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VocationVacations® - Hilton HHonors® Rewards



Wine Maker
Larson Family Winery
Sonoma Valley, CA
Reward code: VVWMLF
Points: 420,000

Have you dreamt of waking up on a workday morning, grabbing yourcoffee and catching the sunrise over the vineyard instead of grabbingyour coffee and being blinded by the sunrise off the back bumper of thecar in front of you? Then get ready to work under the Sonoma sun onyour very own Wine Maker VocationVacations holiday!

Tom and Becky Larson of the The Larson Family Winery are ready to show you what it takes to own and run a family winery inSonoma County, California! Tom grew up visiting his grandmother at the101-acre ranch on the bend of the Sonoma Creek where the vineyard nowsits. He spent summers listening to stories of real-life cowboys androdeos…a boy’s dream. As times changed, vineyards replaced cowboys androdeos, and as Tom grew into adulthood, his passion for the ranch wasstronger than ever. He longed to be part of the change of Sonoma County.

Tom and his father, Bob, planted Chardonnay grapes in 1977. The40-acre block on the ranch gradually led the family far beyond homewinemaking. "When we made more wine than we could drink ourselves," Tomrecalls with a laugh, "we got serious." In 1984, Tom earned his degreein fermentation science from the University of California at Davis.Larson Family Winery was founded the same year. The winery had itsfirst crush in 1988 and released wine in 1989 under the Sonoma Creeklabel.

Today, the Larson Family Winery sits in the middle of 70 acres ofvineyards that produce world-class wines. Many symbols of the family’sheritage in Sonoma are still on the property -- the redwood barn thatwas once a livestock barn is the tasting room, and the home of Tom’sgrandmother is now available for rent with all of today’s modernconveniences. Don’t be fooled, however, by the down-home atmosphere ofthe Larson Family Winery – the wines are award-winning and world-class,reflecting the quality and diversity of Sonoma wines. The Larson winesare comprised of premium varietals such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir andCabernet.

Tom and Becky are ready to share their knowledge about running afamily vineyard and making premium wines at their down-home winery!

Your Wine Maker VocationVacations® dream job holiday activities will include some or all of the following:

  • Wine Appreciation and Education
  • Harvesting (October) – picking, crushing, pressing grapes and… clean up
  • Preparing the wine for bottling (November – May) – clarification,cold stabilizing, fermentation, racking, topping barrels, wine blendingand clean up
  • Bottling and Labeling (April – September) – setting up bottling, line, lab work, label layout, labeling, bottling and clean up
  • In the field (April – September) – leaf cluster thinning for winequality, grape pest monitoring, soil and leaf tissue sampling, andgeneral viticulture practice

The Larson Family Winery VocationVacations® holiday includes:

  • Two days of one-on-one mentorship in your dream job
  • The ability to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®), an online personality assessment designed to identify interests and skill sets
  • The opportunity to participate in a total of one hour of pre- and post-VocationVacation career coaching from an accredited, affiliated VocationVacations career coach
  • A pocket-size VocationVacations journal so you can document your dream job becoming a reality
  • Light lunches with your mentor
Available: All year based on Mentor's availability with exception of holiday weekends

Suggested Accommodations:
Embassy Suites-
Napa Valley
Hilton Garden Inn -
Napa
(Not included in the cost of your VocationVacations dream job holiday)

Other activities and tourist destinations while on your VocationVacations® adventure:

To redeem HHonors points for a gift certificate or a VocationVacation, call your nearest Hilton Reservations & Customer Care Office and provide the appropriate Reward Code and your HHonors account number.

Hilton HHonors membership, earning of Points & Miles®, and redemption of points are subject to HHonors Terms and Conditions .

Reservation, Cancellation and Rescheduling Rules and Conditions:
A $100 non-refundable fee is assessed if a VocationVacations experience is cancelled or rescheduled prior to 14-days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday, based on the approved availability of the mentor to reschedule. A VocationVacation cannot be rescheduled and is non-refundable if cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday. Written notification of cancellation or rescheduling is required in all cases. Grounded Nomads, LLC dba VocationVacations encourages all customers to acquire travel insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses due to cancellation or rescheduling.