northern Sonoma county. On Monday a 4.4 magnitude earthquake hit just above Geyserville. This was followed yesterday morning by a 4.3 quake and 70+ aftershocks. According to state seismologists, there is a 5% chance that this will signal a precursor to "The Big One". 

Given the proximity of the quakes I thought it would be prudent to point out that there has been no real proof that these quakes were caused by the Coffaro Stereo system.  I admit that having such large quakes almost directly underneath our winery is somewhat suspicious.  State officials have commented about the "unusual" pattern of the earthquakes but people should not believe the unconfirmed reports that one state seismologist has been quoted saying, "...the unusual pattern of quakes reminds me of the new Santana album...."  I will also admit that this is made even more suspicious because Dave just had the entire system revamped recently and the base tuned. This is all circumstantial evidence. There is no proof that Dave is to blame. 

Thursday, January 13 2000

If you've read the diary the last couple of days, you've noticed we have a couple of earthshattering events lately, including two 4.3 magnitude earthquakes. Well, today another explosive event occurred. 

Pat and I were in the office doing routine, boring work. I was working on income tax calculations. All of a sudden about noontime, I said to Pat, "what's that noise, another earthquake?" She said, "it sounds more like a tractor or motorcycle." Well, about ten minutes later a customer who had been expected, showed up nonchalantly at our office door. He said that there was a minor accident out in front. He informed us of the good news that nobody was hurt, so we rushed outside to take a look, and we found a pickup perched in the middle of the landscaping alongside our driveway. It took me a few minutes to notice that there was something missing from our driveway entrance. Yes, our sign was completely wiped out--demolished. As a matter of fact, there were pieces of it thrown at least 50 feet away. Immediately, I thought "I've got to get that sign back up" and so I was a little harsh with the poor unfortunate driver of the truck who had escaped injury and was now standing in our driveway. This very jovial, nice person had been driving a Federal Government Army Corps of Engineers truck. 

Our concern now is how do we collect money damages from the federal government. It was really surprising, even to me, when a California Highway Patrolman came out for the investigation and was really confused, thinking our property was a federal property. I told him "no, this is my private property." He said "then why are there so many federal cars here." I said "I don't know" and then noticed that there were at least 5 vehicles sitting on my property or right out front on Dry Creek Rd. which were all owned by the Federal Government. Yes, within 5 minutes all these federal cars had arrived on the scene to help this unfortunate federal employee. 

To give you some idea of how the accident occurred and from what we could gather, our customer--who was here with his wife and infant son on their first day of what they hoped was gong to be a relaxing vacation in the Dry Creek Valley and had called us earlier that morning to come by to pick up their wine futures--was driving up Dry Creek Rd. toward our winery during light, rainy conditions and slowed down to make sure of his location, initially incorrectly turning on his right blinker and then immediately shifting to the left blinker. The Army Corps of Engineer employee obviously in a hurry had decided to try to pass the customer's vehicle on the left, got confused because he was driving too fast, slammed on his brakes, lost control and swerved onto our property, luckily missing our customer's vehicle but wiping out the sign, sideswiping a tree, and coming to rest on top of a landscaping boulder! So if you're driving down Dry Creek Rd. next week looking for David Coffaro Vineyard & Winery, you may have some trouble finding us. Of course, I have already ordered a new sign but it may take another 3 or 4 weeks to arrive. 

Dave