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We’ve got a host of fun events planned for Campovida, our new home in Hopland, CA. Movie nights, culinary, music and arts events with the bi-annual Hopland Passport Weekend as a late fall highlight. See our event listings here and also check the newly launched Campovida.com website. Hope to see you out!

Looking for something fun and adventurous today that gets you  out of the fog? Come on up to our new tasting room at Campovida in Hopland, CA. It’s a beautiful day up here already. Bring a picnic, visit our tasting bar & art gallery to experience boutique Mendocino County wines, see some world-class orignial paintings by Jack Stuppin and enjoy a leisure stroll through splendid organic gardens.

13601 Old River Rd., Hopland, CA 95449

(707) 744-8797

Cheers!

We are honored to have been the recent feature in the Press Democrat Food & Wine section. Read on to get a wonderfully written description of our goings on here in Hopland. Better yet – join us for our Tasting Room opening weekend this Saturday & Sunday 8/7&8!!

We’re very happy to announce that we’ll be opening our tasting room to the public beginning 11am on Saturday August 7th. After many months of effort on the ground and in the halls of bureaucracy we are ready to share our wonderful new home at Campovida with our friends & family.

We’ll be offering a selection from our green portfolio of wines for tasting, along with garden tours, fine Mexican fare and the sounds of local Mendocino favorites Les Boek & Friends. Plan to come on out for the day, tour the gardens, enjoy some food & music and learn about the exciting things going on this summer at Campovida. For more information call  (707) 744-8797.

Our new address is 13601 Old River Rd., Hopland, CA 95449 and we’ll be open daily from 11am-5pm throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall.

Due to bureaucratic circumstances beyond our control it has unfortunately become necessary to postpone our official opening until the 1st week of August. We will be continuing to work on preparing for an excellent opening in just a few short weeks. Many thanks for your continued patience and support!

We are hard at work putting the final touches on our renovations and getting things in order to open our new tasting room on July 10th. If you are going to be in the Hopland area over the weekend think about stopping in to say hello. We will be pouring selections from our portfolio of wines from sustainably farmed, certified organic and Biodynamic vineyards. We’ll be getting our regular schedule of daily garden tours rolling along with a whole series of food & wine related events for the summer. Check back regularly for new updates!

For those who haven’t heard, we are the proud new tenants of the historic Fetzer Valley Oaks Food & Wine Center, newly purchased and renamed “Campovida” – field of life. This wonderful location is nestled on the east side of the upper Russian River Valley in the town of Hopland, California.

Our address is 13601 Old River Rd., Hopland, Ca 95449. We will be open Weds – Sunday 11am-5pm and by appointment.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                Media

Contact:

Erin

Hunt, Erin Hunt Communications

erin@erinhunt.com

917-544-3222

CAMPOVIDA LLC PURCHASES FORMER FETZER VALLEY OAKS FOOD & WINE CENTER Historic Farm and Culinary Center to be Restored, Renamed and Reopened

HOPLAND, California, April 29, 2010 – Campovida LLC, led by husband and wife team, Gary Breen and Anna Beuselinck, announced today that it has finalized the purchase from Brown Forman of the Hopland-based Fetzer Valley Oaks Food and Wine Center, which had been closed to the public for the past five years.

Originally opened in 1983, the 51-acre property was well known for being the first organic food and wine center in the United States, and once hosted such culinary greats Emeril Lagasse, Julia Child and John Ash.  The property features a 13-acre biodiversity-rich, organic garden featuring more than 2,000 varieties of fresh fruit, herbs, vegetables, ornamental and edible flowers; the Dining Pavilion, which seats up to 120 guests with two kitchens

- one demonstration and one commercial; a Farmhouse Inn facility with seven rooms and swimming pool; a field house with living room, kitchen, three bedrooms and three full baths and a private cottage; an area for public exhibitions on gardening and wine and food products; a tasting room with an outdoor arbor area with kitchen; a barn under renovation, a board room and reception area; and 10 acres of organic Sangiovese and Viognier.

With the shift in ownership, reinvigoration of the historic farm, gardens and culinary center has begun, with the summer of 2010 targeted for an official opening for wine related events, guided garden tours, weddings and private gatherings. The revitalized property will be named “Campovida”, meaning “Field of Life”, reflecting the abundance of natural beauty and resources to be found in the rich valley property.  A testament to this will be the range of organic farm products planned from the property.

“It’s an honor to lead the restoration of this historic property that has been such a rich part of the Mendocino community and its food and wine heritage,” stated Anna Beuselinck, co-owner of Campovida. “We are extremely excited to become part of this community, sharing with others its fine heritage and resources.”

Added husband and business partner, Gary Breen, “Mendocino County is very unique – and the property has retained much of the traditional wine country ambiance visitors are seeking. With the opening of “Campovida”, we look forward to offering an exceptional destination for private celebrations and gatherings that will showcase the wine, food and farming, as well as the broad range of year-round leisure and outdoor activities.”

As a property created by one of the county’s foremost wine families and surrounded by lush Mendocino vineyards, wine will play an important role in Campovida. With a tasting room and retail center planned, the new ownership has chosen Mendocino-based Magnanimus Wine Group (MWG), lead by Proprietor Owsley Brown III, to offer its wines, local artisan products, provide organic vineyard and garden tours and host wine and food related events. The Magnanimus Wine Group produces a portfolio of wine brands from Mendocino County that are sourced from sustainably farmed, certified organic and Biodynamic winegrowers.

“Mendocino County has an unparallel place in the history of the sustainable wine, food and agriculture movement – something we’ve been proud to be part of,” said Owsley Brown III, Proprietor of Magnanimus Wine Group. “The opportunity to be part of this historic farm as a showcase for this progressive movement is very exciting.  With this property, our intention is to herald the past while heading toward the future of farming – and we believe we can play a leadership role in the global eco-wine and food movements.  By showcasing the farm to demonstrate what is possible with sustainable agriculture, we plan to serve as a resource for those that are passionate about this same vision, while simultaneously educating those for whom these issues may be new.”

The center is a one-and-a-half hour drive from San Francisco and one hour from the Sonoma County Airport which has daily flights from Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, Las Vegas, NV and Los Angeles, CA.

For media information, contact Erin Hunt at erin@erinhunt.com or 917-544-3222. To book events, tours or accommodations, contact, Megan Metz at megan@campovida.com or 415-728-8647

Campovida LLC

Established in 2010, Campovida LLC is a family owned and operated business formed by husband and wife team, Gary Breen and Anna Beuselinck, to restore, reopen and operate the former Fetzer Valley Oaks Food & Wine Center property based in Hopland, CA, which has been closed since 2006. Originally opened in 1983, the 51-acre property was well known for being the first organic food and wine center in the United States, hosting such culinary greats Emeril Lagasse, Julia Child and John Ash.  Renaming the property Campovida (”Field of Life”), the new ownership team aims to regenerate and restore the vibrant and historic property to its former abundant glory, creating an experiential destination for wine tasting, private events, weddings, company meetings, team building activities, educational garden tours, art exhibits and meaningful culinary events. The property will officially open summer 2010.

For more information, visit www.campovida.com.

Magnanimus Wine Group

Founded in 2004 by Owsley Brown III, the Magnanimus Wine Group (MWG) is dedicated to producing authentic and distinct wines from Mendocino County that reflect not only a sense of place, but also the highest standards of quality and environmental stewardship. Producing roughly 10,000 cases from its four in-house labels, Mendocino Farms, Old River Vintners, Talmage Selection and Ukiah Cellars, the group focuses on creating wines honoring sustainable, organic, and biodynamic methods and the bucolic aesthetic of Mendocino County. Each wine is a testament to high-quality vineyards, artisanal winemakers, and a deep respect for the earth. The Magnanimus Wine Group will manage the Campovida tasting room and wine-related events and activities, slated to begin in summer, 2010. For more information on the wines and company, visit www.magnanimuswines.com.

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Join us along with 14 other Hopland-area wineries as we roll out the barrel on Saturday & Sunday for this annual Springtime event. For us this is an especially exciting weekend as we will be celebrating a move to our new home at the old Valley Oaks Visitor Center. This historic location has an important place not only in the history of Mendocino County wines, but also as the inspiration for our brands. Along with our delicious wines, we’ll be featuring the music of Les Boek and Friends, authentic Mexican food and guided garden tours. Find out more information and purchase event tickets at www.HoplandPassport.com. Hope to see you there!

We’re proud to support GardensProject.org and their work to bring local gardens, gardening education and food access to Mendocino County. Today in honor of Earth Day we’re donating 50% of all online sales to the cause. Join us in supporting this valuable work.

Check out the latest issue of Edible Marin & Wine Country for a great story on Biodynamic wine production in northern California.Look for some nice quotes from our fearless leader Owsley in the article…

“Organic, sustainable, and biodynamic—all of these practices contribute to collective improvement of viticulture and, Brown reminds, provide important advances to the quality and environmental credibility of our local winemaking.”…