Vina, Calif. — Seven times a day, starting at 3:30 a.m., the Trappist monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux gather in prayer.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=15871

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Vina, Calif. — German stonemason Frank Helmholz oversees the reconstruction of a 12th century Spanish monastery that was imported, stone by stone, by William Randolph Hearst in 1931. He splits his time between the Abbey at New Clairvaux and a restoration project at Egypt’s Temple of Luxor.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=15872

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Vina, Calif. — Father Thomas X. Davis, abbot emeritus at the Abbey of New Clairvaux north of Chico, pushes open the door to a barn that holds thousands of pieces of stone from a 12th century Spanish monastery. The chapel is being reconstructed with funding help from an ale to be released next year by nearby Sierra Nevada Brewery.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

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Vina, Calif. — Father Thomas X. Davis walks among the stones from the 12th century monastery. Sierra Nevada will train Davis as a “sensory professional” — a beer taster who knows his phenols from his esters.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=15874

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Vina, Calif. — Monks at New Clairvaux file out of the chapel after a noontime prayer and chant. They work in the abbey's vineyards, helping produce a popular line of wines.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=15875

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