January 27 - March 2, 2024 
Big problems again with the Screwcap machine, sure the Screwcap company says it is our bottles?? We have never had this problem before so is it the bottles or the Screwcap machine????????????? Bottling on hold........................
As you can imagine, I am stressed out about several things, including this.....and then there is the CDTFA, a lot of negotiations there so it is on hold.
Now there is a problem that would take hours to discuss so set's start anyway............
Tesla is messing with my mind, not the stock: TSLA!! No the new Solar and Powerwall!! I thought I mentioned this before?
Back several months ago, maybe 6, I asked if I could get another Powerwall and solar from Tesla. I had already bought 2 from Tesla, but then when I wanted another, I had to go to one who was advertised by Tesla...........fine, right?
So now Tesla says they have to disconnect the Powerwall from the 3rd party company who was nice enough to provide me backup......when Tesla was too busy with other problems, look it up!!
I have to go down to Santa Rosa, about 60 miles round trip, so it is at 10am for a medical appointment........gee I have to leave here at 9, it is going to be raining!!!...........no I am not worried about my Tesla Model S, it has plenty of backup for 400 miles. I am old so it is harder to travel in any car, I will be careful!!!!!!!!!!!!................
Monday, February 5, 2024
I have new problems!!, Remember the Generator would not come on!! Well it is happening again and my Powerwalls are not installed correctly yet so they are not doing a great job of giving us power..........so
We were out of power watching the Grammys about 9 pm last night. Then I noticed this morning, the power went off at 1PM Feb 4. So we might have had backup for 8 hours........
You have to know when the power goes off the Powerwalls come on in less than a second so you might not see power go off at first.
That said, when solar came up this morning we have had power for now, charging the Powerwalls, but it does look like we will lose Powerwall backup soon!!....Dark.....
Friday, February 9, 2024
It has been a trying time in the last few days. Our power was off for 60 hours and we had no water at times. Our Powerwalls did provide power to our house during the day. We could not bottle because our generator which provides power to our winery did not fire up. We did not start bottling again until yesterday. It seems it was the Screwcap machine that was at fault not the bottles, there was a worn spring that was not functioning right. Now we are on schedule to finish bottling next Wednesday.
Saturday, February 10, 2024
I as most of you, will be watching the Game tomorrow,
but today I was obsessed with all the input and questions.........and excel spreadsheets, trying to decide what I owe to the CDTFA, sales tax for California. I have worked all day and will work on it again to prepare for a meeting here at the winery with CDTFA Agents.....I will have more in the next several days..........tomorrow is the Game..........
Monday, February 12, 2024
It was hard for me since I always pick a team I like when the game starts so yesterday took only a few minutes, I decided to root for the 49ers, because I do not like Kansas Chiefs only because they beat the RAIDERS!! Now gee I remember, the Raiders are the last team to beat the Chiefs, they did say that last night so that was nice, but the Chiefs won so I did not get any sleep...........but
It is like Jet Lag, which I could never understand........yes I have no sleep like being on a plane for 12+ hours and getting up and being just fine because I would be so excited about the NEW Place until I got sleep 10 hours or so later..........
So as you see I am still functioning and yes we did bottle today so I had to stack 8 pallets, 400 cases, it was easy, because I have done it over 100 times!!
So we found out we are out of capsules!! Tomorrow is another day?
Saturday, February 17, 2024
As usual I have too many things on my behind!!, I kid, maybe it is on the top of my head or a little lower..........
Brad and I have spent all day trying to upload imagines about the weather.......For the last several days, maybe no one has noticed, we had NOT put up the interesting weather here at our website. We have had a great deal of rain so far this year so I want to show what the totals are but it has been an adventure for several reasons But we should see more back to normal in the next few days..........
OH, did I say we found the problem with our bottling line? Yes, it was the screwcap machine!! Even though I was told by the company, it was an issue with the bottles. Now,.......I kept on asking!!!.......Why had we not had problems with bottles before,,,,,,,,,,,,..............no one had an answer, just it had to be a country, like Mexico of China??? Well I do agree, the bottles seem to be slightly in consistent, but now I assume after being so critical, all bottles are not perfect, but I do think it was a problem in the past with the old screwcap Head, it was defective, the new 6K one compensates for slightly imperfect bottles.........OH the old head was just 25 years old!! Only money..........
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
We have finished bottling the 2022 16 Month Aged wine and they are equal to the 2021 vintage. The next bottling will be the 2023 10 month vintage in July. So far with some barrel tastings, the 2023 vintage could be great also, but you need to come here on the weekend of March 2 and 3 to taste for your self. Oh I know two thirds of our wine sales are out of California so most of you will not be able to taste our barrel samples. That means you will have to trust I will continue to make great wine for less than any one else, wine is too expensive!!
Most of my time has been dedicated to figuring out how much extra I owe The State. The CDTFA is still asking for more than I think!! I have a nice customer who worked for the State so he is coming here tomorrow to help me figure out what to do next. How much more sales tax do I owe the State of California?
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Julian, my customer who worked for the State did come on Thursday and we had a long discussion of what our options are re: the State audit of my Sales Tax. Since then it has been a stressful time for me. I actually redid all 12 quarters in question and I found out I owe the State about $24,000 in back taxes. There will be interest on that also. I found out our Shopify system was not calculating the correct amount. It is a long involved explanation so I will not go into it too much.
In my life I have always thought about the positive after something negative happens to me. So what is interesting, over the last 7 years we have paid Shopify about $6000 for the use of there software. If we had used a dedicated winery software company, we would have paid at least $70,000. As you see even if I have to pay about $30,000 to the State of California, I am ahead of what I could have paid for dedicated winery software. The other good news: I know how to pay the State the right amount of sales tax. Life goes on and everyday I learn something new!! I still love what I do.
Now to think about the future, we will not be offering free shipping with our clubs anymore. That was one of the big problems I learned from the audit, according to the State rules, we should have listed the shipping separate and thus we have to pay about $30 gross for the tax on shipping or about $2.40 a case. If shipping had been listed separate it would not have been taxed. That means the State says I shorted them over $20,000 over the last three years. Then there is the sales tax we said was included in the price of our Clubs. I thought that would not be taxed and the State says yes. So now we will lower our price for a 6 Pack Club from $150 to $132. The shipping will be a line item separate and be $20 in California and not charged if picked up. Starting now in California our 6 pack Club if shipped, will cost $161.57 an increase of $11.57 or $7.7%. Like all other companies our costs have gone up over the last few years. If picked up the cost would be $143.22 a discount!! That rewards customers who save us the shipping cost. Now out of state, like the East Coast, is costing a lot to ship but we are going to hold the cost at $30 for Eastern States and West coast states at $20. That means a cost of about $170 to New York and less for a few states who do not charge sales tax.
Now let's get ready for the upcoming Barrel tasting where we will be selling Futures!!
Monday, February 26, 2024
I have not talked about Joe, Pat's Father. I became close to him in 1973 not long after Pat and I met. I don't remember all of what we talked about, but I can say we talked about growing grapes! He grew grapes for Gallo then..........Hey, he lived in Modesto where Gallo has the largest winery in the world. When I moved here in 1979 he was the first to hop on a tractor and show me how to cultivate vines. I had never been on a tractor! Pat's Mother Demora was a hard worker and also helped me out in the vineyard..........Oh, it is Monday, time for shipping wine and watching the stock market.
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
I hope some of you have things pop on your mind without thinking, like why do I think about this guy way back in 1975 AND he showed me how to make burgers, in Fairfax, CA ..............and, the most important when way back in 1972 when this guy showed me how to cutup a whole chicken. I could go on but I am so happy I bring up so many of these, to me, important things in my life.......
Like I have implied in my diary, I mention what is important happening NOW and Oh in the past to show you I am still alive and thinking and thus dedicated to making the best wine I LIKE, that is my secrete always, if you like the style of my wine keep on sipping......thanks...I love what I do
Dave
For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com
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