September 2011 Contra Costa Wine Group Newsletter
Our last meeting was held at the Rock Wall Winery at the old Alameda Naval Air Station. It was their Open House and CCWG member, Rich Hansen, arranged for us to get tickets for the event for only $15.00 per person. The “regular” ticket was $30.00 and they were charging $45.00 at the door. There are actually seven different wineries located at this facility and all were pouring their wines for the event. We had over 35 CCWG members and guests attend the Open House. Bob and Mary Lu Burchard were also there pouring as investors in Rock Wall as were new members Bob & Rochelle Walkup from Martinez. One of those investors was also my old boss, former Alameda County Assessor, Mr. John Scott. It was a beautiful day and the view of San Francisco was spectacular. Many of the wines being poured were outstanding and the food and desserts being served went well with those wines. There was plenty of music and dancing going on and everyone seemed to have a great time. The only minor drawback was that there was no reserved table for use solely by Contra Costa Wine Group members. Maybe we can fix that for next year. Be sure to ask those who attended what they thought of the event. It’s very likely that it’ll go on your calendar too.
The Delinquency Date for the Contra Costa Wine Group’s 2012 Annual Dues is September 30, 2011 (the same night as the meeting). Bring a check for $65.00 made out to “CCWG” and bring it to the meeting or mail your check to our Treasurer, Mr. Lee Wines, 1105 West K St., Benicia, CA 94510. If your dues are unpaid by the 30th, you will be dropped from the CCWG membership so that any of the 10 people currently on our Waiting List may join our club.
Our next meeting will be held on Friday night, September 30, 2011 at the home of Jim & Bette Felton in Danville. They have requested that the meeting start a little early at 7:00 p.m. That way, you can get a short tour of their winery before the meeting starts.
Our speaker for the meeting will be Mr. Karl Wente of Wente Vineyards in Livermore. He’ll be speaking to us on “General Winemaking” and I’m quite sure that it will prove very interesting and informative. We can thank CCWG member, Matt Wood for extending the invitation to Karl to come and address our little band of great winemakers. Bring your questions.
Also at the meeting, we will taste the very last Gold Ribbon winner from our January, 2011 Professional Wine Judging. Rich Hansen of Alameda has finally figured out how to get a couple of bottles of his award winner to a CCWG meeting. He handed them to me! It’s apparently been a difficult year, time wise, for Rich. The wine is a 2007 Red Field Blend from the Carneros region of Napa County. I hope to have Rich’s notes on how the wine was made so that I can present them to you at the meeting.
That evening, there will be some discussion on the hors d’oeuvres being served at the meetings as well as whether commercially made wines should be brought to the meetings by those CCWG members that haven’t made wine yet.
There will also be two sign-up sheets passed around at the meeting. The first will be for volunteers to host a meeting in Calendar Year 2012. The second will sound really early as well, but will be asking for volunteers for our January 21, 2012 34th Annual Professional Wine Judging and Potluck Dinner. It’s an event that simply can’t be pulled off without a lot of volunteer help.
DIRECTIONS: From either direction, Take Highway 680 in Danville to the Diablo Rd. exit and head West. At the end of the road, turn left onto Hartz Ave. After 1 block, turn right onto W. Prospect Ave. Turn slight right onto Sky Terrace. The Felton address is 6 Sky Terrace, Danville. Again, Friday, September 30th at 7:00 p.m. I hope to see you there.
Bring a folding chair, a jacket as we’ll likely be outside, and a bottle of your best homemade wine plus a wine glass. If you haven’t made any wine yet, please consider bringing an eclectic bottle that you feel the membership might enjoy, and is reasonably priced!
Respectfully submitted,
Al Turner, Secretary, Contra Costa Wine Group (925) 837-9384