It is slated to open in January 2011 after an extensive renovation to both the winery and visitor’s area.

A winemaker and consultant for some very fancy names, including Peter Michael, Sloan, Colgin and Bryant, Aubert started his own brand in 1999, originally producing just one chardonnay. But wow. From day one, Aubert’s wines are the sort people talk reverently about in hushed tones.

He now makes six single-vineyard chards and five pinots from vineyards (including three estate) in both the Napa Valley and Sonoma Coast.

Boisset Family Estates owns DeLoach Vineyards and Raymond Vineyards locally; in France they are the family behind Domaine de la Vougeraie, Jean-Claude Boisset and many other prestigious Burgundy brands.

Taste of Terroir will give people a chance to try wines from both Sonoma and Burgundy, which has occurred from time to time at DeLoach but will now be more formalized in one very fancy setting.

Boisset has also been a leader in sustainable packaging with its line of French Rabbit wines, among others. Boisset also makes wine for Dan Aykroyd under the Dan Aykroyd Discovery Series name.

Check out the new digs on the square – 320 Center Street, Healdsburg.

Amapola, an organically farmed, 110-acre estate winery spread along the western side of the Mayacamas, makes cabernet sauvignon, syrah and zinfandel from the Sonoma Valley. In addition to his own 20 acres of producing grapes, Arrowood sources from neighbor Monte Rosso, from he also sourced at Arrowood.

It’s within the Fiesta Shopping Center along Highway 12 where it meets Siesta Way.

All visitors to the winery on June 18 will receive a complimentary glass of Robert Mondavi Winery 2008 Napa Valley Fumé Blanc.

Most importantly, in the weeks leading up to the actual day, friends, fans and wine lovers everywhere are invited to visit www.ToastRobertMondavi.com and share a story, memory or toast in honor of Robert Mondavi.

Foley, with offices in Sonoma, has been on a winery buying spree over the last few year, taking on ownership of Firestone Vineyards in Los Olivos and also more locally, Audelssa, Merus, Kuleto Estate, Wattle Creek and Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery, among other properties in Washington state and New Zealand.

Back in March of 2009 I interviewed Peggy Furth, one half of the couple behind Chalk Hill (along with now ex-husband, Fred).

She recalled that when she first arrived at Chalk Hill in the mid 1980s, there was no front gate, no paved roads, no fancy winery and most definitely no mansion. Those were the days she was first engaged to be married to the San Francisco-based lawyer and burgeoning vintner Fred Furth, who had bought the Chalk Hill property in 1972 in the eastern foothills of Healdsburg as a place to get away.

Over some 25 years they lived there and grew the estate to 1,400 acres, becoming a notable producer of high-end chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon and helping to establish the Chalk Hill appellation along the way. David Ramey made the wines for years, followed by Steve Leveque and more recently Jordan Fiorentini. Vineyard manager Mark Lingenfelder has been there since 1980.

Just last year, Furth had been named co-chair and CEO of the winery with day-to-day responsibilities for managing the business and by all outward appearances was committed to holding on to the winery. Things must have changed.

One of the older outposts in Mendocino, Edmeades was founded near the town of Philo in 1972 though its founder, Dr. Donald Edmeades first planted about 11 acres of vineyard as far back as 1963. Jackson Family bought the place in 1988, hiring Williamson in 1994.

Williamson, a true outdoorsman and larger-than-life figure – nicknamed the Vanimal – was a good fit, making an interesting array of zinfandels, from some of the county’s oldest vineyards, are well respected and consistent points’ earners. Its single vineyards include Alden Ranch, a newer planting off Fish Rock Road on the Mendocino Ridge; Ciapusci Vineyard, planted at 1,800 elevation in 1878 (the oldest vineyard in Mendocino County) also on the Mendocino Ridge; Piffero Vineyard in Redwood Valley; and Perli, a steep, high-altitude planting near Alden Ranch that dates back to the late 1800s.

Williamson was also long considered a minimalist in his winemaking style, avoiding sulfur, bottling unfiltered and punching caps down by hand. It is unclear whether he has retired, taken another position or is the casualty of cost-cutting. Jackson Family recently laid off head winemaker Francois Cordesse at Matanzas Creek, moving production of those wines temporarily to its Stonestreet facility in Alexander Valley.

I wonder – who wrote this? What other wineries are on Apple’s radar? Is this now a new avenue for reaching customers? Are Apple users more likely to drink Napa Valley Cabernet?

I was particularly intrigued by the descriptions of how winemaker Charles Thomas uses his phone, the piece saying.

“As Quintessa Winemaker Charles Thomas points out, vintners have been walking vineyards for thousands of years, inspecting vines and tasting grapes for ripeness. But with iPhone in hand, Thomas can summon tools that early winemakers could never have imagined.

Thomas uses Voice Memos to make notes to himself about particular sections of the vineyard, and he takes video to help convey his impressions to people on his staff. “And,” he says, “the GPS is accurate enough that I can mark a spot, take a picture, and send an email with a note saying what I think needs to be done with this particular section of the vineyard—or even this particular vine.”

And if a section of the vineyard is ripe and ready for picking, Thomas can get the word out instantly, without even returning to the winery. “With the maps we have access to on iPhone, plus the ones we develop ourselves,” he says, “it’s very easy to relay to everyone on the team what subsections of the vineyard are ready to pick. And I can send that email out on a moment’s notice. So we don’t have to have a meeting about it an hour later.”

I do have to say that an alarmingly high number of winemakers I’ve met have iPhones, so there must be some truth in how they’re finding it useful in the vineyard and in winemaking. Apparently Quintessa is now working on its own app, the details of which were not gone into.

Among the new developments, a summer concert series is slated to kick off by late June, along with garden and tasting tours.

Gary Breen and Anna Beuselinck, operating under the name Campovida, purchased the Hopland-based Fetzer Valley Oaks Food and Wine Center from Brown Forman in April.

Closed to the public the past five years, Fetzer Valley Oaks was originally opened in 1983, a 51-acre property run by the Fetzer family that grew attention for being the first organic food and wine center in the U.S., where it drew chefs such as Emeril Lagasse, Julia Child and John Ash.

The property features a 13-acre organic garden featuring more than 2,000 varieties of fresh fruit, herbs, vegetables, ornamental and edible flowers; a Dining Pavilion, which seats up to 120 guests with two kitchens- one demonstration and one commercial; a Farmhouse Inn with seven rooms and a swimming pool; a field house with living room, kitchen, three bedrooms and three full baths and a private cottage; an area for public exhibitions on gardening and wine and food products; a tasting room with an outdoor arbor area with kitchen; a barn under renovation, a board room and reception area; and 10 acres of organic sangiovese and viognier.

The revitalized property will be named “Campovida” meaning “Field of Life.”

With a tasting room and retail center planned, the new ownership has chosen Mendocino-based Magnanimus Wine Group (MWG), led by proprietor Owsley Brown III, to offer its wines, local artisan products, provide organic vineyard and garden tours and host wine and food related events. The Magnanimus Wine Group produces a portfolio of wine brands from Mendocino County that are sourced from sustainably farmed, certified organic and biodynamic winegrowers.

When the previous owner put it up for sale four years ago, Morison and James bought the fading landmark, with the goal of eventually turning it into a tasting room for their wines. Morison and James first came to the area in 1998, buying a 320-acre property off Chalk Hill Road within the Alexander Valley AVA.

Three years in, they harvested their first grapes, merlot, adding cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay since, and attaining organic certification, an important goal. Medlock Ames is all about sustainable farming practices, using solar power, electric and biodiesel vehicles, weed-eating sheep, and growing blocks of vegetables that they sell to local chefs.

The purchase of the Alexander Valley Store and Bar also included the existing house and various storage sheds, all within the property’s one-acre parcel. For awhile Medlock Ames kept on the existing tenants, one of whom was running the store, another of whom ran the bar. Eventually those leases were bought out and Medlock Ames staff quietly ran the bar over the last three and a half years; the store for about a year. The last day of business for both was March 31, 2009.

Working with Earthtone Construction in Sebastopol, who had renovated Morison’s wife’s store in Healdsburg, Arboretum Eco Apparel, Medlock Ames’ plans included a complete redo of the store, which will sell local produce, much of it grown on or canned from the winery’s acreage, and also serve as a tasting room and meeting spot, with lots of communal tables.

Striving for mindful restoration and eco-renovation of the building, Earthtone has repurposed as much as it could from the existing structures and have aimed to exceed state regulations on heating, lighting, choice of windows, anything having to do with energy efficiency. Solar power will be tapped, the landscaping designed for low-water usage, holding tanks put out to collect rainwater for use in irrigating.

The bar, long next door to the store, has been moved to the back, speakeasy style, and remains a full bar with plenty of what’s been popular all along – Bud, Coors Light – complemented by the addition of local microbrews on tap, local artisan spirits and a representative selection of Alexander Valley wines.

With a house once on the site and other sheds gone, the sizable outdoor space opens up to views of some of Alexander Valley’s oldest vines, views Medlock Ames wants to encourage people to enjoy by putting in a fire pit, bocce ball court, picnic tables, benches and plenty of raised beds, olive trees and native plants.

Check it out:

6487 Highway 128, Healdsburg, 431-8845, www.medlockames.com.