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October 2011 Contra Costa Wine Group Newsletter
Our last meeting was held in Danville at the home of Jim and Bette Felton. Jim gave tours of his passively cooled wine cellar and laboratory. It’s a very nice setup indeed. Bette did a great job with the hors d’oeuvres and we all really appreciate their efforts. The meeting was held outdoors on a wonderful evening to be outside. There were approximately 50 CCWG members and guests in attendance, quite a crowd. Unfortunately, our scheduled speaker, Carl Wente, “stiffed” us and was actually in New York at the time of our meeting. I must say that I was not impressed with his scheduling prowess. John Curtis made a brief presentation regarding an upcoming tour of several of the really big estate homes in Martinez. It is for a fund raising event that he is involved in. A sign-up sheet for hosting 2012 meetings was passed around with some success. We now have hosts for all of the meetings from April through October, 2012. Unfortunately, we still need someone to step up for the following meetings:
Friday, February 24, 2011 Wine Awards Night #1 Need a Large Home Friday, March 30, 2012 Wine Awards Night #2 Need a Large Home Friday, December 7, 2012 Nouveau Night Need a Large Home
Please give me a call or “Reply” to this Email if you can help out your group. These meetings are typically attended by from 50-60 people, thus the need for a Large Home. A sign-up sheet was also passed around for volunteers at the 34th Annual Professional Judging and Potluck Dinner to be held on Saturday, January 20, 2012 in Walnut Creek. I still need help with the following tasks: a) Computer Support – All Day; b) Glass Washers for the 2nd Shift from 1:00 p.m. until approximately 4:30 p.m. (No dishpan hands!); c) Lunch Runners that will buy food & deliver it to the judging site; d) Ribbons, Plaques, etc. (Ken Muehring please!) and possibly someone else to work with Ken to get an idea of that process; e) After dinner cleanup-gathering of table decorations, remaining unopened wines and any other CCWG owned items (basically to load into my Jeep) and no sweeping or mopping of floors is now required. Discussions were had about a hosts hors d’oeuvres and commercial wines. I will be sending you a separate Email with those discussions put into a survey format that can easily be “Replied” to. Our next meeting will be held on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. It will be held at the home of Denis Beaman in Danville and ably assisted by Linda Ormonde. This meeting is our annual harvest report from the membership. I sure hope that all of the grapes will have been harvested by then! I will act as the Moderator. What we’ll be looking for is when you got your grapes, how much you paid for them, what was the Brix and possibly the TA & YAN. We’re especially concerned this year with the weird weather, as to what kind of shape the grapes were in. You might also be asked to tell us of any difficulties that you encountered during the fermentation, etc. DIRECTIONS: From Highway 680 going southbound, in Danville, take Exit 38, Sycamore Valley Road keeping left at the off ramp to continue Eastbound. Sycamore Valley Rd. turns into Camino Tassajara. As you’re approaching Blackhawk Plaza, turn left onto Blackhawk Rd. After a short distance, turn right onto Silver Maple Dr. Tell the Gate Attendant that you’re there for a meeting at the home of Denis Beaman. Then, take the 2nd left onto Full Moon Way. The address is 416 Full Moon Way and will be on the right. From Highway 680 going northbound, in San Ramon take the Crow Canyon Rd. exit and turn right to go East. After about 5 miles, passing Camino Tassajara at the Blackhawk Plaza, the road becomes Blackhawk Rd. After a short distance, turn right onto Silver Maple Dr. Tell the Gate Attendant that you’re there for a meeting at the home of Denis Beaman. Then, take the 2nd left onto Full Moon Way. The address is 416 Full Moon Way and will be on the right.
The meeting will be held indoors but it would be a very good idea to bring along a folding chair to sit in. Also, be sure to bring a bottle of your best homemade wine, and a wine glass for sampling, something that far too many people have forgotten in the past. If you haven’t made wine yet, please bring an eclectic bottle of commercial wine that you believe the membership might enjoy.
Respectfully submitted, Al Turner, Secretary, Contra Costa Wine Group
p.s. be on the lookout for an emailed survey that we’d really like you to complete and return.
p.p.s. Bring an extra bottle along with you for the Ruby Slippers 2012 – There’s No Place Like Home charity dinner. I’m attaching their donation form to this email. They really do want to acknowledge any wine donations by letter and need your mailing address, etc. Thank you all. |