The Napa Valley Distillery

Recrafting the craft cocktail

By Nate Gartrell

Ten years ago, Napa Valley couple Arthur and Lusine Hartunian took what was likely the biggest risk of their lives: they opened a distillery in the heart of wine country. It was after the Great Recession had forced Arthur out of the insurance industry, in a time when Americans stopped going out as much to save money, and in a state that at the time did not permit the type of drinking establishment the Hartunians envisioned.

“My wife and I did about six minutes of research and jumped right in with money we didn’t have,” Arthur recalled in a recent interview. “There was definitely a bit of a learning curve.”

Despite the odds, nowadays Arthur and Lusine continue to benefit from that decision. They’ve grown their venture, the Napa Valley Distillery, into a household name around the city, and they are weeks away from opening an in-house restaurant called The Hollywood Room. They’ve also started a sister company, Napastak, a cooking and kitchenware boutique.

“We almost went out of business two dozen times in the first couple years,” Arthur said. “We were late on rent, no way to make money because laws at that time didn’t allow [distilleries] to sell direct to consumer, you had to go through a distributor … for years I was going door-to-door, trying to sell one bottle at a time.”

The Napa Valley Distillery crafts its own whiskey, gin, and vodka, but from the beginning, Arthur saw his company as more than just producers of liquor.

“We’re a cocktail company,” Arthur said. “We’re more about hospitality in a way that’s based around spirits. We pride ourselves on accommodating our customers … We’re open every day but Wednesday, but if someone were to walk in on a Wednesday we wouldn’t turn them away, we would make it work somehow.”

Arthur’s interest in spirits started off, fittingly, with an interest in cocktails.

“One of my first jobs out of school was working at a law firm on Hollywood Boulevard…Every night the two partners would go to a restaurant bar downstairs and have cocktails and meet with other lawyers,” Arthur said. “They would have negronis and old fashioned’s, and these were way out of date cocktails at that time.

“I became fascinated by cocktail history, cocktail culture,” he continued. “It wasn’t about drinking to get drunk; it was about enjoying the flavors and the social aspect of the drink.”

It was a world that felt very familiar, Arthur said, given his Armenian heritage. “Armenians rarely eat without drinking and we rarely drink without eating,” he said. “Drinking is really part of our culture, but it’s a cultural instrument, a social tool.”

Arthur became a self-described “cocktail geek.” He started studying bartending not at college, but through research at his local library. Distilling and mixing drinks became a side hobby while he focused on his day job in the insurance industry.

“I never went to bartending school, but I think I can hold my own with the best,” he said. “I was very, very in love with that industry.”

In carving his path to success, Arthur took on the state laws that he argued were holding back artisan distilleries like his. In 2012, he and several other distillery owners formed the California Distillers Guild and started lobbying for the state to pave the way for spirit tasting rooms. The following year, then-Gov. Gerald Brown signed AB 933, allowing distilleries to have tasting rooms, similar to wineries and breweries. In 2018, the guild championed SB 1164, known as the Craft Distillers Act, eliminating a legality that required visitors to distilleries to participate in a tasting event before buying a bottle of liquor, which Arthur and others argued handcuffed small-scale distilleries. The law also expanded the amount craft distilleries could produce annually by 50,000 gallons.

“We were basically fighting for our right to exist; and through sheer determination and work, we were able to get our bill passed,” Arthur said. “It was the first piece of [state] legislation since 1933 regarding distilled spirits.”

The Napa Valley Distillery was formed in 2009, three years before state regulations would loosen. Those years were “very emotional,” Arthur said, and the life he’d left was always looming in the background; Arthur had been in the insurance business in Fresno County.

“I hated what I was doing, but I was good at it,” Arthur recalled.

When one of his biggest clients, AIG, folded during the partial economic collapse in 2008 and 2009, his company folded. Around the same time, Arthur turned 40 and began to reevaluate his life.

“I decided right then that I was going to start doing something that I loved. I didn’t even know that we couldn’t do tasting rooms; I did almost no research, and we dove right in,” Arthur said. “For those first few years, I can’t tell you how many times I said to myself, ‘What did I do?’ But the alternative was, I had to go back and sell insurance.”

“My wife kept pushing and encouraging me; she had a lot to do with why we kept going,” he continued. “We just worked together as a team and made it work until the laws changed.”

Since the laws changed things have been great. They’re now open in two locations and started a bar club that has approximately 3,000 members across the state.

In late October, Arthur and Lusine are set to open The Hollywood Room, a restaurant and bar with a theme that’s a tip o’ the cap to the neighborhood where Arthur fell in love with “cocktail culture.”

“There will be a full restaurant and bar with cocktails, beer, and wine … our spirits and other spirits we love,” Arthur said. “We’ll be the first distillery in California to do this. We’re looking forward to it. It has been a dream of mine … I’m pursuing a passion; that’s really the best way to put it.”

The Hollywood Room will also have available “about 50 screenplays” for anyone who wants to thumb through them while they’re awaiting their meal or their “elevated cocktail experience,” Arthur said.

“Everything from Casablanca to Pulp Fiction,” he said. “It will be a tribute to the last 60 years of Hollywood.”

So, what does Napa’s cocktail geek recommend first-timers try?

“I’m a gin and tonic guy all the way,” Arthur said with a laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, I love each one; I’m an equal-opportunity drinker. But I love gin and tonic because each one is different.”

“I’m really enjoying spritzes right now,” he added. “Those low ABC cocktails with lots of flavor—those are easy to drink—they’re good with food, before food, or after food.”

The Napa Valley Distillery has two locations in Napa: The Tasting Salon and Bar Shop, located at the Oxbow Public Market at 601 1st Street, #8. Their Grand Tasting Salon and Event Center are located at 2485 Stockton Street, which will also be the home of the Hollywood Room.

The Stockton Street location is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. It is closed on Wednesdays. The 1st Street location is open every day of the week, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. For additional information, visit their website at napadistillery.com, or call them at (707) 265-6272. You can also follow them on Facebook by visiting and “liking” their page: facebook.com/NapaDistillery.

Nate Gartrell grew up in Benicia, studied journalism in college, and has written for a handful of media outlets since age 15. He aspires to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums and to hit the trifecta at the horse track.

Rebuilding Together Solano County

All Hands-on Deck

By James Quinn

It is no secret that a home requires constant upkeep to keep it from dilapidating from weathering and use. This requires lots of money, help, time, patience, and more. Now think bigger—think rebuilding a home—now imagine rebuilding the homes of entire communities!

With the mission of, “repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives,” Rebuilding Together is a standout nonprofit organization made up of thousands of teams of people nationwide (i.e., in 38 states and in DC), volunteering their time and skill to literally rebuild homes (hence the name) and community facilities such as schools. Its website reports that “more than 2.5 million Rebuilding Together volunteers rehabilitated more than 150,000 homes and several hundred community facilities—estimated value of work is more than $1 billion” (rebuildingtogether.org/about-us).

It all started back in April of 1973, according to Rebuilding’s website, “with the simple act of neighbors helping neighbors” of a small group of volunteers in Midland, Texas who wanted to help alleviate a serious problem in their community—neighbors could not afford to fix their homes.” These volunteers quickly noticed the significant impacts of using their time and skills to change not only people’s lives but also whole neighborhoods, so they traditionally met together every year on the last Saturday of April to restore homes. They called it “Christmas in April”—all the meanwhile growing bigger—and by 1988, they officially established themselves as the nonprofit Rebuilding Together, which helped all year round, and their significant national impact has inspired smaller Rebuilding Together groups all over the country—giving rise to our local one: Rebuilding Together Solano County (RTSC).

RTSC’s mission is specific to our own community in assisting low-income homeowners with home rehabilitation projects (e.g., helping out low-income schools, veteran’s buildings, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, etc.), paying special attention to making homes healthy and safe—which they do, for example, by installing free smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors that have and continue to save lives (every home should have them). RTSC’s site elaborates: “Our focus is low-income seniors, disabled individuals, and veterans. In addition to home rehabilitation, Rebuilding Together also assists community facilities with needed repairs. During a project, local businesses, community members and concerned residents come together from all walks of life to rehabilitate homes in Solano County. This is accomplished with volunteer skilled and unskilled labor, donated materials/services and financial support from within Solano County.”

And with RTSC’s recent 10-year anniversary in June, it is a great time to reflect back on the organization’s enormous impact: “From June 2009 through December 2018, more than 4,500 Rebuilding Together volunteers have rehabilitated 35 homes for low-income homeowners (seniors / military / disabled) and held more than 45 community facility workdays…[and] has installed more than 1,700 smoke and 425 carbon monoxide alarms benefitting 600 mobile home residents [with the] estimated value of work is more than $5,000,000,” according to its website.

However, those numbers have gone up since then, as I learned from RTSC’s Executive Director Elizabeth Hoffman, who also sits on its board of directors. Hoffman works alongside President Mel Orpilla, Vice President Freda Dill, Legal Counsel Paul Ligda, Treasurer Jennifer Rosendall, and Secretary Linda Daraskavich.

Hoffman said, “We’ve done a little over 2,500 smoke alarms throughout the county, throughout the mobile home parks and installed a little over 500 carbon monoxide alarms … our first home was in 2009—and now we have done a total of 38.” As you can see, to rebuild a home right (safely and following all city ordinances) clearly takes time, even with a lot of people’s money.

Hoffman and I met one Saturday morning at a Vallejo home, and one of the immediate things I noticed was the many volunteers, mostly from Travis Air Force Base. What stood out to me the most, however, was the age range from younger to older volunteers, where a group of well-humored seniors (one was 93) were packing up “to-go bag” lunches for volunteers—there was a job for everyone. “We have everybody, even high school groups who come out and want to volunteer,” Hoffman said. “You do need to be 14 years or older to help us on a construction project [liability], but beyond that, we have Cal Maritime students and more.”

In addition to Hoffman and volunteer groups, what runs RTSC is its many local partnerships, sponsors, donors, and more—because we want to make the same thing when it comes down to it—we want our community to be a better place. “We partner up with companies that will give us some actual cash to be able to get gas in the van, volunteer insurance, volunteer T-shirts … Wells Fargo is a huge sponsor, Phillips 66 [Diversified Energy Manufacturing and Logistics Company], Kaiser Permanente [Vallejo, Fairfield, and Vacaville], Costco, Medic Ambulance provides first-aid safety for us,” Hoffman said.

Additional partnered sponsors include but are not limited to: A-1 Guaranteed Heating and Air in Vallejo, Bank of the West, Construction Concierge, Costco in Vallejo, First Bank, Lennar Mare Island, Maria Teresa Matthews, M and M Sanitary LLC, Medic Ambulance, Minuteman Press—the list goes on! Some of them we have told you about right here in Local Happenings; and we, as a community, are lucky to have so many companies helping, including major donors like Benicia Herald, Mare Island Dry Docks LLC, Sol Trans, city fire departments (Vallejo, Benicia, Fairfield, and Vacaville), and more.

In fact, RTSC partners with our local fire departments as part of one its programs to show residents how to use and care for smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors (e.g., placement and properly checking them) while also teaching about what to do in the case of a fire. “We partner with the local fire departments because it is also important that we do education with residents on how to escape, what your escape strategies are, and time element,” Hoffman said. “We do that regularly throughout the years.”

Hoffman also told me how they started a partnership with Costco as a part of their food bank program. “We have an amazing partnership [with Costco in Vallejo], and on Wednesdays and Thursdays we get up to 2,000 pounds of food from them, and it could be from their deli, dairy, produce (fruits and vegetables), and bakery.” From 10 till noon, they quickly sort food at the Community Presbyterian Church in Vallejo, opening their doors at noon to low-income veterans and seniors for free food. “You can imagine when your income is much more limited—it really makes a difference that you can buy some of your medicine that you couldn’t buy,” she commented.

One of their other major partners is Home Depot, which has a pledge to give over $80 million over the next three years to low-income homeowners and veteran spouses, so they come out and volunteer for us, probably four to five times a year.” They generously donate $10-15 thousand in gift cards per home (you heard me right).

You can do your part, too—be a part of the team in the way that you can—help make Solano County a better place by supporting the cause. “Your support can be provided in a variety of avenues including: funding, donation of workday supplies/materials, donation of skilled labor, donation of volunteer groups, etc,” Hoffman said.

All contributions are tax-deductible since RTSC is an established 501(c)(3) nonprofit and can be conveniently made on their homepage: rebuildingtogethersolanocounty.org or you can contact Hoffman at ehoffman.rtsc@gmail.com (for any specific questions or inquiries) and make a donation check payable to Rebuilding Together Solano County, so that it impacts us all, locally.

To learn additional information, join their team, download a calendar, and/or see a full schedule of their events, visit their website at rebuildingtogethersolanocounty.org; and for general questions, I recommend Rebuilding Together’s national website’s frequently asked questions page: rebuildingtogethermc.org/about/our-work/frequently-asked-questions/.

James Quinn lives in Vallejo and teaches at Elmer Cave Language Academy. A UC Davis alumnus in English, he now studies education as part of Touro University’s Master’s in Education program. Along with teaching, he tutors and writes often. Email him at james.quinn@tu.edu. Visit his website at mrquinnj.weebly.com.

Discovering the Stars at the Chabot Space and Science Center

By Nate Gartrell

Every night when the stars come out, we’re reminded of our place in the vast universe, and of the fundamental question that humans have been asking for thousands of years: what else is out there? That’s maybe why the science of astronomy has a certain unparalleled allure to it, and why simple discoveries about the chemistry of celestial objects or discoveries of new planets instantly make headlines around the world.

At Oakland’s Chabot Space and Science Center, researching these mysteries and giving the public an accessible, up-close view of outer space has been a year-round focus since 1883, when it opened as an observatory in the East Bay. It is home to the largest refractor telescope west of the Mississippi—one of three tremendous telescopes at the center—as well as a planetarium, a publicly accessible observatory, and dynamically changing exhibits. From the 1880s till the turn of the century, it served as the official timekeeper for the Bay Area, and in 1970, it played a little-known key role in the rescue of the nearly disastrous Apollo 13 lunar mission.

“There is an innate curiosity in space exploration, and we use that spark of curiosity to ignite learning,” said Mary Catherine Frantz, a marketing associate with the Chabot Space and Science Center. “By creating opportunities to experiment, tinkering and dive into topics, we create the next generation of discovery.”

Chabot is preparing to soon celebrate their 20^th year at its Skyline campus, but there are still plenty of events on the horizon for 2019, which are expected to draw thousands of folks. They range from opportunities to witness rare astronomical happenings to the straight-up whimsical, like their upcoming First Friday that focuses on the Chemistry of Candy or their August Bubble Festival.

“BubbleFest was exactly what it sounds like,” Frantz laughed. “We had bubble blowing stations, world-renowned bubble performers, robots that can blow bubbles and other engaging and fun activities that the entire family can get into.”

It is also well known for regular “First Friday” events, with a new theme on the first Friday of each month, centered on a new and exciting theme each month.

“Our First Fridays remain publicly accessible with free parking and a low-cost night of activities for everyone to enjoy… there are always new activities, a new theme, and of course the ability to go and see the telescopes,” she continued.

The next First Friday, in November, will focus on what astronomers do at night when they aren’t stargazing: sleep.

“It’s all about the science of sleep. We take a topic that creates interest and then use engaging activities that bring relevance to STEM concepts. We’re doing some hands-on activities, listening to a bedtime story, and we’re encouraging people to come in their pajamas,” Mary Catherine said.

There is a healthy mix of annual celebrations and events, each typically inspired by the ever-changing sky. For instance, on November 11th, Chabot is holding a morning event to celebrate a rarity: the planet Mercury will briefly pass across the sun, and the public is invited to view this in real-time from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. It won’t happen again for more than 20 years.

Chabot is an excellent gathering spot for a variety of astronomical events, with a destination more removed from light pollution and astronomers there to answer questions.

“We just had a full moon on Friday the 13th, and that was a really exciting occurrence that won’t happen again for decades,” Mary Catherine said. “To bring people together to experience celebrate those moments creates a sense of community among lovers of astronomy and science as a whole.”

On October 26th, Chabot is holding a Starlight Gala, to benefit its youth educational program. Supporters of science and community leaders will come together for dinner and a chance to celebrate their Champions of Science awardees, Dr. Yvonne Cagle and Dr. Eugene Tu. Afterwards, the 21+ Starstruck Costume Party is shaping up to be the biggest Halloween party in the Bay Area, stepping into the mysterious world of alchemy with a laser show, performers, a unique dance floor and inspired drinks.

Chabot is known for its many exhibits and immersive educational programs geared toward youth, like its exhibit, Project Create that hosted summer activities for early learners.

“We’re working on creating new experiences geared toward early learners that are creative and exciting and different. Everything from building an earthquake-proof structure to experimenting with color to taking a look through microscopes at creepies and crawlies in compost,” Mary Catherine said. “We are always opening up something new and fun for early learners that is hands-on and dynamic, but still ties into STEM and STEAM learning.”

Chabot is also home to three of the most important publicly accessible research tools in the Bay Area: its mighty telescopes, two of which are more than a century old. Every week, anyone can come to check them out. If you’re interested, go to Chabot any Friday or Saturday, weather permitting, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

“We are the only science center on the West Coast that provides free weekly access to our research-class telescopes,” Mary Catherine said.

Chabot’s history dates back to the Reconstruction era when Oakland’s then-school superintendent decided that the city should have its own world-class telescope, after observing a similar device at a high school in Philadelphia. That led to the 1883 construction of the eight-inch refracting telescope (the term refers to the type of lens), known as “Leah” (pronounced like the Star Wars princess). The telescope is still in existence today and was followed by telescopes “Rachel” in 1914, and the center’s biggest and most powerful by far—the 36-inch reflecting telescope “Nellie”—in 2003.

The telescopes have had homes in San Francisco, as well as Chabot’s previous Oakland home on Mountain Boulevard. Because people discovered that Chabot was built on top of the Hayward Fault, it was relocated to its current Skyline Boulevard location in August of 2000 (lunar explorer Buzz Aldrin was at the grand opening).

In 1970, the Chabot observatory came to the rescue of Apollo 13 astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise, after an overlooked flaw in the aircraft caused a short mid-mission, leading to the destruction of an oxygen tank and nearly causing the aircraft to explode in outer space. Instead, the crew was able to return home by orbiting the moon and using its gravity to slingshot the damaged aircraft back to Earth. As Apollo 13 began to emerge from the dark side of the moon, NASA needed to know its precise location. As luck would have it, Chabot’s Oakland observatory was the only place in NASA’s network with clear enough skies to spot the spacecraft on that April day.

“Chabot got the call saying they needed the precise location,” Mary Catherine said. “We brought together the volunteers, college students, and astronomers on-site and they were able to locate it … To be a part of that moment in history was fantastic.”

Nowadays, in Chabot’s Challenger Learning Center, visitors can recreate lunar missions and other ventures into space, in a space flight simulator that is usually reserved for bigger groups. It’s typically available for school field trippers, but Chabot also holds an annual Valentine’s Day event at the Challenger Learning Center.

“Couples will come together for a glass of champagne and a chance to go into space every Valentine’s Day,” Mary Catherine said. “We’re always looking for new fun ways to be a gathering place for the community.”

Chabot Space and Science Center is located at 10000 Skyline Boulevard in Oakland. It is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. For information on upcoming events, admission, and more, call (510) 336-7300, or visit chabotspace.org. You can also “like” them on Facebook at facebook.com/ChabotSpace to follow them for regular updates, and visit chabotspace.org/events/events-listing for a regularly updated event calendar.

Nate Gartrell grew up in Benicia, studied journalism in college, and has written for a handful of media outlets since age 15. He aspires to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums and to hit the trifecta at the horse track.