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September 2008 Contra Costa Wine
Group Newsletter
Last months’ barbecue/potluck was held at the
Deer Ridge Vineyards in
Livermore. Carl and Cherie Lyle graciously
offered the use of their picnic area and propane grills. They also
brought out about 8 trays of hors d’oeuvres for consumption by the
group. By my “nose” count, there were around 45 people that were in
attendance. There was way more wine and food than we could possibly
consume! After discussing this with several attendees, I do believe
that for next years’ function we will only have two categories, i.e.
hors d’oeuvres and desserts. Thanks to Carl and Cherie for allowing
the group to have such a great time on a wonderful early evening in
the Livermore
Valley.
We are in need of one more member to become
part of the CCWG Program Committee. Please seriously consider
getting involved and helping the group out. Call me!
HOT MESSAGE FROM CARL LYLE OF DEER RIDGE
VINEYARDS:
Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 10:17
AM
Subject: Petite Sirah
We are picking about 500 pounds of PS tonight.
I am way overloaded to use these grapes. Care to make wine from
them and split the bottles?
Email him at:
carl@deerridgevineyards.com or call him at the winery at
925-292-2222.
September Meeting Subject - Taste the
Bad Wines too! Our speaker will be Bryan Avila of
Napa
Valley College.
The meeting will be held on Friday, September 26, 2008 at the
home of Mary Beth Davis and Nancy Morgan, starting at around
7:30 p.m.
Here is
Bryan’s brief write-up of what he intends to
speak on:
My wine defects program is fairly straight forward and is
an SOP for many winemakers in the industry. I "calibrated" my nose
by smelling and tasting wines from flawed lots and learning about
the process that caused them.
Based on the type of off-aroma and understanding of the
winemaking process, clues of chemical or microbial spoilage can help
us to pin point the root cause. This understanding allows the
winemaker to be specific in a wine's remediation. Laboratory
analysis help to confirm or deny flaws indentified during sensory
evaluation.
One's diagnostic skill is largely based on learning the
fundamentals of wine production and enology and matching this to
knowing what things taste like. In other words we are developing
sensory benchmarks throughout the process.
Bring a bottle of a “problem” wine
to the meeting and a couple of wine glasses so that we can keep the
good stuff and the problem wines separate.
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DIRECTIONS: |
See Email
BRING A CHAIR, A JACKET, TWO WINE
GLASSES, A BOTTLE OF YOUR PROBLEM WINE AND A BOTTLE OF A
“GOOD ONE” TO SHARE WITH THE OTHER ATTENDEES.
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A
Public Service Educational Announcement:
Before a single Meritage wine was
bottled, there was debate about how to pronounce it. Did it
rhyme with "heritage" or the more French sounding "meh-ri
TAHJ"? Proponents of the first pronunciation cited its
derivation from the words merit and heritage. On the other
hand, the wines were modeled on French Bordeaux, and one of
the most familiar French wines, Hermitage, which happened to
be from Rhone, was
pronounced "hehr-me-TAHJ." The dispute was soon settled by
the Meritage Association, a nonprofit group whose purpose is
to educate consumers on Meritage wines and promote wines
blended in the
Bordeaux
tradition. The association was in favor of the
heritage
pronunciation.
Don’t forget to
bring your 2008-2009 CCWG Dues check to the meeting!
Make out a check for $45.00 to “Contra Costa Wine Group” and
get it to our Treasurer, Lee Wines. If you can’t make this
meeting, mail it to Lee at
1105 West K St.,
Benicia,
CA 94510.
REMEMBER:
The delinquency date is September 30th
and a $10 penalty will be added to checks received after
that date.
See you all at the meeting. Al Turner,
Secretary, Contra Costa Wine Group (925) 837-9384 |
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