Our 2004 Syrah, Estate Grown
on our ranch in the Ojai Valley has just won a Silver Medal
at the 31st Annual Orange County Fair Commercial Wine Competition.
This competition is the largest and most comprehensive judging
of California wines in the world, with over 3,150 wines being
judged this year by 93 professional wine makers and/or winery
principals. We are very excited about this news and we hope
this will help let more and more people know that there is
very high quality wine being grown and produced right here
in Ventura County.
A
Day in the Life
Our
local newspaper, the Ventura Star, came to visit
as we were harvesting our 2005 vintage. As they chronicled
the “day in the life of an Ojai vintner”, they
noted: “Small, family-run wineries like the Dufaus'
Ojai Ridge face a variety of challenges that are virtually
unknown by the likes of Beringer and Kendall-Jackson. First,
they must fend off the occasional visiting bear intent on
eating more than its share of the already comparatively tiny
harvest. Then they must jostle with the big guys for shelf
space in wine shops and restaurants. Creating a limited-production
wine in an as-yet-unheralded region may be one way to cut
through the noise.”
Read the entire article here.