Introduction

I've finally decided to take the plunge into Web 2.0. As usual, I'm several years behind the curve - I was late into CDs, late into DVDs, late into big screen TVs and still don't own a Blu-Ray. The odd thing about this is that my day job is in one of the most geeky, high-tech areas of computer software. That's right, I still have my day job.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first, my name is John Lenyo and I live on my vineyard in Carlton, Oregon. We moved into the vineyard in 1998 (two weeks before harvest - not recommended) and our first vintage of Twelve was 2003. We only make Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc and currently all the fruit is sourced from our vineyard.

I was bitten hard by the wine bug in 1992. I do remember the bottle - 1982 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet and the restaurant - the now closed Cypress Club in North Beach, San Francisco. (My previous wine experience had been limited to things like Liebfraumilch and the $1.99 Bulgarian or Romanian brand Trakia - not that there's anything wrong with that of course). Once I tasted that wine, I started down a very slippery slope that involved lots of classes, tastings, some collecting, a preference for Pinot Noir and too many mailing lists, culminating in the actual purchase of 23 acres with a house and a small vineyard.

So welcome to my blog and I can only hope that there'll be lots of interesting content.