June 2011 Contra Costa Wine Group Newsletter

2010 and 2011 WineMaker Magazine

“Club of the Year”

          Our last meeting was held at the home of Mark and Lori Beecher in Walnut Creek.  The meeting was held outside on a slightly chilly night.  A great spread of hors d’oeuvres was laid out for all to enjoy.  There were lots of wines available for all to sample.  I’d like to thank Mark and Lori for their gracious hospitality in volunteering their home for this meeting.

          CCWG member Steve Abbanat graciously stepped in at the last minute to give us all a very nice presentation on blending wines.  Areas of concern that were discussed included Color, Variety, “Attack/Mid-Palate/Finish Profile,” Acid/pH Levels, Alcohol/Sugar levels, Wood treatment(s), Floral Aromas, if any. Fruit/Flavor and Tannin “Backbone.”  Steve provided us with a Wine Blending Profile Sheet, a chart on Common Wine Varieties by Region and a nice color graph on the “Attack/Mid/Finish” by Variety that included Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Syrah.  All in all, it made for a very nice presentation.  You just “had” to be there!  Thanks Steve for a job very well done.

          Our Wine Czar, Bonneau Dickson, assembled a few of the membership for a “CCWG Wine Judging Study Group.”  Mark Brown, Al Maas, Lee Wines, me and John Kirtley met at the John and Sophia Kirtley home in Concord.  Bob Hussey found himself “stuck” in New Mexico and was unable to attend this initial session (only).  Several more meetings will be held to discuss this important subject before our next professional judging in January, 2012.  Final results will be presented to the membership before then.  As of right now, only a few ideas will likely be implemented.  They include: 1) We will again seek volunteers to serve as wine drop-off points, but will increase that number to possibly 6 homes; 2) All wines will be dropped off no later than Wednesday night, January 18, 2012 (no exceptions) prior to the Saturday morning, January 21, 2012 wine judging event (there will be no more acceptance of wines on the morning of the judging); 3) We will be asking our judges to arrive earlier, around 9:00 a.m., in order to promptly start the judging at that time; 4) In general, there will only be 5-10 wines per flight.  We’ll maintain some flexibility there but at least it’s a worthwhile goal.

          Again, I’d like to emphasize that these are only our preliminary findings.  By having the wines at a drop-off point by Wednesday night, we will better be able to categorize the entries, possibly avoiding the creation of some very creatively named and ill-advised categories.  Mark Brown will be able to get all entries entered into his Excel spreadsheet so that we can start promptly on Saturday morning.  We’ll be better able to balance out the number of entries tasted by each judge.  An earlier judging start will allow a lot more flexibility for judge’s conversations amongst themselves and, hopefully, allow Mark Brown to get the final judging results printed off well before people start arriving for the potluck dinner as has happened many times in the past.  Cross your fingers!

          Our next meeting is going to be held on Saturday, June 25, 2011 starting at around 4:00 p.m.  Member John Walkinshaw has lined up a very interesting speaker for us.  He is Mr. Tim “Blind Muscat” Patterson (I’ll let Tim explain the nickname), a wine writer and award winning home winemaker from Berkeley.  Tim is the author of “Concannon: The First One Hundred and Twenty-five Years” (with Jim Concannon) and “Home Winemaking for Dummies.”

He has written for “Wines and Vines,” the “Wine Enthusiast,” and “WineMaker Magazine.  Tim has written on both the “Trade” and “Consumer” “sides of the street.”  Tim has also served as a professional wine judge at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.  I’m not exactly sure what Tim’s going to talk about but I’m very sure that, no matter the subject, it will be extremely interesting and very worthwhile for the Contra Costa Wine Group membership.  I’m pretty sure that he’ll have a few copies of his books for sale at the meeting.  Bring $$$ if you’re interesting in purchasing an autographed copy.

          The meeting is going to be held, again on Saturday, June 25, 2011, starting at around 4:00 p.m. at the home of Sal and Susan Captain in Moraga. 

DIRECTIONS:  From the North: Take Highway 24 West and take the Pleasant Hill Rd. exit, Exit 14, toward Mt. Diablo Blvd.  Take the ramp toward Lafayette/Rossmoor.  Merge onto Pleasant Hill Rd. toward Mt. Diablo Blvd.  Turn right on Olympic Blvd.  Turn left onto Reliez Station Rd which later becomes Glenside Dr.  Turn right to stay on Glenside Dr.  Turn Left on St. Mary’s Rd.  Turn left onto Bollinger Canyon Rd.  Turn left onto Joseph Dr. and the Captain home will be on the left at the end at 1969 Joseph Dr.  Their telephone number is (925) 899-0703.

          From the West:  Through the Caldecott Tunnel on Highway 24 and take Exit 9 toward Moraga/Rheem/St. Mary’s College.  At the bottom of the ramp, turn right onto Camino Pablo, bearing right onto Moraga Way.  Go 4.5 miles and turn left onto Moraga Rd.  Turn right onto St. Mary’s Rd.  Turn right onto Bollinger Canyon Rd.  Turn left onto Joseph Dr. and the Captain home will be on the left at the end at 1969 Joseph Dr.  Their telephone number is (925) 899-0703.

          From the South:  Take I680 North to Olympic Blvd.  At the bottom of the ramp, turn left onto Olympic Blvd.  Turn left onto Reliez Station Rd which later becomes Glenside Dr.  Turn right to stay on Glenside Dr.  Turn Left on St. Mary’s Rd.  Turn left onto Bollinger Canyon Rd.  Turn left onto Joseph Dr. and the Captain home will be on the left at the end at 1969 Joseph Dr.  Their telephone number is (925) 899-0703.

          Bring a folding chair, a jacket as we’ll be outside, a bottle of your homemade finest (or eclectic selection that you believe our members would enjoy) and a wine glass.

I hope to see you all at the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Al Turner, Secretary, Contra Costa Wine Group