PCA Tour to Marechal Winery

July 12, 2018 By seqadmin

PCA Tour to Marechal Winery

March 17, 2018

https://www.marechalvineyards.com/

Story and photos by Obie Silverwood

Well, it was another vintage wine tour producing a barrel of good times. Our eleven Porsches and one guest Corvette
staged under a sunny sky in Clovis at Starbucks at Fowler and Herndon Avenues. Included in the mix was Randall
Plaugher’s new 911 Targa, fresh off the showroom floor.

Handshakes and hugs done, liability forms signed and maps distributed, we headed off on Highway 168 into the
foothills, taking Sample Road to Pittman Hill Road to Watts Valley Road and back down into the north Sanger
farmlands, arriving at our destination – Marechal Vineyards, which had set tables for our basket lunches and a private
tasting of five varietals.

In addition to good wines, Marechal regularly stages holiday and theme dinners (catered by Rev’s of Clovis) and
summer music concerts. A thank you goes to Marechal owner, Josh Marshall, and his staff for accommodating our
group, and for bringing a great new entertainment, culinary and wine venue to the area.
And, as always, thank you to Richard Webb for the excellent tour maps.

Scott Raypholtz – Why I bought my Porsche

February 23, 2016 By seqadmin

Scott Raypholtz's Porsche 911 Turbo S

Scott Raypholtz’s Porsche 911 Turbo S

As with most Porsche owners I have been enamored with 911’s since I saw my first 930 Turbo back in 8th grade but I never thought I would be blessed to actually own one! In early 2014 for some reason Porsche sent me a “Will Today Be The Day” 911 Owner Calendar which was the catalyst to start me thinking this might now be the time.

So, after discussions with Jeannette and a promise to sell my 2009 Viper RT10 I ordered the car from Shaun at Porsche of Fresno on Dec 5 2014 and received it on May 23 2015. I have met some really great Porsche people along the way. I was overwhelmed by all the positive feedback on the car at this past year’s Werks Renuion.

I am now officially a diehard Porschephile.

About the Car

Porsche 911 Turbo S

I ordered my 2015 991 Sapphire Blue Turbo S with the Luxor Beige Interior, Carbon Fiber interior package, all White Face gauges, other options include a Glass Roof, Park assist, Entry Drive, and the Light Design Package. I always like to add a little individual flavor to my vehicles. So I began with getting it to sound like a Turbo S should by adding a Sharkwerksexhaust.

Then it just kept going, for the interior I added various Carbon Fiber bits from MA Carbon and Yellow seat belts to tie in with the Yellow Brake Calipers. On the Exterior I wanted a different look than the stock wheels which look great by the way so I went with a set of 21” Dark Brushed Clear HRE P101’s 21”x12.5” rear & 21”x9.5”front. Then to finish out the stance I installed a set of Tech Art 30mm springs, and painted to match the lower rockers and rear valance and a few other C\F pieces.

Scott Raypholtz's Porsche 911 Turbo S

Performance wise it doesn’t need much as its already a land missile, but I installed a AWE engineering S-Flow Carbon Fiber Intake for better air flow to match the freer flowing exhaust along with a pair of Champion Racing Diverter Valves to hold the boost pressure a little longer. There possibly may a be a few other few performance items added in the future like larger intercoolers, and a Cobb Stage2 tune.

Finally to keep any twist out of the front I added a Schnell Racing Strut Tower Brace. The Car never fails to make me smile every time I look at it and is an absolute joy to drive anytime!

Wine Run

July 18, 2015 By seqadmin

What a wonderful time! We assembled Saturday morning at the Blossom Trail Cafe; amongst our Porsche steeds were two Boxster S’s, a Turbo, a Panamera, a Targa Carrera, a 911, Jack Back’s Corvette and the Wolff’s Miata. From there we toured Sanger, Minkler, Reedley and Parlier, arriving in Kingsburg at the RamosTorres winery. Owner/wine maker, Oscar Ramos, made us feel very welcomed, having set his shaded, fan cooled patio with cloth covered tables for our lunch, with glasses and wines staged for our private tasting.

To our surprise and delight, Oscar’s staff chef, Nataly Lemus, had prepared and served a mouth-watering selection of baked/stuffed mushrooms, and goat cheese crostinis topped with fresh boysenberries. Michael Castillo, the winery’s sales manager, led us through a tasting of their Viognier blend, pure Marsanne, Petit syrah, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon wines – all of which were excellent, after which we purchased some and dug into our basket lunches – enhanced by bags of chilled table grapes provided to all by member Jim Parnagian. Upon finishing lunch, Michael gave us a tour of the production facility and commented on their estate and sourced fruit.

Attached, find some photos of our visit and you may view a video at here. A formal review article with more photos will appear in our Zeitung club magazine.

This was yet another enjoyable partaking of Fresno/Madera’s growing wine region. Over the past three years our club has visited Cardella, Fasi, Cedar View, Cru, Kings River, Ficklin and now RamosTorres wineries – each of which have made us feel very welcomed. So, let’s do all we can to support these valuable venues of pleasure. If you wish to join their wine clubs or order cases from any of these wineries, please contact them at rbag@kingsriverwineryllc.com

Obie