We are very sorry to inform you but John Rauenbuehler
passed away on Thursday, February 8, 2007. John was a member of the
Wisconsin Vintners Association for over 30 years, and the author of the
Newsletter and Vintner's Press for over 20 years.
He was one of the good guys, and a big supporter of the Wisconsin
Vintners. He will be sorely missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggested memorials be made
in John's name to St. Eugene's Parish.
The Wisconsin Vintner's will send St. Eugene's a memorial in John's name.
If you would like to add your donation to the WVA's memorial, please send
your check by the end of February, made payable to the "Wisconsin Vintners
Assoc.", to Tom Courtney, WVA Treasurer at 10709 N. De La Warr Circle, Mequon,
WI 53092.
January / February News
Annual February Dinner Dance
Please make plans to attend
our annual Dinner Dance to be held on Saturday, February 3, 2007 at the Latvian
Hall. Get Map. This is our only fund-raiser of the year. Please consider
coming. There is plenty of wine and beer to be had, an excellent meal from our
caterer for many years, live music from Eddie Vidmar’s group and the opportunity
to bid on some nice prizes, along with our popular fish-bowls for bottles of
wine. Y’all come. Click on the following link to see more details and including
the reservation form:
Dinner Dance Flier
If you can volunteer to help with running the party, please call Erv Herman
(262-677-
1592) or Jim Remus (414-571-0275). They need people to run the raffles, shepherd
people to the food tables and setup and cleanup after the party. Please do what
you can.
January Membership Meeting
The January 2007 membership meeting of the WVA as held at 7:30 PM on January 10 at
Clifford’s Restaurant, 10418 Forest Home Ave. Chip Droege’s topic was
“Native Grapes of Other Countries.” Chip's presentation included Bonard and Torrontes wines from Argentina as well as a couple others that this
editor has never heard of. Thanks to Chip for his usual very interesting
and informative presentation.
Wine of the Month
Please consider having supper at Clifford’s Restaurant before
the membership meetings. Quite a few members gather about 6 to 6:30 PM to enjoy a
meal and each other. It’s the club’s way of saying thanks to Jack for letting us
use the hall for our meetings (just try to find a restaurant that will allow you
to bring in your own wines without a corkage fee). For the past year
we have been having a drawing to select one of the diners to receive a bottle of
pretty nice wine. The award wine this month is a Merlot/Cabernet from
Columbia Crest. This wine is a delicious, fruit-forward wine with a rich, silky
finish. Generous blackberry and raspberry flavors are wrapped around a core of
warm vanilla from extended aging in small oak barrels.
Notes from the President
Final plans are being made for our annual Dinner-Dance on
February 3 and I hope many of you planning to attend as well as help out at his
gala evening of food, wine, fun, games, dancing and great camaraderie shared
with your vintner friends. Co-Chairs Erv Herman and Jim Remus have been doing a
lot of work to get ready as have their various committee chairs.
We have a great opportunity for publicity for our club thanks to George
Scovronski and Howard Hasselkus. Check the Entrée section in the Feb 4
issue of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and look for Ann Schaumberg’s interview
with Howard. George has also invited her to attend one of our meetings so we
have that honor in the future.
Thank you also to Debbie Stankus to be interim board secretary until Mary is
back. Don Betlej and Howard will be coordinating the club judging on March 11 so
start bottling your wines. See information elsewhere on that as well as an
opportunity to participate in a four club wine challenge in Wausau on March 24.
Remember to continue to use our website and share it with other winemakers who
might be interested in WVA.
Joanne
WVA Amateur Winemaking Club Judging:
The Wisconsin Vintners Association (WVA) Amateur Winemaking Club
Judging is held annually and is open to all club members. The 2007 event will be
held at Clifford’s Restaurant, 10418 Forest Home Ave on Sunday, March 11th. The purpose of this
event is threefold:
• An opportunity for club members to have their wines evaluated in a formal
manner, based
upon similar judging criteria used by major wine competitions around the
country.
• Club members can get an early indication of their wine’s potential to receive
an award at the
Wisconsin State Fair that is held later in the year.
• The Club Judging provides a training opportunity for prospective wine judges
and stewards. The WVA provides the judges and stewards used in the WI State Fair competition.
Click Here for Rules and
Entry Form
2007 Jenny Falls
Corkmasters
Inter-Club Wine Challenge
For the past few years other amateur winemaking clubs in
Wisconsin have been coming together for an annual winemaking competition.
Last year the Jenny Falls Corkmasters, the Central Wisconsin Amateur Wine Club
and the Sun Prarie Wine Club participated in the event. This year the WVA
has been invited and we thankfully have agreed to join in the fun.
This year's competition will be held on Saturday, March 24, 2007
at the Labor Temple in Wausau, WI. Each club is asked to provide a total
of 30 entries. If you are interested in submitting one of your best,
please click here for more information.
Advanced Winemaking Project
Please go to the web site's
Wine Making Info page to learn about a
new club program developed to advance winemaking in our club. Propose a
project and if approved your costs will be picked up by the club (up to $30.00).
Calendar of Events
January 10, 2007 - WVA membership meeting at Clifford's Supper Club. 7:30
PM. Chip Droege will present. Also a brief presentation of the
"Duties of Wine Stewards at Wine Judgings" will be made by Mary & Chuck Howell.
January 31, 2007
- Board of Directors meeting, 7:00 pm at the home of Dave & Lois Brandt.
February 2, 2007 - WVA Annual Dinner Dance.
March 11, 2007 - Sunday, 9:00 am WVA Club Judging at Clifford's Supper Club.
Click here for more information
March
24, 2007 - JFCM Inter-Club Wine Challenge.
Click
here for more information
April 11, 2007 - WVA membership meeting at Clifford's Supper Club.
7:30 PM. The topic will be Critical Wine Evaluation.
Special Thanks To Clifford's
For The Use Of Their Hall!
CLIFFORDS
10418 W. FOREST HOME AVE
HALES CORNERS, WI
(414) 425-6226
Map
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