Incredibly, July is drawing to its end, and as our Summer Season has taken off, Cali and I have moved our blog to now monthly appearances. And a new family member, a darling black lab, has entered Cali's and Chad's household. With that, the time for Cali's artistry has been impacted. But, happily so, as you meet, here, the pup!

We are so very glad to be able to welcome visitors and our wonderful Wine Club Members, back to the Left Coast property. And ever happy to hear that you continue to follow these At Home with Left Coast installments as well. Although it does seem that life for many of us is moving towards venturing out at and to Left Coast. Thank you, from the heart, for coming in and for being in touch. So good to see you again.

We are enjoying our Fridays After Hours, in the Oak Savanna, from 4:30 to 8 PM, with a terrific offering and range, of Live Music. Here you see the fabulous DRTR Music Project who performed earlier. Thanks to Wine Club Manager, Mitch, and Tasting Room Command Central, Lisa, who have put together this terrific lineup!

Jacob Westfall will be with us, this Friday, July 31st
Hayley Lynn on August 7th
Steve Hale back on August 14th
Dead Lea Music on August 21st
Ben Rice on August 28th
And Katie Smith on September 4th

Please join us in the Oak Savanna, in front of the Tasting Room, for these relaxing evenings of great music. Bring your own chairs or blanket, or if you arrive early enough, you may be in time to check out some of our limited number of Adirondack chairs. Then, order your wine and pizza, and find your special spot to settle in.

Reservations are always recommended for food and wine table service on the patio but are NOT necessary for the Oak Savanna. Tasting flights are offered at Patio and Tasting Room seating only.

**No outside alcohol is allowed anywhere on the property.**FOR THE OAK SAVANNA: We have wine for sale by the bottle, beer, and non alcoholic offerings too, a weekly dessert special and cookies, all made in house. Bring your own glassware or purchase reusable, logoed Left Coast Go Vinos at our cost of $2 each. Our delicious wood fired, from fallen oaks from the property, pizza is available for purchase, with an order cut off of 7:30 PM.

As the Oak Savanna is such an inviting and unique place to be, as the Van Duzer Corridor breezes cool us off, I am moving the earlier promised introduction to our Winery Team to next month. Last time Winemaker Joe was featured as we explored life in the vineyards. As August comes to a close, and Harvest approaches, we will take you virtually to the Winery to meet Mark and Alex, the duo that contribute so much in their collaboration with Joe in crafting our beautiful wines.

Here at Left Coast, we regard the beautiful Oak Savanna at the core of our Estate as an extraordinary gift of nature. It is estimated that there are only 2 to 4 percent of the original live white oaks remaining today in the Willamette Valley. We are proud to be stewards to 40 acres at the center of our nearly 500 acre Estate with another 60 acres that have also been restored to their former Oak Savanna condition.

We began 5 years ago to commit to doing this work. The oaks are endangered by being crowded out by rampantly spreading blackberries and other invasive species such as shiny geranium and young Hawthorn trees. In removing and burning these, we have then reseeded the opened areas around these majestic 350 to 450 year old oaks with a mix of indigenous grasses and wildflowers.

We are grateful to have entered into such good and supportive partnerships on local, state, and national levels. Long distance runner and working on her PhD in Hydrology at Oregon State University, Daughter in law, Christina, sister in law to Cali, and wife to Taylor, all of Left Coast's Ownership Family, has been central in the development of our Run for the Oaks. This annual event provides matching funds for these efforts. All proceeds on the day of the run, from entry fees to wine, food, and everything we sell that day goes towards the Oak Savanna restoration. We are now working on additional acres to preserve the habitat of the juvenile oaks, the youthful 6o year olds!

RUN FOR THE OAKS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 29TH. REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW. DUE TO COVID CONCERNS AND THE SAFETY OF ALL, THERE WILL BE STAGGERED START TIMES, AND NUMBERS WILL BE LIMITED. DETAILS AND REGISTRATION ARE ON OUR WEBSITE:

Daughter Cali, who like her father and older brother, is left handed and Left Coast's talented Creative Director. She is the artistic eye and hand in this continuing blog and holds a Master's Degree in Landscape Architecture. She is also founder of the landscape architecture firm, Studio Campo.

Cali divides her time increasingly equally between Denver, Colorado, and the Willamette Valley. Here she is, last week, here on property, with her little brother and Left Coast's CEO, Taylor.

Cali has cut a trail, open to our guests, Summer into early Fall, through the Oak Savanna and is working on expanding Left Coast's trail network. She is further involved in a number of related property projects. A pollination garden, around our Sparkling Cave, will be going in this fall as will another on the South Farm that faces onto Highway 99. An upcoming spring project she is working on with Winemaker Joe will introduce perennial pollinator attracting cover crops between the vineyard rows. We are all excited about what these projects will bring to growing the population of the bee colonies at Left Coast.

Please enjoy this special time of year, and savor the summer sounds, flavors, and scents. COVID-19 has taken its toll, on many levels, on all of us, and our hearts go out to those who have had to seriously battle this dreadful disease and to those, especially, who have lost loved ones.

Take care, love one another, and do your best, please, to keep your spirits high. We are thinking of you and looking forward to a memorable moment with you here at the Estate or, if need be, to toasting you from afar.

Here's to that,

Suzanne and Cali

And All of Us at Left Coast