December
News
Critical Wine Tasting this Month
The December 2007 membership meeting of the
Wisconsin Vintners Association will begin at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, December 12th
at
Clifford’s
Restaurant, 10418 Forest Home Ave, Hales Corners, WI.
The program will be a Critical Wine Tasting, which
will involve the evaluation and judging of a flight of four similar commercial
wines. This will be done in small groups, informally, with a table captain
leading the tasting. No prior judging experience is required. This program’s
purpose is to provide our members with insight into the wine evaluation process.
Learning how to assess wine characteristics such as clarity, aroma, taste etc.
will assist members in evaluating and then improving their own wines.
Those members who enjoy this evaluating process are
encouraged to participate in the annual club judging in March as well as at the
WI State Fair competition in May. The WVA will provide the wines for this
program but members should bring two or more of your own glasses.
Every month we raffle off a bottle of wine to one of
our members who has dinner at
Clifford’s prior to our meeting. The award wine this month is a 2001
Bouchon California
Cabernet Sauvignon.
Vintner's Press
The WVA Vintner's Press is back again this month and
monthly from now on.
Please check your email for a great article about using extracts in winemaking
and also a report on an Advanced Winemaking Project by Howard Hasselkus
showing a way to get more color and flavor out of that fruit wine you're
planning on starting.
Notes from the President
We had another successful
harvest dinner on November 11 as nearly 80 people enjoyed the food, prizes,
wine, and camaraderie. Thanks to Jerry & Doris Horzewski, Diane Brodzik,
and Don Betlej for all their work in organizing the event. We welcomed
several more new members and are happy to have them with us. If you get
the Winemaker Magazine check out page 11 of the Dec/Jan issue to read a great
article about club member Armin Engelman, one of 50 top wine makers in
the country. Howard Hasselkus was featured this summer and Bob Wilson
will be featured in an upcoming issue. It's pretty prestigious to have three of
the top 50 in one club!
Congratulations are also due to
Tom Courtney who has successfully completed the rigorous training course
to become a certified judge by the American Wine Society. He joins three other
certified judges in our club: Len Montalbano, Jan Tomko, and Bob
Wilson.
Congratulations to Dave and
Lois Brandt who were awarded Life Membership by the Board of Directors for
their 25+ years of service to the club. Dave has been the president four
different times and Lois has served as secretary. They have continued to be very
active and involved members. Last month we honored Paul and Dolores Opichka
with Life Membership and they join Mary and Jerry Uthemann, Marianne
(and the late John) Rauenbuehler, Virgil & LaNette Penn, and Helmut &
Irene Wittbecker who have all been honored in the past. When the web
site is re-designed we would like to have a section to feature our Life Members
with a biography and a picture as a further way to honor them for all their
contributions to our club.
For our newer members the board
is working on a revised new member brochure which we hope to have ready for
distribution in the next month or so. It will provide a summary of our programs
& activities to help members get the most out of their involvement with the
club.
Plans for the dinner dance are
ongoing and lots of help is needed. See separate articles and save the date (Feb
2, 2008) and watch for your invitation after the end of the year. The potpourri
wine for the 2008 dinner was made in 2006 by Best-of-Show winner Ken Skotzke
with the fruits/juice that were donated by the members at the October 2006
meeting and will be bottled for serving at the tables. The wine for 2009 has
been started by another Best-of- Show winner, Howard Hasselkus, using the
fruit/juice from this past October meeting. (See article elsewhere).
Have a happy and healthy holiday season!
Joanne
Welcome to New Members
Please welcome new members: Tim & Nicole Hosni
of Wauwatosa, Robert & Carol Broman of West Bend, Charles & Laurette
Lopardo from Elkhorn, Dave & Linda Vollmer of Eldorado, WI and
Claudette and Jim Wirsching-Neuser of Belgium, WI.
Beginning Winemaking Class is Coming
Being a new member doesn't necessarily imply being a
new winemaker. For those new members however and existing members who want
to learn more about our hobby, the club is organizing a beginning winemaking
class for all WVA members on Saturday, March 1, 2008. The class
will be held at
Clifford’s
Supper Club from 9:00 AM to around 3:00 PM. Look for detailed information about
this course next month.
We are in need of experienced winemakers to make
presentations. If anyone is interested in presenting one of the numerous
planned topics, please contact Tom Courtney at 262 241-6638 or
tcandlac@wi.rr.com.
February Dinner Dance
Planning for our February 2nd dinner dance is in
full swing. Jim Remus, this year’s Dinner Dance Chairman, wants to thank
all who have helped him so far but he could use some additional help.
Another planning committee meeting will take place again at Jim’s home, 303
Menomonee Ave, South Milwaukee, on December 20th at 7:00 PM.
Items are needed for the Dinner Dance silent auction
(see last month's newsletter for a description of this activity). Auction items
could be purchased and donated, or may be handcrafted where you can show off
your other talents! Please bring your items to either the December 12th and
January 9th membership meetings or to the Latvian Hall, the dinner dance
location, starting around 9:00 AM on Saturday morning of the event (we will need
members to help with the set up that morning as well). Attach the name of
the donor and the approximate dollar value to each donated item. This will
help with record keeping and will also give the setup committee an idea for a
starting bid. Please do NOT bring any items to the dinner on Saturday night
because the set up will be completed by noon of that day. If you have any
questions contact Joanne Ziarek or Jim Remus.
Plans are in the works to possibly reserve a bank of
hotel rooms for those members who would like to come to the Dinner Dance but
live a fair distance away.
The 2007 Potpourri wine has been started by
Howard Hasselkus, from the fruit that was collected at the October WVA
meeting. This wine will be served at the 2009 Dinner Dance. This wine was
made from 105 pounds of fruit and after two rackings we have 17 gallons of young
wine. The fruit included in this Potpourri wine: Strawberries, Rhubarb,
Kiwi/ Strawberry Juice, Cranberries, Red Currants, Grapes (Foch, Princess,
Concord, “Red”, Syrah & “Vinifera”), Plums, Raspberries, Pears, Cherries, Apples
(including Courtland), Asian Pears, Elderberries and Blackberries. So far,
so good says Howard.
AWS Conference News
The 2007
American
Wine Society (AWS) Conference in Winston Salem, North Carolina
was well represented by the Wisconsin Vintners Association with 15 members
attending this year. WVA members did well in the AWS Amateur Wine Competition
coming home with a total of 12 awards. Here are the results:
• Tom Courtney won a Gold Metal for his 2007 Lime Wine.
• Len Montalbano won a Gold Metal for his 2005 Merlot, a Silver Metal for
his 2004 Syrah and Bronze Metals for his 2006 Pinot Grigio, 2006 Sauvignon Blanc
and 2006 Chardonnay
• Bill Schneider & George Scovronski teamed up to win five Silver Metals
for their 2002
Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003 Cabernet Franc, 2002 Syrah and
2003 Petite Sirah. They also won a Bronze Metal for their 2003 Zinfandel.
In addition to his Gold Metal, Tom Courtney completed his fourth year of
a four year wine judge training program. Tom passed the test and and became an
AWS certified wine judge. Congratulations to Tom. If anyone is interested in
learning more about the AWS, its yearly conference and wine judge certification
program, please ask Tom or any of this year’s other medal winners.
Juice still available for Winemaking
Are you still in the mood to start some new wine?
Did you miss the Wollersheim grape & juice run this year? The Tropic Banana
Company, a fruit wholesaler located at 300 North Van Buren Street in Milwaukee,
still has six gallon pails of red and white vinifera grape juice for sale.
These are grapes from the Lodi area of California. If you are interested,
call Tony at 414-271-4318 during normal business hours. Mention that you’re a
member of the Wisconsin Vintners Association and Tony will give you a good
price.
Speaking of Wollersheim, every year about this time,
Wollersheim Winery is looking
for
people to help pick the grapes they use to make their Ice Wine. It takes
between a half and full day to pick, depending on the number of people
available. Lunch is included! At the present time, picking may take
place on Thursday, December 6th. The date is subject to change due to
weather conditions. I f you are interested in picking, please contact Tom
Courtney at 262-241-6638 or tcandlac@wi.rr.com.
Calendar of Events
December 5, 2007 - Wednesday, WVA
Board Meeting Tim Larsen’s home, 7:00 PM
December 12, 2007
- Wednesday, WVA Membership Meeting at
Clifford’s,
7:30 PM.
January 2, 2008 - Wednesday, WVA
Board Meeting George & Mary Scovronski’s home, 7:00 PM.
January 9, 2008
- Wednesday, WVA Membership Meeting at
Clifford’s,
7:30 PM.
January 30, 2008 - Wednesday - WVA
Board Meeting Howard & Sally Hasselkus’ home, 7:00 PM.
February 2, 2008
- Saturday, Annual WVA Dinner Dance and Fundraiser
March 1, 2008
- Saturday - WVA Beginners Winemaking Course at Clifford’s, 9:00 AM.
Special Thanks To Clifford's
For The Use Of Their Hall!
10418 W. FOREST
HOME AVE
HALES CORNERS, WI
(414) 425-6226
www.cliffordsfinefood.com
Map
Please Support Our
Sponsor!
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