Thanks for posting this man... I was contacted by a good friend of Shawn via my email account. For some reason, I was
checking my junk folder and found it there. At first I thought it was a sick scam or joke, but the email refered to peppers
and his full name.Â
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"
Primo,my dear friend Shawn Mitchell has passed away.He has left me with his substantial pepper collection.If you recall Shawn or can lead me to someone who does I would appreciate it.
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                     Thank You,Gerry Breid "
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Anyway, his friend knows very little about peppers, but has told me Shawn had a huge seed collection, about
200 live seedlings, and a freezer of frozen peppers. The family really does not know what to do with everything, but will discuss it this Saturday. I suggested giving the seed away on here, free, or as a donation for his arrangments or for a charity of his liking. I know Shawn spoke of surfing and loving the beach. Maybe something to preserve San Diego beach? I suggested someone local picking up the frozen peppers, but they have time on those....can last up to 2 years or more in a freezer if packed right. As far as the plants I suggested he keep them watered and possibly setup a table at a local farmers market with a picture of Shawn. Maybe, give away plants with a donation. Shipping live plants probably wont be in the scope of these folks. They are dealing with a loss and know almost nothing about horticulture. Anyway, just letting everyone know what I know. Shawn was a good guy. We spoke quite a bit, and I guess that's how Gerry got my name. Maybe, Shawn told him to contact me about the peppers... I don't know. I do know that Shawn was a geniune guy and I'm sorry to see him gone. Not long ago, Shawn sent one of his prized bottles of wine to Louisiana as a house warming gift for Kara and I. You see, it seems Shawn use to have a wine company, and all he had left from that buisness was a few prized bottles of this wine. That was a very special bottle of wine. Signed with wishes from him. ........Well, sorry about the long write. I'll put the purple morouga on Gerry's radar and also send him a link to this forum post. Not sure if Shawn had FB. Can't remember talking to him on there. I'll check. Primo
From Shawn:
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Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2012 14:17:06 -0700
From:
aji.pepper@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: per ad
To:
primospeppers@hotmail.com
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"Hi Primo, picking today. Surfs was good for about 5 days and I swam/surfed hard for 5 hours a day, I am burned out. Now doing the Manuel LaBore thing. What did you get from Butch? I got a good variety from Silver Surfer and Chris (cmpman1974) I have been tasting through them and making notes. Sometimes I used to taste 100s of wines a week, so this is fun to me. When the weather cools we can swap stuff .Matter of fact, I just ate a Hot Lemon. Nice flavor.The Aji Amarillo, I have about 8 of. I gave away a few. Do not like them as much as the Hot Lemon and the Pineapple. The Aussie wines really are hard to beat for the money.Purple teeth city. I guess the ex-cons never could spell Syrah.
Here was some of my Syrah coming into the winery. Peace, shawn"
Here are a few emails from Shawn on peppers and wine. If anyone wants to know about wine, these posts will help. Shawn is smiling from the great unknown:
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Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:24:32 -0700
From:
aji.pepper@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: per ad
To:
primospeppers@hotmail.com
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Hi Primo, the old saying is "The only ship that does not float, is a partnership". We know they can work, just set the guidelines early. Everything in writing! OK, so speaking of Riojas, my go to wines on a budget would be Spanish Garnacha. Anything imported by Jorge Ordonez. See back label.This is one you can find for 7 bucks. Vina Borgia Borsao. Garnacha/Tempranilla blend. Poor mans Pinot. Garnacha ( Grenache) is widely planted in Spain. It thrives there, Old vines, dry farmed etc. It has the red fruit, think wild strawberries, of a Pinot, but with a white pepper like spiciness to it. Put it in the fridge for 30 min. That brings the temp down to 50. Uncork it, let stand for 10 min and drink. Grenacha is a bit edgy at first, but about 15-20 min into it it will broaden on the palate and resemble Pinot in texture.I have a contest for free peppers on THP Talk section.Maybe one more tmr. You should try. I will ship a bottle in Oct when the weather cools. I will send pics tonight when I have more time. Peace, Shawn
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Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2012 16:58:44 -0700
From:
aji.pepper@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: per ad
To:
primospeppers@hotmail.com
Hi Primo, yah I saw you got some sprinkles. I am in coastal San Diego. I think we got 3 in. last winter. The shot was of a Moruga from Pepperlover seeds. The early pods on this plant (I have 18) look more 7 Pot. The later ones look more atypical. I have some other types, crosses and the odd shaped pod here and there that maybe you can look at. Like this pod I got off of a Bhut yesterday. These things are wack! I only have about 20 bottles of my wine left. When the weather cools I will send you a bottle. The best Oregon Pinot I had was a 1993 Cameron Clos Electrique. This was when I was drinking a lot of killer Burgundys and the wine blew me away. I was wholesaling it then and I only got something like 12 bottles for all of So. Cal. This was the vintage that was Parkerized and permanently put Oregon Pinots on the map. Anything Ken Wright touches is also worth buying. I am not as I the loop as I used to be. I spend way to much time in the garden. I am surprised I have not named each plant. It is a good sickness, right. I will send some more pics in a few days. Pray for surf. Thats what we do here, Peace, Shawn
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Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:05:30 -0700
From:
aji.pepper@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: per ad
To:
primospeppers@hotmail.com
Hi Primo, I tore out the weeds in my little rental by the beach and grew out about 230 plants (40 types). Here is a random pic. Some in the ground, some in containers. Short story.... was in the wine wholesale biz for most of my life. Had 2 small high end brokerages. Had the 'Blue Chips" from Oregon, Australia etc, etc. Then I made wine for a number of wineries in Paso Robles (West side baby) and my own. The wines I made for my label were the best ones, but I never gave them to the press hoping buyers would make up their own mind. The other wines did get scores in the 90s to 96 pts. My Zin did win a all the tastings it was put in with the big hitters. I also won the Grand Championship of the California Wine Tasting Championship. My friends in Paso were pushing the envelope at that time. I made wine with Justin Smith of Saxum (Wine Spectator Wine Of The Year) and many others. Wife ran off with a guy, bad things happened, lawyers, thief etc, now no business. I know the salsa/hot sauce/marinade industry is pretty saturated,but this is what I really want to do. Bring wine making to salsas! If you are in need of a few pods of something different then what you have let me know, I might have something. Also, what material should I use to isolate flowers for crosses? Sorry this is to long. Peace, S
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