August 2011 Contra Costa Wine Group Newsletter

          The last meeting was held on Friday night, July 29, 2011 at the home of John & Josie Fike in Walnut Creek.  As I wasn’t there, I have to rely on Bonneau Dickson and John Walkinshaw for their notes at the event.  There were around 35 people in attendance for the meeting and, I’m sure, the hors d’oeuvres as prepared by John & Josie were delicious.  Except for some music coming from a local high school, the meeting was well received.  Our thanks go out to John & Josie for volunteering their home for this meeting. 

     Our speaker was Vichheka Hang of Ganau America, Inc.  She left us with the following notes:  - Ganau America, Inc. is a member of the Cork Quality Council and as such has each lot of corks tested at ETS for TCA using the CQC’s reduced Military Sampling Plan.  In addition each lot is tested for TCA in Italy at various points in production.  Sensory analysis is also performed on each lot both in Italy and here in the U.S.  We do in house analysis on all incoming corks.

- Sugherificio Ganau Italy has two autoclave processes in place for removal of TCA.  The first, the Ganau Revolution, has replaced the traditional boiling tanks where the cork planks are cleansed and readied for production.  The second is in place for use on the finished solid corks and for the granules and disks before assembly for all agglomerated products (still wine and sparkling wine corks).

- In May 2008, Ganau America purchased 2.8 acres in Carneros Business Park in the Eighth Street East wine-related industrial cluster on the southern outskirts of Sonoma. At 40,000 square feet, and has four times the amount of laboratory space, production space with brand new fire brand machines and ink plate machines.  We are right next door so if there are any emergencies we will be able to fix it in a timely manner.

Vichheka Hang, Ganau America Inc., Sales Consultant, Cell: 707.688.0068, Office: 707.939.1774, Fax: 707.939.0671

Notes taken by Bonneau Dickson for me:  Ganau is Italy's largest producer and supplier of corks and probably is the second or third largest cork company.  It was founded in 1941 and is based in Sardinia.  It has been family owned for three generations.

Ganau America was established in 2003 and has a 22,000 square foot, moisture controlled facility in Sonoma.  All Ganau America corks are manufactured in Ganau facilities in Europe.  The corks are custom branded and lubricated in the Sonoma facility.  Ganau developed an innovative steam cleaning process for corks that minimizes problems with TCA.

Points of interest:

a) Losses from cork taint/TCA are now under one percent, compared to three to five percent some years ago.  b) There really is no functional difference between a $2.00 cork and a 20 cent cork.  She discussed the different densities of cork.  Bob Hussey asked if this accounted for why some corks are hard to insert while others are not.  She thought this was more likely to be due to differences in the sizes of the bottles.  She confirmed reports from elsewhere that glass from China often is mis-sized.  She said that glass from Mexico had some problems in the past but now is generally quite good. 

I’d like to thank John Walkinshaw for arranging to have Vichheka talk to the group.

After hearing the Treasurer’s Report and recommendations, the attendees voted to raise the annual dues to $65 per year.  Your dues are “due” August 31, 2011 and become delinquent September 30, 2011.  At that time, your membership will be removed from our rolls to allow some of the people on the CCWG Waiting List the opportunity to join our great little band of fantastic winemakers.

         The attendees also voted to increase the membership limit to 85.  As I have 15 families currently on the CCWG Waiting List, I will go ahead and offer #s 1-10 the opportunity to join.  Please make your $65.00 checks out to: CCWG and mail them to our Treasurer, Mr. Lee Wines, 1105 West K St., Benicia, CA 94510.  You may give Lee your check at the August or September meetings but, for record keeping purposes, Lee insists that your dues be paid by check.

Mark Beecher raised the issue of limiting judging entries to "two per type".  Dick Ingraham asked if "type" meant "varietal".  Mark seemed to go along with that notion.  We’ll have more discussion on that issue well before the January, 2012 judging.

The issue of conducting the summer meetings on Saturday afternoons rather than Friday evenings was discussed.  Advantages would be that the Saturday afternoon meeting would be held during daylight and it might be easier for some people who work late on Friday to attend.  A disadvantage would be that it would break up the weekend.  The Ingrahams and Husseys strongly stated that they do not want Saturday meetings.  Further discussion is needed on this subject.

On a sad note, longtime CCWG member Virginia Schaefer is suffering from esophageal cancer and is not doing well.  A note and/or Get Well card to her would be a nice touch.  The mailing address is: 300 East H St., #120, Benicia, CA 94510,

          Our next get together is our annual “outing.”  We have previously barbecued, then changed to hors d’oeuvres + desserts only and now “for something completely different!”

Summer Rocks - Open House  Saturday, August 20, 1:00 - 5:00PM – Rock Wall Wine Company in Alameda, CA.   Visit the award-winning Rock Wall winery for our fabulous Summer Rocks Open House. Taste through the entire Rock Wall portfolio, including new releases and futures, as well as wines from the Alameda Point Vintners.  In total there will be over 50 wines from boutique producers: Blacksmith, Carica Wines, Ehrenberg Cellars, Eno, Joseph Garry Cellars, JRE, Mercy Vineyards, R&B Cellars and ROCK WALL!!

The 2009 St. Peter's Church Zinfandel (winner of a Gold Medal at the 2011 Orange County Wine Competition) amongst others will be released at the Open House. Don't miss out on all the fun, and come take advantage of our fabulous views, free parking and special day wine pricing!  To complement the wines, enjoy delicious food by Freshta catering, live music, winery tours, barrel tasting, and special logo wine glasses.  For added fun we will have a photo booth as well as air-brush tattoos.

CCWG member Richard Hansen has arranged for a wonderful deal just to members of the Contra Costa Wine Group.  Tickets to this event “online” cost $32.64 (includes processing fee) and tickets at the door will cost $45.00.  Rich has worked with the organizers of this event to allow us to purchase tickets for only $15.00 per person.  Just think, no gathering of BBQ stuff, and no preparation of hors d’oeuvres or desserts!   Simply jump in your car and drive out to the former Alameda Naval Air Station in Alameda to enjoy this great event.  The hangar doors will be opened and the view of San Francisco has to be seen to be believed.  You may visit the Rock Wall website at: www.rockwallwines.com to get a better idea of what to expect.  Would whoever has the CCWG banner please bring it to this event.  I’ve lost track of who has it.  We’ll have a couple of tables for our use, either in the geodesic dome or on the patio behind the new tasting room.

       Now for the hard part:  Write out a check for $15.00 per person to “Richard Hansen” and mail it to him at: 1307 Bay St., Alameda, CA 94501  Those checks must be received by Rich NLT Wednesday, August 17, 2011.

Also, please “Reply” to this email to let me know if you’re attending and how many. Rock Wall is requiring your email address for us to take advantage of this great price.  (You can remove yourself easily later.)

DIRECTIONS: Take Highway 24 West and go through the Caldecott Tunnel.  That highway later becomes I-980 West.  Take the I-880 South exit.  Take the Jackson St. exit and turn left onto Jackson St.  Turn left to take the I-880 North ramp toward I-980 East/San Francisco.  Then take the Broadway ramp, turn slight left to take the ramp toward Jack London Square.  Turn left onto Broadway, then turn left toward Alameda.  Turn slight right onto Webster St. Tube/CA 260 South.  Stay in the right lane and turn right onto Stargell Ave./Willver Willie.  Stargell Ave. becomes W. Midway Ave.  Continue to the end and turn left onto Monarch St.  Rock Wall Wine Company will be on your right at 2301 Monarch St., Alameda.  Again, Saturday, August 20, 2011 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

       I hope to see lots of you at this event.  It really sounds like a lot of fun and fits the August timeframe for the group. 

Respectfully submitted,  Al Turner, Secretary, Contra Costa Wine Group