"comunidad del valle," i'm damian trujillo. and today, the mexican-american vintners association, how are they holding un throughout this pandemic on your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪ damian: we begin now with an exhibition called hearts in san francisco at zuckerberg sf general hospital in san francisco, that's for the foundation. stephanie steiner is my guest here on "comunidad del valle." stephanie, welcome to the show. stephanie steiner: thank you, damian, thanks for having me. damian: thank you, and let's start with your artwork first. talk about in general the type of work that you do throughout the bay area. stephanie: so, i am a san francisco based artist.

i have a studio at the hunters point shipyard in the bayview, and i am a group of a bunch of artists out there that are painting our hearts out, literally and figuratively in my case. damian: and that gives us a great segue to the topic here, this is called hearts in san francisco. tell us about this project for the foundation. stephanie: yeah, so it's an honor for me to have been selected. it's a project that's been around for 17 years, and it has fundraised millions of dollars to benefit the san francisco general hospital. and it has done amazing things for the city because we have seen these hearts displayed all over the city and throughout california. my heart was selected for the 2021, one of six large hearts and many other small ones. and they will be fundraised on february 11 for a very special event that will be virtual and free. and then they will be displayed in union square in san francisco.

damian: and tell us about the theme of your particular artwork. stephanie: so, my heart that was selected was titled "tales of the city," and it is a heart that depicts different areas of san francisco and the iconic images like the golden gate bridge, like lombard street, and other beautiful landmarks. they are all set in a backdrop with these very vibrant red skies that we have had a lot of in the last year, as you know. damian: yes, absolutely. and you kind of touched on this, it's an honor, right, to be tapped to display your work for the foundation. stephanie: yes, well, starting in 2004, the most iconic heart is tony bennett's heart that currently sits in union square. and so, that tradition has continued. and it is a selective process, and so as an artist, you have to apply and be selected, and then execute it because it is a really large heart. it's about 4 by 6 feet and about 400 pounds, so it's a feat just

to wrangle it around and paint it. damian: and so, when sometimes when visitors visit union square and they see your artwork, might they be surprised on one or two occasions when the artist is there herself and they want to take pictures with her? stephanie: oh, for sure. i already have a lot of friends and family who'll be around probably promoting it as well. we love the city, so it'll be right at home. damian: and i mean, it's charity work. talk about the foundation itself and the services it provides. i know you're an artist, but you're well involved with the foundation. stephanie: yeah, so the san francisco general hospital foundation has been doing this auction to raise money for their programs that help support many different initiatives in the community. they're also very focused in community justice, and so they try to focus on the underserved communities. and they have different programs and initiatives that reach out to those. so, their programs aren't just limited to that,

they do a lot of other things. and obviously right now with the healthcare issues that we have, they're on the forefront of that when providing services to the whole community. damian: i mean, i think we've all seen the tony bennett big red heart, and it kind of--for those of us who weren't informed, we kind of think, "well, it makes sense, you left your heart in san francisco." but there's a--i mean, there's a reason behind the cause, i guess. stephanie: yes, for sure. so, it is to bring awareness in san francisco. and when you keep seeing these all around the city, you're reminded that you're in san francisco. and it is almost kind of becoming a bit of a treasure hunt too for people to go see them in different places. they're not only on display in streets in public, but many times they end up also in corporate buildings, or in hospitals and foundations. and so for me, it was really important that my heart gave a really warm feeling to people and embraced everybody because we don't know where we'll end up. damian: and i know you're at the top of the list for the

quality of art, but you know a little bit about the other artists who submitted their work and is being displayed as well. stephanie: yes, so i've seen the art, the other hearts and the artists that are on display, and i know some of the other artists. and it is an honor to be part of them. there's so much creativity behind it and there's so many great messages of unity from those artists that i am just so grateful to be part of them. damian: all right. well, if you'd like more information, again, there is an event happening at the--it's a virtual event, it's a fundraiser, but then you'll be able to watch the displays all across the city of san francisco. stephanie, any final thoughts before i let you go? stephanie: yeah, no, please go ahead and visit the san francisco general hospital foundation's website for more information. and my website is www.ssjart.com for more information on me. damian: all right, stephanie, great work, it looks awesome. thank you so much for what you did. stephanie: thank you so much, damian. damian: all right, thank you. and up next here on "comunidad del valle," the mexican-american vintners association.

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it out throughout this pandemic like the rest of us. ray singh castaneda is my guest, he's with sabor del valle, but knows all about what's happening over in wine country. ray, welcome back to the show. ray singh castaneda: thank you, thank you. good to be here. damian: thank you. before we get to sabor del valle, there you go, tell us what you're holding there and tell us how they're holding up. ray: i'm holding a bottle of herencia. guillermo is the president of mava, mexican-american vintners association, and they just opened up yesterday, i think, so they can have people do their wine tasting. and also here in santa clara county, south county is where some of our vintners are, but we're trying to promote them as much as possible. we had a wine tasting virtual event in december, it was very festive. we had 50 people on it that had purchased their wines first.

and then we did one in october with amelia ceja also, so we're trying to help them and do the same thing with the restaurants in this area. of course, we had--we had a scheduled event for sabor del valle this past year. like many, they were--we had to cancel it. and we have another one scheduled for july, but i think we're going to end up postponing that one too. but we're doing a virtual fundraiser in april the 16th. we do--ours is--sabor del valle is a nonprofit and we raise funds for the underserved in our community, south county here and east san jose. we're trying to do as much as possible. and i think this has been another tool that it's helping us raise funds and also--one of the things that we did in

september we did with stanford and gardner health center. we helped test about 150 people, and sabor de valle gave all the kids a coco mask. damian: oh, nice. ray: so, we had about 150. and then we're doing other things in the community. we're just expanding the vintners just like the restaurants. you know, a lot of the workers need our help, you know? they--i'm kind of spoiled, i just order or i'll go get some albondigas down the road. but we're trying to do everything to do our part in helping the community, you know? damian: yeah, and up next on--our next segments are going to be miriam with honrama cellars, and then gustavo,

of course, with gustavo wines as part of this show here. but what can you tell us about--i mean, this is why you did a virtual event, right? because i mean, because of this pandemic, we're not able to do the wine tasting the way we used to, and so you're trying to help--give them a helping hand by doing this virtual event. ray: well, the way we do the--did the wine tasting is they gave us great discounts and free shipping and everything, so when we did the tasting, everyone had their wines with them. so, it's just like you were there, you know? so, that's one of the ways that we're helping them. and these will be some of the silent auction items with gustavo, with honrama. she'll talk about her rancho and her horses. la reyna de norte. but we're also trying to promote our--as you know, our good

friend george sanchez had to close his two restaurants here in san jose, but we're going to do everything we can to promote his restaurant in morgan hill. and so we're--you know, they're giving us--when we do these virtual, there'll be several auction items that you'll be able to bid on and that we have our nonprofits selected. one of them here, east valley family ymca. and another one in morgan hill, it's called ed boss prado foundation. she's amazing, the woman that runs that. she's a cecilia. you know, we're trying to do--we are, not we're not trying, we're doing it, we're helping and working the community as much as we possibly can. damian: all right, well, you've always done that, ray, and it's been appreciated. but we want to get to the vintners in our next segment, but let's show you some information. this is sabor del valle, we're going virtual again,

but they're still helping people. there's a web address for more information. any final thoughts, ray, before i let you go? you have about 20 seconds. ray: just support your local restaurants, your vintners, your--just support everyone out there, the children. i come from the fields just like damian. and i can remember us not--we didn't know what meat was in the winter. there's a reason. but just think of the children and the families that are hurting, and help them as much as you can. do your part. damian: thank you, ray, you do good work. thank you for joining us. and thank you for bringing our guests on, thank you. up next on "comunidad del valle," we'll have miriam from honrama wines and also gustavo with gustavo wines. stay with us.

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with me is miriam puentes with honrama cellars and gustavo brambila with gustavo wine. welcome to this show, folks, we're so honored. miriam puentes: good afternoon, thank you so much. we are honored. gustavo brambila: yeah, it's a pleasure to be on your show, damian. but tell us about honrama cellars first. miriam: oh wonderful. well, first of all, damian, i want to thank you and your team at nbc and telemundo. and also ray castaneda with sabor del valle for putting this show together and bringing us together. and thinking about our wine industry and what we're going through and how to support the small vintners here in the napa valley and all small local businesses in general. my name is miriam puentes, i'm with honrama cellars. honrama stands for honorio ramirez mata, who was my father. he's an angel in heaven now, but we're immigrants from guanajuato, mexico. we arrived here in the 80s, lived in bakersfield, and worked

our way up into the napa valley, when an amazing family offered my father a full time job at their company. and so, that was a turning point in our lives, and that's how honrama was born. my dad went from working in the fields to be motivated by his boss to learn to speak english and work in a production room, working side by side with the winemaker and the assistant winemaker. and this amazing company happens to be caymus vineyards. my dad worked at that company for about 16 years, so soon enough we--he acquired a taste for wine. and we swapped out the beer--he would swap out the beer cans and traded it for wine bottles. so, that's how honrama was born. one day, we were talking and i was going to go off to college and take some psychology classes, and my dad persuaded me to take business classes to help him and his dream and his goal of one day producing his own wine. the man upstairs had a better plan for him, he passed away.

however, my husband promised to help me make his dream come alive, and so honrama is right here. this is our first label was a 2008 honrama cellars, and it's a cabernet. and so, we are honoring him. every day, we work really, really hard to keep the dream alive and not only for him, but for all the other immigrants and field workers and hard workers, here we are. damian: that's a beautiful story. thank you for sharing. actually, paisanos, my parents are from a small town called [inaudible] in guanajuato, so our familia here. and gustavo, you're kind of the padrino of all the mexican-american vineyards, you're the godfather. who doesn't know gustavo brambila? gustavo: thank you very much, and also thank you to ray and sabor del valle. and an honor to be here next to miriam as well. miriam: the honor's mine. gustavo: but you know, i started out--i was born in

mexico in a town called san clemente. and my father was already in the united states as a bracero looking for work, and trying to make enough to rent a house for--to bring the for the first about three years, trying to generate enough income to support family. during that period of time, he also went ahead and applied, and we all received our green cards. so, we came into america in 1956. so, at that time--so, i've been here for a long, long time. but i started my career basically on a promise to my mother based on a bottle that broke in her refrigerator. and in that particular time, i just

different direction because i wanted to be a ball player, but the promise i made my mom kept me from pursuing that promise to myself. so, i made it to her to find out why that bottle broke in the refrigerator. and that later on, i would--the reason. and so, since then, i've been pursuing this promise of wines to where every bottle of wine has a way of expressing itself. you just need to be able to understand your palate. you need to understand your senses to be able to enjoy and appreciate wine. but the promises in wines are all there, it's always there. the winemaker provides you an environment, a product for you to enjoy. you--that's what i try to do, and that's how i started.

and so today, making wine is so much easier because that promise stays with me wherever i go. and it's been a fun, you know, adventure. it's always a new future, but the same time it's very rewarding. damian: i bet. you know, we want to talk about what you've gone through through the pandemic in our next segment, but i mean, my dad was a pruner i think for gallo vineyards over in the salinas valley, and he was an irrigator for wente vineyards also in arroyo seco, and so but who better to produce the wine than those who've harvested it, who've pruned it, who've worked those same vineyards, and now you're growing your own wine? so, i admire all of you in the mexican-american vintners association.ava, r honrama cellars and for gustavo wines to get ahold of them for more information. we'll be back to talk with miriam and gustavo about how

this pandemic has affected them, maybe how we can help. stay with us. ♪♪♪

gustavo wine here on "comunidad del valle." well, miriam, tell us how has it been going? it's been rough for all of us, but for the mexican-american vintners, how has it been? miriam: as being part of mava, the mexican-american vintners association, and talking to other mava members, it has been very, very difficult, especially for us small vintners that rent tasting rooms. and for the wineries in general to not be able to be open and be in front of your customers is very--it has made it extremely, extremely difficult for our salesforce. we are a small company.lub members have supported us. however, the only way that we are really successful in running

our sales and making--and being profitable has been to tend to our tasting room and be there for our customers, so that it's been really, really hard. we are very happy that we are finally open, and we are looking forward to a lot of guests planning their valentines day outings, and coming out to our tasting rooms, and we'll be here with an open heart to support them and receive them and make a great experience with them. damian: well, good luck to you. gustavo, did the fires that we had last summer, did they do anything to the vintage, the 2020 vintage? gustavo: science has taken a big, bigno, part in the decision process of winemakers and the winery owners. they smoke taint that people talk about as a result from the

fires is very measurable. and it could be long term, it could be short term. it's just there, and it's a function of just a personal, you know, strategy, personal business opportunity, or just a personal--just a--you know, just kind of like i don't want any part of that smoke in my wine attitude. it just--there's three ways of going about producing wine. you could do it you can not have any wine made, or you can just take a risk factor. and science will take a big part in making those decisions for our winemakers and wineries. as for myself, it did a tremendous amount of impact for the size that i am. i'm small and it will not go good for us.

we decided, i decided not to take a risk before, you know, when you take risks, it can be expensive as well. and so, actually it did make sense for us, so we decided to--we decided to forego this 19--2020 vintage. hopefully, we can rebound and just promoting our previous vintages and replacing our 2020 vintage. damian: well, good luck. and don't ignore that phone call, it might be an online order, so we all need all the orders we can get. gustavo: there you go. damian: but you know, miriam, us mexican-americans [speaking in foreign language], especially those from guanajuato, right? so, we're hit with the pandemic, we're hit with the fires, and we're still punching our way out of it. miriam: our faith will always make us thrive.

damian: tell us about that resilience that you have and that you have to have to stay in business. miriam: we do. with everything going on with the pandemic and everything, personally in our household, in our business, we've just held onto our faith. we connected with our wine club members, with our wine supporters. ray castaneda has been amazing, he's helped us a lot. we've worked together with sabor del valle, and we're really happy the way he's promoting us. and a lot of other great friends like el chisme podcast, and i have quite a few. we've been lucky with a lot of local support, and actually support from other places of the country that we wouldn't have expected. but it's been absolutely it's been hard, but we know we will be okay. damian: yeah, well folks, if you need some--any top shelf wine, it's all the mava wine, it's all the folks that are here with us.

and so, top quality, top notch. gustavo, any final thoughts before we let you go? gustavo: you know, i think that what we take from 2020 was that we had to be resilient, and we had to look for different ways to succeed, and we had to implement things that we never thought that we could do. and yes, we had to invest in something we weren't quite ready because of pandemic. and we needed to save those funds for, you know, keeping employees employed and, you know, the essential things. however, things like the pandemic will make you do things for the future. and that's what i think, you know, you take from this pandemic. you prepare for the future in a way that you never anticipated, and i think it's a good thing. damian: all right, good luck to you.

miriam, we have about 35 seconds. miriam: yeah. damian: any final thoughts? miriam: no, no final thoughts. once again, thank you so much. please look us up, come visit us in napa valley and sonoma, wine country. you could find us at www.honramacellars.com. and gustavo, what's your website? gustavo: my website-- damian: we had that up on the screen, actually, so we have all of those up for you. thank you all so much, we wish you all the best. miriam: thank you. thank you, damian. damian: thank you very much. and again, we do have the web address for these two vintners, and also for mava, the mexican-american vintners association. get ahold of us, my email address should be on the screen also. you can follow me on twitter, it is @newsdamian. also, pick up a copy of "el observador" newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us. we'll see you once again here next week. have a good afternoon.

i'm sara gore, and this is "open house." unique homes aplenty in this week's show, including this chic, compact harlem apartment with central park views. we are in the hollywood hills to tour this ultramodern architectural reimagining of the traditional farmhouse. plus, we are in corona, queens for an exclusive look at the perfectly preserved home of legendary musician louis armstrong. but before all of that, we get serene in silver lake at this lovingly restored mid-century home. there's a lot to see inside. let's go take a look. [music playing]