January 2008

January 2008 Contra Costa Wine Group Newsletter

             First off, Happy New Year to everyone!  I hope that the holidays weren’t too stressful and that you all had a good time, especially with family, friends, and wine!

            Our last meeting was held at the wonderful home of Ken and Terry Baker in Martinez on Friday, December 7, 2007.  They had lots of room for our annual Nouveau Night.  There was a table in another room for white wine, a large one for red wine, and then the kitchen area for their wonderful hor d’oeuvres and member “non-Nouveau” wines.  Thanks so much for having us.  Your hospitality and support of the CCWG is greatly appreciated.

            Nouveau Night was again a great success!  There were approximately 40 people in attendance.  There were a total of 11 white wines entered along with 24 red wines for the assembled group to judge.  The results are as follows:

                                                White Wine

Honorable Mention  -    Dick Ingraham/Bob Hussey, Sauvignon Blanc - VL-3 Designated

Tied for Second Place - Marv Schick, Chardonnay

                                      Dick Ingraham/Bob Hussey, Mill Creek Gewürztraminer

First Place                  -  Dick Ingraham/Bob Hussey, Sauvignon Blanc - QA-23Y Designated

                                                Red Wine

Third Place                -  John & Janine Walkinshaw, Cabernet Sauvignon

Second Place             -  Marv Schick, Cabernet Sauvignon

First Place                 -  Lee Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon

Congratulations to all of the winners.  Remember, these are only for “bragging” rights!  No awards will be issued.  Thanks to everyone who entered their wine.  It helped to make for a great evening of fun and purple tongues! 

I’m pleased to announce that the CCWG now has a host home for all of our 2008 meetings.  I’m so glad that that hurdle is now out of the way.  Thanks to all of the volunteers.  Several new members have stepped up to the plate and that is greatly appreciated, especially by those members that have had a meeting at their home for several years in a row.

            This year’s meeting dates, hosts, and cities are as follows:

January 26, 2008,  Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club, Concord-30^th Annual Judging and Potluck Dinner

Friday, February 29, 2008, First Place Winners & all Awards-Tom & Donna Powers, Martinez

Friday, March 28, 2008, Steve & Joyce Mirabito, Lafayette

Friday, April 25, 2008, Michael Parker & Bev Nilson, Brentwood

Friday, May 23, 2008, Dick & Sally Ingraham, Walnut Creek

Friday, June 27, 2008, John & Janine Walkinshaw, Walnut Creek

Friday, July 25, 2008, Mary Beth Davis & Nancy Morgan, Danville

August, 2008 - TBD, - BBQ at a Livermore winery (?) or some other function.

Friday, September 26, 2008, Dan & Sylvia Manoukian, San Ramon

Friday, October 24, 2008, Bob & Ruth Hussey, Danville

Friday, December 5, 2008, Nouveau Night, Rupert & Eran Perera, Martinez

Again, thanks to all of these volunteers.  Please mark your calendars and hold these dates! 

We also have a Program Committee for 2008.  WAHOO!  Maria Pilkington, Rupert Perera, and Wayne Weible have volunteered their services to see that this year’s meetings are interesting and educational for the membership of the Contra Costa Wine Group.  I’m going to “temporarily” appoint Maria as the Chairperson and rely upon her to coordinate the first meeting of that committee.  Very-busy Gerry Dzendzel had also volunteered his services as a backup to these three members.  Thanks for your offer, Gerry!  This committee can meet twice at a mutually agreeable place.  Their budget is $75.00 for hors d’oeuvres and wine for the two meetings should a second one prove necessary.

Now for the “good” stuff!  Saturday, January 26, 2008, is going to be the 30^th Annual Contra Costa Wine Group Professional Judging and Potluck Dinner!  It will again be held at the Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club in Concord.    It’s our biggest function of the year.  John Kirtley will have the keys to the Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club so will be turning the heat on to a respectable level the night before our function starts.  Those that were there at the start of the judging three years ago will remember the 38 degree temperature inside the building when we got there!  That’s not going to ever happen again! 

Even though she finds herself unable to attend the dinner, Outgoing President Josie Fike is again ably serving as our “Potluck Coordinator.”  Be sure to call her to sign up for either: a) Appetizers; b) Salad and Bread; c) Entrée or d) Dessert.  Plan on enough for at least 12 servings to insure that there is enough food.  Please bring a larger portion if you are bringing guests.  Remember, one membership is allowed to bring only two guests.  Give Josie your count!  The facility’s size limits us to 9 tables of 10 people each.   Hurry or Josie will have to direct what you need to bring.  The absolute “last minute” for accepting “reservations” is early Wednesday night, January 23, 2008.  Only the first 90 people to get their “dibs” in will be able to attend this great evening.  It is possible that we could fill the facility.  BEWARE!!!     

Our wonderful judges this year are as follows: 

1.  Tom Coyne of The Thomas Coyne Winery in Livermore, long time CCWG member.

2.  Lance Bellamy, has previously judged for us and is the Directeur General of Left Bank Restaurant in Pleasant Hill.

3.  Mike Wangbickler, has previously judged for us, works for Balzac Communications plus has taught wine classes at Napa Valley College.

4.  Dave Everett, Enology and Viticulture Professor at Las Positas College in Livermore.

5.  Roger Campbell, has previously judged wines at the California State Fair

6.  Mike Zitzlaff, CEO of Crushpad Wines in San Francisco (member Paul Cattrone’s boss)

7.  Possibly Jim Meyers of Wine Thieves in Lafayette and Clayton.  I won’t know for sure until he calls me back on Thursday.  He came highly recommended by member Rupert Perera.

8.  Unknown at “Press” time!  I still need another judge, and possibly two!  Give me a call!   

            We need lots and lots of assistance throughout the day at the Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club to make this event as successful as past years have been.  From December 7^th’s meeting, I noted the following volunteers:  Setup (8:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m.): Lee Wines, Al Turner, Ron Pilkington, Steve Abbanat, Gary Cattrone; Designated “Gopher” (you know, go for this and go for that!): Bonneau Dickson; Glass Washers: First Shift (10:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m.):  Bob Hussey, Dick Ingraham, Bob Bogardus and Paul Cattrone; Second Shift (1:00 p.m. till 4:30 p.m.): Lisa Anderson, Gretchen Spindel, Thierry Thys and Annette Thuesen; Lunch Runners for Judges and volunteers: Dennis and Pam Miner;  Table Decorations: Eran Perera; Computer Support: Mark Brown and John Kirtley; Judges Gifts: Barbara Bentley and Rex Johnston (Special Kudos to these two as they are unable to attend and are still kind enough to put together their wonderful gift baskets for our judges); Dinner Set-Up (4:30 p.m. till 6:00 p.m.): Gayle Muehring, Nancy Morgan, Mary Beth Davis, Whit Wright, Bob & Mary Lu Burchard; Ribbons & Plaques: Peter and Martha Dragovich (they could use an “Assistant” to learn the tricks of the trade for future years.).  We need lots more “helpers” than that so please plan on spending at least a couple of hours during the day helping us with the preparations, distribution of the wine to the judges, etc.  Everyone should plan on helping with the cleanup after the event is completed.  The doors will be opened at 8:00 a.m. so that we can get the place set up. 

            The entry fees for this year’s event are again, each individual wine entry is $5.00 and we require that you bring 2 bottles of each entry (750 mL bottle or 375 mL bottle for Fruit and Dessert wines) the morning of the judging.  Absolutely no entries will be accepted after 9:45 a.m., Saturday, January 26, 2008, the morning of the event.  No exceptions!  Sorry.  Set your clock a little earlier if you have to, but this change must be adhered to.  The previous 10:00 a.m. cutoff simply didn’t allow us enough time to log in the wines and establish the wine categories, etc.  If you find that you’ll be unable to assist the day of the judging, arrange now with a fellow CCWG member to get your entries to the Mt. Diablo Women’s Club.  We had 101 entries last year and set a record the year before with 113 entries.  More this year?  CHANGE: Note that we will be calling all of the First Place winners to ask that they bring another bottle of their wine to the tasting.  If you’re either away or going to be at the Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club all day, arrange to have a third bottle of your wine arrive at the facility by 6:00 p.m.  Carl & Sherry Lyle have also graciously volunteered to supply us with enough of the one ounce measured pour spouts to be placed on all of the First Place wines and, especially, the three Best of Show winners. 

Note that if you have no vineyard or appellation indicated on your wine labels, we will call it simply “California.”  I believe that the more information that we provide to our fellow  members on where your grapes came from, the better their decision-making in grape buying will be in future years. 

            The doors will open at 6:00 p.m. for the sampling of all of the wines, winning and otherwise, plus Appetizers.  A couple of our members have a very nice surprise in store for us during this tasting period.  The dinner will start promptly at 7:30 p.m. with tables again being drawn by lottery for the entrees and is reversed for the desserts.  Clear?

            I must state again that we must not cluster around the wine tables.  Pour your sample and step away from the table.  Let others in so that they may partake of the wines.  Please inform any of your guests that they should do the same.  This is all just common courtesy.  As those of you that know me, I’m not bashful and am not afraid to tell someone to get out of the way and go talk elsewhere.  This is a reunion of sorts as many members and/or spouses haven’t seen each other since last year.  Spread out throughout the facility.  Don’t block the aisles or the wine tables to hold your discussions.  Thank you.

            DIRECTIONS: From Highway 680, take Treat Blvd. East.  Go several miles and turn left on Clayton Rd.  About a half-mile later, turn right on Farm Bureau Rd.  The Mt. Diablo Woman’s Club is down about four blocks and located at the corner of Farm Bureau Rd. and Walnut Ave.

            Members Sandy & Bernie Rooney of The Oak Barrel in Berkeley and Mike & Sharon Orton of The Valley Vintner in Dublin are graciously offering to ship for FREE your entries in the 2008 WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition.  Members Rex Johnston & Barbara Bentley were Winemakers of the Year last year and Rex’s Ollallieberry won Best of Show a couple of years ago.  Last years WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition had 3,422 entries from 44 States, 8 Canadian Provinces and 4 Countries.  According to Rex, the Full Mooners of Kentucky, winners of the 2007 Group of the Year honors, only has about 15 people in its membership!  The Contra Costa Wine Group currently has 71 memberships that are active!  Even though the entry fee is $20 per entry, (pretty pricey) if as few as 25 CCWG winemakers submitted their (single bottle) entries, I feel quite confident that our little group of fantastic winemakers could easily capture the 2008 Group of the Year honors.  I will be collecting your checks and bottles of wine at both the January and February meetings to insure that they are shipped timely to the competition.  The absolute last day to deliver wines to either The Oak Barrel or The Valley Vintner is Sunday, March 9, 2008.  Rules and applications are available at: winemakermag.com .  Please seriously consider entering this great competition.

            WineMaker Magazine is also having their first annual WineMaker Magazine Conference in Sonoma County on May 16 and 17, 2008.  I’ll have more information later on that event and the possibility of the CCWG having a table for pouring some of our wines there.

www.WinePress.US is having their 2008 US Wine Fest at almost the same time in almost the same location.  They tout themselves as the “largest winemaker and grape growing discussion forum” on the Web.  We are definitely in demand!

TO THE MEMBERSHIP:  I am attaching the 2008 Contra Costa Wine Group Membership List to this email.  Please print it off for your future use.  Please “Reply” to this email to let me know if you require a “hard” copy.  I will make a few extra copies and make them available at the potluck dinner on January 26th.  See you all there.