This show pays tribute to Kerner Rombauer, recently deceased, who introduced Napa to a very particular style of wine, especially their renowned Napa. We interview his Director of Viticulture and Winemaking, Richie Allen.
We also are delighted to welcome back Claudia Sansone and Rob Hampton who are doing amazing work to improve the health, education and agricultural development of a village in Malawi with their United Village Transformation.
Richie Allen,
Director of Viticulture & Winemaking
Though he grew up near
one of the most famous wine regions of Australia, it was an afternoon spent
tasting wine in California that provided Richie’s “aha” moment, steering him
into a career in wine. After graduating from the University of Adelaide and
gaining practical experience making wine in Australia and New Zealand, Richie
returned to California in 2004 to take up a harvest position at Rombauer.
Recognizing his talent and drive, we hired Richie full time. He subsequently
worked his way up from enologist to assistant winemaker to head winemaker, and
he was named Director of Viticulture and Winemaking in 2013.
About Rombauer Winery
When founders Koerner
and Joan Rombauer moved their two children, two horses and five dogs to Napa
Valley in 1972, they arrived armed with an appreciation for the intimate
relationship between food and wine. Their appreciation stemmed from Koerner’s
great aunt Irma Rombauer having authored internationally renowned cookbook the
Joy of Cooking and his ancestors originating from the winegrowing region of
Rheingau, Germany, where wine is considered an essential complement to a meal.
Appreciation bred
passion, and Rombauer Vineyards was established in 1980. Thirty-seven years
later, the winery remains owned and operated by first-, second- and
third-generation members of the family.
The three-level winery was built into the hillside to take advantage of the natural cooling influence and create a cave-like atmosphere for aging wines. Caves were created in the hillside in the 1990s. State of the art equipment includes three optical sorters, basket presses and peristaltic pumps — larger versions of those used to move blood during surgery — which provide for gentle handling of the wine every step of the way. Winery grounds include gardens with over 100 varieties of plants and flowers and whimsical works of art collected by Koerner Rombauer.
Claudia Sansone and Rob
Hampton
Co-Founder
United Village Transformation,
Malawi
adapted from the Napa
Valley Register story by Paul Franson)
Some people go to Hawaii
on vacation, and others take cruises to exotic lands.
Napa couple Dr. Rob
Hampton and Claudia Sansone journey to a village in Malawi in sub-Saharan
Africa to help the local people.
The co-founders of
United Village Transformation (UVT), they along with Kevin and Rebecca Gouveia
from Springfield, Virginia, have sparked a social transformation in the remote
village as they’ve introduced education, and improved health care, agriculture and
better nutrition to the local population.
Claudia Sansone is an
expert in food education. She’s written cookbooks and helped produce TV series
with chefs and wine experts including Michael Chiarello, Jacques Pepin, Andrea
Robinson and Joanne Weir. She ran her own cooking school and has extensive
hands-on experience in kitchens around the United States and Europe.
Her husband, Rob
Hampton, is a well-known local dentist and artist who donates the proceeds from
his sculpture and other art to the nonprofit effort.
The couple have worked
in collaboration with domestic Malawian resources to establish a much-needed
dental clinic in Daeyang Luke Hospital in Lilongwe and provide ongoing training
for nurses and dentists.
Better and healthier
food
The effort is also
attempting to improve the agriculture and nutrition. “The staple of the local
diet is a gruel made from maize,” Sansone explained. The people didn’t really
eat vegetables, proteins or fruit regularly.
Sansone showed them how
to plant beans at the base of the corn plants as Native Americans did to use
the corn stalks to support the nutritious legumes as both grew, for example.
Van Winden’s Nursery
donated “shopping bags full” of outdated seeds for the people, noted Sansone,
and Tracy Hayward of Perfect Purée in Napa donated fruit trees for the garden.
In 2014 Dothi Village
developed the first extensive garden grown during Malawi’s dry season in 40
years. From April through October Malawians experience drought-like conditions
with no rainfall.
With instruction from
UVT volunteers, Dothi villagers were able to dig a hole deep enough to hit
water. They acquired enough fertilizer and manure bought with funds from
fundraisers to help support the village food supplies.
They’re also working to
improve the quality of drinking water and sanitation.
With more produce
available, Sansone taught the people how to prepare nutritious meals, and the
children learn how to garden, too.
Based on her cooking
expertise, Sansone engaged Solar Cookers Intl. to provide solar cooking kits as
a safe alternative to traditional wood-burning methods.
“Smoke inhalation from
cooking over an open fire is a serious health issue,” she explained. “Also,
women must leave the village to collect firewood, which puts them in harm’s
way. We want to keep the women and children safe.” She also taught them how to cook in an oven,
and the village is building one.
A focus on education
At UVT, they believe that “Food is life, and education is the seed.” A major part of their effort is improving education for the children (and adults).
Education is UVT’s major focus. Although elementary education enrollment in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 60 percent in 2000 to 85 percent in 2012, a quarter of all young people are still illiterate.
When Rob and Claudia visited in June 2013 they told the chief of the village that they would like to support a school. They offered to raise funds if his villagers built the structure. He consented.
In the local culture, women do most of the work; men make bricks, and so talent was harnessed to create a school. When Hampton and Sansone returned in October 2014, the school had brick walls, mud floors and a thatched roof. The villagers found two volunteer teachers and were holding classes for children ages 3 to 5 years of age.
They are now raising money to build a primary school for more than 1,450 children in Dothi Village. The funds will also support the preschool and dental clinic and the school feeding program. They’re hoping to raise $50,000 for this project.
Health and dental care
Hampton and Sansone have
been traveling to Malawi, first to establish the first dental clinic at Daeyang
Luke Hospital, then on a recurring basis to administer dental care, deliver
supplies and otherwise support the ongoing efforts to improve quality of life
for the people of Malawi.
Malawi has an average of
one dentist for every 1.5 million people. Because of the efforts of Rob,
Claudia, UVT and their supporters, the Daeyang Luke Hospital can now train 32
dental nurses from rural villages annually.
In 2014, Hampton was
among those honored by the Dalai Lama through the nonprofit organization
“Wisdom in Action” with the “Unsung Hero Of Compassion” award for his
philanthropic endeavors.
When their friends heard
what they were doing, they got involved. What started as a conversation between
friends has expanded into an opportunity to develop a repeatable model for
modernizing a village in the developing world. Thus “United Village
Transformation Foundation” was born.
When they travel to
Malawi, they stay in a house at a local hospital, but definitely are in the
local environment.
“It changes your life to
get involved,” said Sansone.
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