Big News

Sonoma, CA– Committed to environmental sustainability year-round through Biodynamic® and sustainable farming practices, eco-friendly packaging, and carbon-neutrality, Benziger Family Winery celebrates Earth Day this year by giving back to their local environment and vineyard worker community. Nationally, consumers can celebrate Earth Day with Benziger at key retailers by sampling “green flights” of wine.

Benziger Family Winery family members, staff and friends will roll up their sleeves and spend a few hours beautifying nearby Jack London State Park by picking up trash and tending to the garden. Last year, a group of dedicated volunteers worked together to lay a brand new gravel path in the park.

In addition to expressing appreciation for the environment, Benziger Family Winery will also dedicate 100% of net tasting room profits on Earth Day to the local farm worker community for the fifth annual year through Sonoma Valley’s La Luz Center/Vineyard Worker services, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing the Sonoma Valley farm worker community assistance with housing, employment, health and social services, legal support, transportation and support groups.  “On Earth Day, we want to give back and pay tribute for those who tend to the Earth everyday,” said Benziger.

Benziger enthusiasts nationally can celebrate Earth Day with Benziger Family Winery through a sampling program entitled “Every day is Earth Day with Benziger,” which is being sponsored by the family’s distributor, Kobrand Corporation. Tastings will occur at key retailers and on-premise accounts across the country. For more details and a complete listing of dates and locations for the “green flights” please visit www.benziger.com/earthday.

About Benziger Family Winery:

Leaders in Biodynamic®, organic and certified-sustainable farming, Benziger Family Winery is dedicated to crafting authentic wines that are true to the grape variety, vintage and vineyard. They believe that natural and carefully cultivated farming yields wines with more flavors, aromas and site-specific character. Farming in this capacity commands the enthusiasm of an entire team devoted to a singular passion: Sonoma County Winegrowing.

For more information, images, or interviews with Benziger family members, please contact Charles Communications Associates 415-701-9463 or press@charlescomm.com

January 2011, Glen Ellen, CA—Imagery Estate Winery, part of the Benziger Family Wineries, has just released the 2009 vintage of its popular North Coast White Burgundy.

Every vintage of Imagery’s wine is released with an original piece of art on the label, commissioned from artists all over the world. This year, Imagery pushed the boundaries of wine label art and broke with tradition:  Instead of a painting, drawing, or photograph, Imagery commissioned an original musical composition. “Imagine a Waltz” is by Richard Derwingson of Mount Shasta, California, and the label for Imagery’s 2009 White Burgundy label is emblazoned with the musical score.

“At first, I was a bit taken aback, wondering how I would incorporate the Imagery’s iconic “Parthenon” into the song itself, since it’s not a visual image,” recalls Derwingson. He continues, “But the Parthenon is a classic example of Doric architecture, and in music there’s a Dorian mode, which comes from the same period.  It’s based on different intervals, like all scales. It’s different than western music, and I used that mode in order to write the melodic line and the theme for “Imagine a Waltz.”  (The Dorian mode, a mixture of whole and half steps, originated in Greek times, but lives to this day, and appears in jazz and blues solos.)

Imagery 2009 contains mostly Chardonnay, with small amounts of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meunier added to the blend. “The 2009 is rich and well-structured, with a dash of sassiness that comes from Pinot Meunier,” says Joe Benziger, Imagery Estate’s winemaker.

Imagery Estate wines are made under the exacting, ecologically responsible standards that are the hallmark of the entire Benziger sustainable portfolio. Imagery produced 1845 cases of its 2009 North Coast White Burgundy. The wine, which retails for $29 a bottle, is available exclusively at Imagery Estate Winery, though Imagery’s wine club, and at ImageryWinery.com.