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March 2009 Contra Costa Wine Group
Newsletter
Our last meeting was held on Friday night, February 27th at the Tom
& Donna Powers “estate” in Martinez. As usual, Tom & Donna did a
wonderful job of being ready for the “hoard” that showed up. There
were at least 60 people there for the meeting. The hors d’oeuvres
were wonderful and the home was set up very nicely for the meeting.
Thank you both for doing such a wonderful job.
I am aware that Thierry Thys and Annette
Thuesen, Lee and Mary Wines brought hors d’oeuvres to the meeting.
I’d like to thank them for taking on that task. Living outside of
Contra Costa County and thus not hosting a meeting at their homes
didn’t allow for any other possibilities to support the CCWG. This
was a very nice gesture. If I missed anyone else that also brought
hors d’oeuvres, I’m very sorry that I missed you but know that we do
appreciate your support of the group.
A total of 19 First Place wines were supposed to be poured at this
meeting. In actuality, 17 First Place winners poured their wines.
I’m confident that the Barbera and Cabernet Sauvignon winners will
be pouring their wines at the March meeting, to be held on Friday
night, March 27, 2009 in Walnut Creek.
Peter Dragovich and Ken Muehring did an outstanding job with the
ribbons and awards. If you still owe for your extra ribbons, please
get a check off to our Treasurer, Lee Wines as soon as possible. The
evening was very well organized and the First Place winners did a
good job of minimizing their short presentations on how they made
their wines. Tony Blackburn was a great help in keeping the wines in
order and getting the proper bottles passed out for attendees to
sample. At the end of the evening, I was quite surprised at how
early it still was. I seem to remember the last wine being poured at
right around 9:40 p.m. That’s quite a bit earlier than in some
previous years.
On a personal note, I was a little
embarrassed at how well my wines did in the January 24th judging. I
felt that 5 out of 6 of my entries were too young (2007) and
probably wouldn’t fare very well. I entered them because I wanted to
have a “decent” number of wines put into the competition. (We ended
up with 137 entries) Much to my surprise, the judges really liked my
wine! I would like to give all red winemakers in the CCWG a glimmer
of hope for next year. I had rotator cuff surgery on July 31, 2008
so found myself unable to make wine last year. Therefore, I could
just possibly have a maximum of only a single entry for the January
22, 2010 judging, the CCWG’s 32nd Annual. There’s your opening for
the future!
Mr. Bob Keller, of Pleasanton, has eight 5-gallon used carboys for
sale. He’ll let them go for $15.00 each. Not too bad of a deal
considering that the retail price of new 5 gallon carboys is now up
to well over $30.00!
Dr. Aguirre of Bodegas Aguirre, a commercial winery in Livermore,
has 24 French and American oak used 59 gallon barrels for sale at
$20.00 each. They have been well cared for and were used only for
red wines that did go through malolactic fermentation. These barrels
were just very recently emptied. That telephone number is (925)
606-0554.
Tony Blackburn will be bringing 9 carboys, originally donated by
Carl & Cherie Lyle of Deer Ridge Vineyards in Livermore, to the next
meeting. They had wine in them and Carl stipulated that the carboys
be given away free to CCWG members when Tony was done with them.
They will be available, for FREE, to any members attending that
meeting that have a need for more carboys. First come, first served,
although if several attending want them, we’ll divide them up
somehow.
I will be inventorying the 3 cases of wine that ended up in my
vehicle after the judging on January 24th. In next months’
newsletter I will be asking for voluntary donations of wine to be
driven up and poured at the WineMaker Magazine conference in Napa in
May. Last year, we came up with 7 cases of wine for that event. I’d
like very much to have just about the same amount. Any wine
remaining after that event will be used at future meetings. I’ll
have more on this subject later.
There are several very important items that will be discussed and
voted upon at the next meeting. The first is to vote upon whether or
not we should limit the membership of the CCWG to, perhaps, 75
paying memberships. We are currently at 87 paid memberships. Our
size is scaring possible host families away. If we do determine that
perhaps a 75 membership maximum is fine, then should we simply
reduce the group by attrition? Do I continue with the “Waiting List”
that I’ve already started on my own initiative? There are currently
three people on that list.
In that vein, one of our members has asked that I encourage current
CCWG members living South of Walnut Creek or in Alameda County to
consider joining the Castro Valley Winemakers Club. Please contact
Al to get ahold of them. I know that the group is currently quite
small but is made up of a couple of really good winemakers. We first
came into contact with them last year while pouring CCWG wines at
the WineMaker Magazine conference in Rohnert Park. They had some
really good wines!
The second very important item to be discussed at the next meeting
is one of General and Liquor Liability for the CCWG. This issue
arose this past January when we were told that the Mt. Diablo
Woman’s Club wouldn’t rent their facility to us unless we had
insurance coverage. It cost us $192.10 for that one day. Question:
Does the CCWG need a policy that covers all of their meetings or do
we want to continue as we are in acquiring a one day policy just for
the January judging? As of this minute, I currently have two
insurance quotes for an annual policy. I have also found a firm that
the Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club has referred groups to in the past that
will sell us a one day policy for around $110.00. I’ll check them
out for an annual policy quote. Current indications are that the
annual CCWG dues would not have to be increased in the near future
to handle the annual policy.
Third we need a couple of volunteers to scout out new facilities for
our next annual judging to be held January 22, 2010. In my opinion,
the Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club has gotten too small for that function.
Mary Lu Burchard knows of a church hall in Martinez and Diane
McNally found one in Lafayette/Moraga. The rent last year at the Mt.
Diablo Woman’s Club was $450 which, to me, was high, but I’ve been
told otherwise by some members. I feel that the facility should be
in “central” Contra Costa County to make it easier for everyone to
get to it.
Our next meeting will be held on Friday night, March 27, 2009 from
about 7:30 p.m. until around 10:00 p.m. It’s going to be held at the
home of John & Josie Fike in Walnut Creek.
Our speaker for the “formal” portion of the meeting is going to be
CCWG member, Mike Parker, of Brentwood. He’s going to give a
presentation entitled “How to Become a Wine Broker.” That sounds
sort of innocuous but after talking to Mike previously, there are
mounds and mounds of “perks!” I’m talking exclusive invitations to
various wine tastings, lunches, dinners, etc., etc. It’s all really
worthwhile for what you have to put into it, which isn’t much,
according to Mike. I personally think that it’s going to be a great
evening.
Our next meeting will be held on Friday, March 27, 2009. It will be
held at the home of John and Josie Fike in Walnut Creek.
See you at the meeting. Respectfully submitted,
Al Turner, Secretary, Contra Costa Wine Group
925-837-9384
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