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July 2008 Contra Costa Wine Group
Newsletter
Our last meeting was held at the
beautiful home of John and Janine Walkinshaw on Rudgear Drive in
Walnut Creek. It was a lovely evening to be out on their veranda
and up in their grapevines taking in the views of Mt. Diablo from an
angle that I’d never before experienced. Janine set out a wonderful
batch of hors d’oeuvres for the group. There were about 45 people
in attendance for this meeting.
Our resident wine “guru” John
Kirtley then gave a great presentation on six different Sauvignon
Blancs from around the world. From France we poured a 2006 Lurton
Les Fume Blanches from Pays de Comte Tolosan (Southwest France).
This $8.99 wine was among Wine Spectator’s Best Values (86 points)
and was declared a Gold Medal winner by Decanter Magazine. The next
wine poured was a 2007 Neil Ellis “Sincerely” Sauvignon Blanc from
the Western Cape Region of South Africa. This $12.99 wine was
granted 87 points by the Wine Spectator. The third wine poured was
a 2005 Emiliana “Sincerity” Sauvignon Blanc at $15.99 organically
grown from the Casablanca Valley in Chile. Our fourth wine of the
evening was a 2007 Groom Sauvignon Blanc from Adelaide Hills (Lenswood
District) in Australia. This $17.99 wine was given 90 points from
one our own former wine judges, Wilfred Wong. The fifth wine poured
was a 2007 Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region
of New Zealand. This $9.99 wine was given 88 points by Wilfred Wong
and 89 points by the Wine Spectator. The last wine of the
evening was a 2006 Matanzas Creek Winery from the Alexander & Knight
Valleys in Sonoma County. This $18.99 wine was given 91 points by
the Wine Enthusiast and awarded a Gold Medal at this years’ SF
Chronicle Competition. John was able to determine that 87% of this
wine was from the Sauvignon Musque grape clone and 21% of the wine
was given a “seasoned” oak treatment. Overall John did a wonderful
job in presenting these wines. It was really refreshing to taste
these nicely chilled wines on a warm evening in Walnut Creek. John,
thank you so very much for presenting a nicely varied panel of
Sauvignon Blanc wines and keeping them all below the $20 per bottle
threshold. John did say that every one of these wines was currently
available at Beverages and More.
I received the following message
from longtime member, Dick Ingraham: Al,
Could you put the
word out about the availability of a 100 liter (approx 26.6 gal)
French oak medium toasted barrel purchased new from Seguin
Moreau 10/16/01. Bob and I used it originally for whites, but then
converted to reds in 2006. It has been maintained between fillings
with proper monthly SO2 and Citric treatments. It does have some
staining on one head from former leakage. We used oak spirals to
impart oak flavors, because the barrel is basically inert. We
pulled the last batch of Meritage out yesterday, so it is currently
tight, but we suggest future user maintain proper tightness by
monthly refills of SO2/Citric with sulfur stick burnings. Free to
the first e-mail respondent.
I received the following message
from member Tom Powers: Alan: Any leads on a used crusher,
small, electric? Can you put a note in the next newsletter that I
want to buy one?
Carl Lyle of Deer Ridge Vineyards
listed a couple of items that he has recently accomplished with
members of the CCWG and others: a) All of the offered wine has now
found a new home; b) All of the offered heat shrink capsules have
found a new home; c) Two hundred wine glasses have found a new
home; d) A 28 year old Chardonnay vine removed from the vineyard
has found a new home as an object of art; e) 100 barrel heads have
found a new home for use as counter tops in an upscale home; f) The
carboys once emptied of the wine now in their new homes will end up
being offered to club members free at some club meeting. (Speaking
of which, I have two of Carl’s 6½ Gallon carboys, cleaned, at my
home. Please just let me know if you’re interested and I’ll bring
them to the next meeting-first come, first served!)
The location for our next
meeting has been changed from what was previously presented to the
membership. The meeting will not be held at the Davis/Morgan home
because they are adopting two Vietnamese boys, 5½ and 7 years old.
The very first day that the boys will be in the U.S. is the very
night of the meeting, July 25th! Please be sure to give
these nice ladies your heartiest congratulations when you next see
them. They now will be hosting the September 26th
meeting at their home in Danville.
Graciously offering to swap meeting
nights, on fairly short notice, relatively new members, Dan and
Silvia Manoukian in San Ramon will be hosting the meeting on Friday
night, July 25th, starting at around 7:00 p.m. versus our
“standard” start time of 7:30 p.m.
Mary Beth Davis and Nancy Morgan
were the two who rounded up this months’ speaker. This should be
really a good one so members should make a special effort to make it
to the meeting. Our speaker will be Dr. Phillip Tirman, M.D.,
author of “The Wine and Food Lover’s Diet-28 Days of Delicious
Weight Loss.” Paraphrasing (badly) from his book jacket, “he
currently consults with nine professional sports teams and works
with amateur and professional athletes nationwide in diagnosing
sports related injuries. He is particularly interested in the
relationship between nutrition and athletic performance, with a
focus on the roles of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. His work in
nutrition science has led to his spirited advocacy of a low glycemic
diet as the centerpiece of a sensible eating plan. Dr. Tirman’s
“Savvy Solution” to nutrition and weight control is based on the
simple fact that different types of carbohydrates affect blood sugar
and fat storage differently, making it possible to control the
metabolic message we send our body through the foods we eat.”
Dr. Tirman will be making a
PowerPoint presentation to us and there will be “intermissions” (2)
for Silvia Manoukian to present two wine and food pairings, which
come from Dr. Tirman’s book, to those in attendance. The meeting
will be held outside so it is highly recommended that you bring a
jacket, a chair, your wine glass and a bottle of your finest for
others to taste. If you haven’t made any wine yet, feel free to
bring a bottle of an interesting wine that you think the members
might enjoy. There will be wine poured during Dr. Tirman’s
presentation, likely the “left over” Sauvignon Blanc from last
months’ meeting and a Sangiovese that is the recommended wine for
one of our presenters’ recipes.
The meeting will start right around 7:00 p.m.
on Friday night, July 25th. I hope to see many of you
there. It’ll be a good one.
Respectfully submitted,
Al Turner, Secretary, Contra Costa Wine Group
925-837-9384
p.s. Mark your calendar for Sunday, August 17,
2008. That is the date of the annual potluck get together. This
year again, Carl and Cherie Lyle of Deer Ridge Vineyards in
Livermore have graciously stated that they will host this event.
More on directions and what food to bring in the next newsletter.
al t.
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