February 2008

February 2008 Contra Costa Wine Group Newsletter

           Saturday, January 26, 2008 was a great day for the Contra Costa Wine Group!  The doors to the Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club were opened at about 7:45 a.m. and semi-organized pandemonium was the order of the morning.  Thanks to John Kirtley, we had heat in the building.  At least that was one thing that we didn’t have to worry about. 

The previous record for number of wine entries was 113.  That record was set two years ago, in January 2006.  Unbelievably (to me, anyway), the wines just kept coming and coming, until, a grand total of 144 entries were logged in!  Mark Brown and John Kirtley struggled initially but came up with a total of 19 different categories of wine needing to be judged.  To prevent sensory burnout, we divided our judges into 3 panels.  Two of the panels had 2 judges and the third had 3 judges.  After talking to Tom Coyne, we came to the conclusion that we’ll need 10 judges next year.  That would be 3 panels of three, plus an extra in case one of our judges turns out to be a “no show.”

Our judges this year did a great job for us.  They were: Longtime member Tom Coyne of the Thomas Coyne Winery in Livermore; Rod Santos of Wine Thieves in both Lafayette and Clayton; Pam Thatcher of Young’s Markets in Hayward; Roger Campbell, who has previously judged at the California State Fair; Lance Bellamy, Directeur General of Left Bank Restaurant in Pleasant Hill; Mike Zitzlaff, GM and Chief Winemaker at Crushpad in San Francisco; and David Everett, Head of the Viticulture and Winery Technology Department at Las Positas College in Livermore.  David asked if he could become a member of the Contra Costa Wine Group and I said yes, an honorary one.  He’s been added to my email list and will be added to the 2008 Membership list.  Mike Zitzlaff made some wonderful written comments about each of the categories that he had judged.  These notes will be available at the next meeting.

I would like to say thanks to all of the volunteers that helped out for our function.  They included new President Ron Pilkington, Steve Abbanat, Paul Cattrone, Bonneau Dickson, Bob Hussey, Dick Ingraham, Bob Bogardus, Gary Cattrone, Lisa Anderson, Gretchen Spindel, Thierry Thys, Annette Thuesen, Dennis & Pam Miner, Eran Perera, Mark Brown, John Kirtley, Barbara Bentley and Rex Johnston, Gayle Muehring, Mary Beth Davis, Whit Wright, Bob and Mary Lu Burchard, Mark & Lori Beecher and Mike Orton.  Carl & Cherie Lyle, members and owners of Deer Ridge Vineyards in Livermore, graciously provided us with about 15 1-ounce pour spouts, which, I believe, allowed the First Place and Best of Show wines to be tasted by many more people.  Josie Fike again served admirably as our Food Coordinator.  (She and John were in Las Vegas where John was making a presentation to a professional organization.)  Hopefully, I didn’t miss anyone because I need everyone’s support for future judgings!  Peter & Martha Dragovich are still working on the event as they’ve volunteered, again, to handle the Ribbons & Plaques that will be handed out at the next meeting.  There will be more on that later in this newsletter.

Click HERE for the results of the 30^th Annual Professional Judging and Potluck Dinner.

I would suggest that all of you review the Appellations above to help you decide where you want to buy your 2008 grapes and how much you should pay.  Call the winners! 

The potluck dinner that evening was quite a success.  My estimate is that around 75 people were there for the tasting and food.  We may cut down on the bread next year, add a category of “Side Dish” and have a few more desserts.  Gary Cattrone, Sophia Kirtley and Bob Bogardus provided us with some great music during the tasting period.  Thanks to you all.  Congratulations again to all of the winners.  

Here is a reminder that members Bernie Rooney of Oak Barrel Winecraft in Berkeley and Mike Orton of The Valley Vintner in Dublin are offering Free Shipping for your entries in the 2008 WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition.  Your entries have to be at these businesses no later than Sunday, March 9, 2008 to make the deadline.  Applications can be printed off at www.winemakermag.com and the entry fee is $20.00 per single bottle entry.  

Here’s a note from Bonneau Dickson:  “I think I left a travel coffee cup at the Women's Club on Saturday.  It is white with a blue interior and has a white cover.  At one time it had a label saying "White Lightning" and my name written on it in felt tipped pen, but it is old and both are probably now obscured.  If someone turned it in, I would like to have it back.  If it is lost, don't worry about it.  I got it free at a filling station years ago as a prize for filling up my tank.” 

On a similar note, a black leather zippable binder with “Rimadyl® (carprofen) embossed in the leather is in my possession.  I’ll have it at the next meeting if it’s yours and you want it back. 

Special congratulations to new Contra Costa Wine Group members, John and Sharol Tarabini of Damian Rae Winery which captured Double Gold at the San Francisco Chronicle’s recent judging for its 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  They are Crushpad Commerce Members, live in Danville, and are already on your 2008 CCWG Membership list.  No, folks, this isn’t a homemade wine!

The next meeting of the Contra Costa Wine Group is a big one and will be held on Leap Day, Friday night, February 29, 2008, at around 7:30 p.m., again graciously, at the home of Tom & Donna Powers in Martinez.  This is the night for the First Place Winners (due to First Place ties, there are 24 winners) in the 19 wine categories to pour their wines and let us in on a few of their winemaking secrets.  All of the First Place winners are hereby notified that they need to get 2 bottles of their winning wine to this meeting, by hook or by crook!  These winners are also encouraged to prepare a single page handout for this meeting.  Several copies for those in attendance would be very nice.  (John & Sophia Kirtley will be in Puerto Vallarta again; poor things, but I already have their wines and handouts!  Each winner is to be limited to around 3 to 5 minutes to tell us all about their winning wine.  That should take us somewhere around between an hour and a half to two hours, to hear these presentations.  All of the ribbons, for all of the winners on the previous pages, will be handed out at this meeting, as well as all of the judges’ notes to everyone who entered a wine.  Peter and Martha Dragovich, with the previous blessing of the assembled membership at a recent meeting (my mind trails off here), are having “special” ribbons made up to commemorate this, our 30^th Anniversary judging.

Bring a folding chair or two, plus your wine glass, and a bottle of your best wine to serve with the hors d’oeuvres to this event!  I would highly encourage any of the membership that live in a condo, for instance, or out of Contra Costa County and plan to attend this event, to call Donna Powers at the number below to see if you can’t help her out with the hors d’oeuvres this evening.  The turnout is typically right around 50-60 people, and Donna shouldn’t have to bear the entire brunt of that large of a group, plus that’s a very nice way to show the group that you really do want to help out.        

See you all at the meeting.  Al Turner, Secretary, Contra Costa Wine Group