ABOUT WINEMAKER CLAY MAURITSON:Winemaking may have been the logical evolution in our family’s long history of farming in the Dry Creek Valley, however, it took an absence from the valley and attention to those inner voices that led Clay Mauritson back to these same vineyards that he spent planting, tending and picking as a teen. What he came to realize was that he already had a lifetime of understanding about the subtleties and strengths of each micro-climate within the Dry Creek, Rockpile and Alexander Valleys. The only thing left was to DREAM BIG!
Clay is joined in the cellar by Associate Winemaker Emma Kudritzki and Jesus Garcia, Adrian Reyes, Joe Richards, and Nick Mast as cellar hands bringing 40 years of cellar experience. Together, our team has developed a winemaking process that focuses on small vineyard lot separation and fermentation — last year alone we ushered 68 different lots to maturity before the final blending. This gives us enormous flexibilty, enabling us to pinpoint that perfect Mauritson signature with every varietal, every vintage. Fermentation is typically open-top, punchdowns made by hand, native yeasts employed. The resulting wines might be best described as the perfect expression of each vineyard.
With a little over 270 acres of estate vineyards, we are not only able to source the absolute best of each vintage, we are also able to meticulously follow our passions. For example, when we decided to create a wine in the true porto tradition, we planted four of the “big five” authentic Portuguese varietals then mixed in some Tannat, resulting in our signature “Independence,” a wine that refers to a section of our Rockpile property dating back six generations. As the photo at left shows, we choose winemaking techniques that will best exemplify the wine style and the vineyard. The fruit reigns supreme here...and as Clay often tells visitors to the winery "winemaking is 95% fruit and 5% the winemaker not screwing it up!"
ABOUT CLAY MAURITSON OWNER / WINEMAKER:
Clay Mauritson is the sixth generation in a family of grape growers. Born and raised in the Dry Creek Valley, Clay was destined for the wine business.
In college Clay exhibited his prowess on the gridiron, playing outside linebacker for the University of Oregon Ducks in the 1995 Rose Bowl and the 1996 Cotton Bowl. Clay graduated in 1997 with a degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Marketing and a minor in Economics. Armed with his new degree he came back to Sonoma County to officially enter the wine industry.
Clay worked for 5 years at Kenwood Vineyards in the Sales & Marketing Department (starting even before he graduated from college), spending much of his time traveling and making sales contacts as Assistant National Sales Manager. After leaving Kenwood, Clay had the opportunity to work with the winemakers at Taft Street Vineyards and Dry Creek Vineyards, allowing him to hone his winemaking skills and gain additional knowledge of winery operations.
In 1998, Clay produced his first bottling of Dry Creek Zinfandel under the Mauritson label and, in 2002, he began devoting his efforts full-time to the Mauritson Family Winery project.
Clay's winemaking philosophy is simple: You need exceptional fruit to make exceptional wine. This is where the advantage of having a family heritage of grape growers becomes obvious: About 300 acres of Sonoma County family vineyards and strong relationships built over the years with other growers have given Clay access to some of the best fruit that Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley and Rockpile have to offer. Devoted to making exceptional wines, Clay is on his way to becoming one of California's foremost young winemakers.
Clay lives in Healdsburg with his wife Carrie-Anne, sons Brady and Davis, daughter Ella, and the family's gentle yellow lab, Chelsea.
WWW.MAURITSONWINES.COM
SUSAN ZIRINSKY – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, 48 HOURS
SATURDAY AT 10 PM ET/PTSusan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer of the award-winning crime and justice series "48 Hours."
Zirinsky's work and programs have earned virtually every major journalism honor including multiple Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody award, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence, the Christopher Award, The Writers Guild of America award and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. And in 2013, she was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards.
In addition to "48 Hours," Zirinsky was the executive producer of the critically acclaimed Showtime documentary "The Spymasters - CIA in the Crosshairs," which featured the only interviews with all 12 of the living former and current heads of the CIA.
Zirinsky was also the senior executive producer of the 2013 documentary series, "Brooklyn DA," and serves as the senior executive producer for breaking news specials for CBS News, such as those done in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks, the movie theater shooting in Aurora Colo., the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., and the Boston Marathon bombings.
Since joining CBS News as a part-time production clerk in 1972, Zirinsky has worked for a variety of CBS News broadcasts and covered national and global news, several presidents, wars, international conflicts, the Olympics and the world of fashion. She also is responsible for the oversight ofCBSNews.com's crime blog, "Crimesider."
In her current position, Zirinsky also served as the co-executive producer of two "Person to Person" interview specials; she executive produced "David Letterman: A Life on Television";she produced "The Grammys Will Go On: A Death in The Family", a documentary about the Grammys and the night Whitney Houston died, and "Vanity Fair's Hollywood."
Previously, she was an executive producer of CBS News' award-winning broadcast "9/11" - a documentary on the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that included the only footage of the first plane going into the north tower of the World Trade Center and of activity inside the Trade Center before the towers fell. The documentary has been updated for the first, fifth and 10th anniversaries.
Zirinsky has also produced such primetime specials as "The Royal Wedding: Modern Majesty;" "Fashion's Night Out" with Vogue and Editor Anna Wintour; "That's The Way It Was - Remembering Walter Cronkite;" "Ted Kennedy: The Last Brother;" "Change and Challenge: The Inauguration of Barack Obama" and "Katie Couric's 'All Access' Grammy Special." She also produced the documentary series "The Injustice Files" for ID Discovery; and the CBS News documentaries "The Lord's Bootcamp," "In God's Name" and "Flashpoint."
Zirinsky also produced for Showtime the critically acclaimed documentary, "Three Days in September," which told the story of a school taken hostage in Beslan, Russia. The film was also featured at the Tribeca Film Festival.
She also produced for CBS Entertainment an online companion to the series "Jericho." She was the executive producer of "Elvis by the Presleys," for CBS Entertainment and was the executive producer of two specials for Tyra Banks' "America's Next Top Model."
Before joining "48 Hours" in 1996, she was executive producer of Campaign '96 (1995-96), managing the daily operations of CBS News' election-year political coverage, and of the primetime CBS News magazine, "Eye to Eye" (1994-95), after having served as the broadcast's senior broadcast producer and senior producer (1993-94).
Zirinsky was the director of CBS News' 1992 political reporting, responsible for coordinating coverage of candidates, issues and events for all CBS News broadcasts, including the presidential election. During that period, she was CBS News' senior producer at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France, where she oversaw the CBS News and Sports news desk for the network.
Earlier, Zirinsky served in several capacities for the "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather" in New York and Washington, D.C. In New York, she was its senior broadcast producer (1991-92) and senior producer (1989-91). In Washington, she managed all feature stories and oversaw editorial content of daily hard-news events (1986-89). Zirinsky was CBS' White House producer for more than a decade. She first joined the "CBS Evening News" as a producer in 1979.
She also worked on other CBS News broadcasts, including the "CBS Morning News" and "CBS Evening News" weekend editions. Zirinsky worked the Democratic and Republican National Conventions from 1976 through 1988 as a floor producer for Dan Rather, Lesley Stahl, Ed Bradley and Mike Wallace. In 1992 she was senior producer for all coverage at both conventions.
Zirinsky's international news experience is extensive. She traveled overseas with presidents Carter and Reagan. Her assignments have taken her to Russia, China, Japan, Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In 1989, Zirinsky ran CBS News' operations out of Panama during the United States invasion of that country and was in charge of CBS News' operation in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square student uprising and military crackdown. Earlier that year, she was lead producer for CBS News' coverage from Japan of Emperor Hirohito's funeral. She was the senior producer responsible for setting up and overseeing the Network's news operation in Kuwait while covering the first Persian Gulf War, and it was under her stewardship that CBS News was the first network to enter Kuwait, just behind the Allied forces.
Zirinsky was technical advisor/associate producer for writer/director James L. Brooks on the film "Broadcast News," starring Holly Hunter as a Washington network news producer.
Zirinsky was graduated cum laude from American University in Washington, D.C.
WWW.CBSNEWS.COM/48-HOURS
PARKER WALLACE - ENTERTAINING WITH EASE: THE SECRETS TO SPENDING LESS TIME IN THE KITCHEN AND MORE TIME WITH YOUR GUEST
ENTERTAINING WITH EASE: THE SECRETS TO SPENDING LESS TIME IN THE KITCHEN AND MORE TIME WITH YOUR GUESTThe holidays are here and that means your schedule is about to be packed with dinners, parties and hosting lots of guests in your home. With everything going on, are you finding yourself spending less time celebrating the holidays and more time stressing out in the kitchen? Are you too worried about everything being perfect and not having enough time to actually enjoy it?
Whether its turkey in November or fruit cake in December, hosting your holiday dinner party doesn’t have to cause stress! There are plenty of ways to cut time as well as costs without cutting class. All it takes is some creativity and a few staple items to make your party a night to remember. Cook and food blogger Parker Wallace will share her simple tips for great holiday entertaining all season long.
Parker Wallace is the creator of "What's on Parker's Plate?" A blog with daily recipes and cooking tips for all palettes! She has a regular segment for CBS Atlanta titled “What’s on Parker’s Plate?” and is the author of Eat Rich, Stay Skinny: A Girl's Guide to Holiday Feasting. In addition to being a regular contributor for the Huffington Post Taste Section, she also produces an “Eat Rich, Stay Skinny” video series that has been featured in the Huffington Post. Her tips have also been seen on Daily Candy and Hello, Beautiful.
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STEVE EVANS – THE MOVIE GUYGREAT MOVIES OPENING THIS WEEKEND AND BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS AND HOPES. FIND OUT WHAT MOVIES ARE WORTH YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. GET SET FOR THE WEEKEND.