I'm far too lazy to have my own winery but I love stories of small family-owned wineries. Foursight Wines is a new Anderson Valley family owned and operated winery producing just a few hundred cases of cool-climate Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc each year. Foursight Wines is a collaboration between two generations of the Charles family: Bill and Nancy - local winegrowers - their daughter, Kristy (the executive director of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association), and her fiancé, Joe Webb (a Sonoma State Wine Business graduate, currently working with Londer Vineyards). That's Kristy and Joe hard at work in the picture on the right. The name refers to the four people behind the wine as well as to four generations that have lived and worked on the same land which has in the past been a timber mill, farmland, grazing land for livestock, and now a winery.

The 2006 Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir was hand-harvested from the family vineyard and sells for $46 (425 cases produced). The 2007 Anderson Valley Sauvignon Blanc came from the Ferrington Vineyard and was made in 100% stainless steel and sells for $20, (189 cases produced). All vineyard work is done by the family, with help only during pruning and harvest. A tasting room is in the works and should be open in fall 2008, for now the wines can be ordered at the winery website.

If you are a fan of the Pinot Noir grape, you can't go wrong headed to the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival in Boonville, California May 19-21. The fussy varietal lauded by Miles in "Sideways" as being "haunting and brilliant" has been riding high on public approval the last few years.

The festival offers a variety of events from the Technical Conference, which tells you how to grow and produce the grape to the more freewheeling social barbecue at the Goldeneye Winery. The grand tasting will be held at Scharffenberger Cellars in Philo and costs $85. On Saturday, May 20, there are six winemaker dinners being held. Each one costs $150 a ticket (the Roederer and Goldeneye dinners are already sold out) and include a decadent assortment of wine and food pairings.