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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – In the inaugural Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge judged last week in Santa Rosa, wineries from Napa, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties competed in the hopes that their wines would garner top recognition.
With 930 wines competing, Cache Creek Vineyards & Winery is thrilled and proud that their 2011 Reserve Chardonnay received a gold medal.
“When there are so many big name wineries competing, it is especially gratifying when a small production, family owned winery like Cache Creek Vineyards is recognized,”said Linda Glover of Cache Creek Vineyards. “With construction of our tasting about to commence, and wine lovers taking notice of Lake County’s friendly and blossoming wine region, there is much to be excited about.”
The Press Democrat will host a public tasting of the winning wines on July 14 at Santa Rosa Junior College's Shone Farm near Forestville. For tickets or information email
Cache Creek Vineyards’ tasting room will be located at 250 New Long Valley Road, at the entrance to Spring Valley in Clearlake Oaks. Watch for news of their grand opening this fall.
For more information visit www.cachecreekvineyards.com or check out Cache Creek Vineyards & Winery on Facebook.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The results for the California State Fair and The North Coast Wine Challenge are in, and Lake County's Shed Horn Cellars received several prestigious awards.
The California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition is the oldest and most prestigious judged wine competition in the nation.
With more than 2,500 entries from more than 600 wineries, the competition is so large it takes place prior to the State Fair.
The North Coast Wine Challenge took a fresh approach and broke from the tradition of awarding gold, silver and bronze medals.
Instead, wines were designated the ranking of best of class by category (level 3), best of county (level 2), and ultimately the best of the best as top award.
Shed Horn Cellars is proud to present their winners in these prestigious wine competitions:
CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR
- Double Gold/Best of Class of Region (98 points) – 2010 Shed Horn Cellars Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Gold/Best of Class of Region (95 points) – 2010 Lake County Non Typical Red Wine.
- Gold (94 points) – 2012 Shed Horn Cellars Lake County Sauvignon Blanc.
NORTH COAST WINE CHALLENGE
- Double Gold/Best of Lake County (96 points) – 2010 Lake County Non Typical Red Wine.
Shed Horn Cellars produces premium high-elevation wines from prestigious Lake County vineyards.
You are invited to taste and purchase these award-winning wines at the Shed Horn Cellars tasting room, located at 21108 Calistoga Road in Middletown, telephone 707-987-8445 or 707-291-3629. The tasting room is open Thursday through Sunday.
You also can find Shed Horn Wines at many local stores and restaurants in Lake and Mendocino counties. Ask for them on your next visit to your favorite restaurant or grocer.
Visit the Web site at www.shedhorncellars.com for more information.
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EMERYVILLE, Calif. – Californians will be paying less at the pump as summer driving season begins, if recent trends in gas prices continue.
All metro areas in Northern California show a decrease of at least two cents, and as much as thirteen cents, from last month’s gas prices, according to the AAA Northern California monthly gas survey.
California’s average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.96, down by six cents since last month’s AAA report on May 14, 2013.
For perspective, gas prices today are $0.16 less expensive than California’s average price on this date last year.
Among all 50 states, California has the fifth highest state average price for regular unleaded gasoline. Hawaii is the highest at $4.35.
Northern California gas prices are now averaging $3.95 per gallon, a decrease of $0.03 in price from last month’s report.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, motorists can expect to pay an average price of $4.05, which is down $0.07 from last month.
This week's national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.63, while motorist paid an average of $3.70 per gallon one year ago.
“Statewide lower prices are expected to continue through June, barring any unforeseen event, said Cynthia Harris, AAA Northern California Spokesperson. “Increased refinery production, steady crude oil prices, and less demand by consumers are driving this trend.”
Drivers in 25 states and Washington D.C. have seen prices increase over the past week. This group is led by sharply higher prices in several Great Lakes States, including jumps of at least eight cents per gallon.
The near record high gas prices in these states are the product of continued low supplies and transportation challenges for wholesale gasoline in the Chicago market, particularly because of maintenance at the ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois and the BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana.
While prices may tick higher in the next few days, AAA continues to expect lower prices, both nationally and in the Great Lakes region, as June continues.
Prices should drop below a national average by the end of the month if refineries, particularly those in the Great Lakes, can transition smoothly from ongoing maintenance to full production.
National gasoline markets have been driven by regional supply and production issues and not by West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices, which traded within a narrow $5 range in May. At the close of yesterday’s formal trading on the NYMEX, WTI settled down $0.26 at $95.77 per barrel.
The least expensive average price in Northern California can be found in Marysville where regular unleaded gasoline is $3.79 per gallon.
Of all the metro areas in Northern California, where gas prices are tracked by AAA, Eureka has the highest average price at $4.17.
The highest average price of gas, in the nation’s metro areas that AAA tracks, is in Wailuku, Hawaii. The price there is $4.58 per gallon. The lowest is in Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson in South Carolina, where the price is $3.18 per gallon.
To get the best mileage possible, AAA recommends keeping tires at the proper pressure suggested by the vehicle manufacturer, performing routine maintenance and making sure fluids are clean and belts and hoses are in good repair. The way you drive can also impact fuel economy. Smooth driving to avoid sudden stops and starts, combining trips and lightening your load also helps conserve gasoline.
AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report is the most comprehensive retail gasoline survey available, with over 100,000 self-serve stations surveyed every day, nationwide. Data is provided in cooperation with OPIS Energy Group and Wright Express, LLC.
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SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang on Friday announced major, multistate settlements with 11 life insurance companies, including Transamerica and New York Life, over unpaid life insurance benefits.
Under the settlements, the companies have agreed to make each of their policy beneficiaries whole, pay 3 percent compounded interest, and adopt business procedures to ensure full compliance with the Unclaimed Property laws in order to protect policyholders and their families.
These multistate settlements are worth up to $763 million nationwide, with up to $86.7 million going to California beneficiaries.
“Too often, insurers have sidestepped their legal responsibility to make good on insurance policies purchased by their clients to provide peace of mind and financial security to their families,” said Chiang. “I’m pleased that these eleven companies have come forward and agreed to do what is right by their clients.”
The multi-state settlements resulted from Controller Chiang’s five-year investigation into the life insurance industry’s compliance with state unclaimed property laws.
Administered by the controller, California’s unclaimed property program is a 50-year-old consumer protection law that requires businesses to send lost or abandoned properties to the State after three years of inactivity.
The goal of the program is to safeguard private property from being lost during mergers or bankruptcies, used by private interests for ill-gotten gain, or drawn down by fees.
The controller’s investigation has revealed an industrywide practice of companies both failing to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of life insurance policies and ignoring their legal duty to turn the money over to the state for safe keeping.
Instead, companies would draw-down the policies’ cash reserves in order to continue collecting premium payments from the deceased. Once the cash reserves were depleted, the company would cancel the policy.
Past audits also found that insurers did not routinely cross-check the owners of dormant accounts with government databases listing the deceased. In other cases, companies had direct knowledge of the policy owner’s death, but still did not notify the beneficiaries.
The companies involved in the latest settlements include: Transamerica, New York Life, Western & Southern, Pacific Life, Genworth, Hartford, ING, Symetra, Northwest Mutual, Sammons (Midland and North American) and TIAA-CREF.
Like previous settlements, the agreements announced today require the companies to do the following:
- Restore the full value of all impacted accounts dating back to 1995;
- Fully comply with California’s unclaimed property laws and cooperate with the Controller’s efforts to reunite these death benefits, annuity contracts and retained asset accounts with their owners or, in many cases, the owners’ heirs;
- Pay the policy beneficiaries 3% compounded interest on the value of the held amounts from 1995, or from the date of the owner’s death, whichever is later.
To date, Controller Chiang has reached global settlements with 18 life insurance companies, with an aggregate value of $266.7 million belonging to California beneficiaries, and an estimated $2.4 billion nationally.
These 18 companies write more than 50% of all the issued and active life insurance policies nationwide.