John and Paula York hosted the annual Ramona Valley Vineyard Association summer social at Hellanback Ranch. It was HOT, even in the shade, but such a beautiful location.  Everyone brought wine and a side dish, and John grilled up home grown and raised beef burgers — they were SO good.  We got to taste a lot of wonderful Ramona Valley wines, including Cactus Star, Milagro Farms Winery, Paccielo Vineyard, Eagles Nest Winery, and of course Hellanback Ranch.

There was a wine contest, with wines that were made in San Diego County from grapes grown in San Diego County.  John and Paula presented first, second, and third place “horseshoe awards” to winners, as well as a special etched bottle of wine.  Micole More won the blue horseshoe for a Ramona Zin and Andy Harris won the red for his Ramona Zin.  My friend Ray won the white horseshoe for his Syrah.

After the festivities, we headed over to Highland Valley Vineyard to check out the progress there.  The vines are doing well.  It was a lovely evening, so we chilled on the deck of the house-in-progress listening to the neighboring goats and summer insects until well after sunset.  It’s really beautiful out there.