We are very sorry to inform you but Irene Wittbecker passed away
on Friday, February 8, 2007. Irene and her husband, Helmut, have been long time
members of our club. A service will be held on Friday, February 15, at Elm
Grove Lutheran Church, 945 Terrace Drive, Elm Grove. The church is located just
northeast of Bluemound & Pilgrim RD. Visitation will be from 9:00 to 11:00 AM
followed by the service. There will be a luncheon at the church following the
service. Irene's obituary will be in the Tuesday Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and
will also available through Church & Chapel,
http://www.churchandchapel.com.
February 2008
News
February Dinner Dance
The Dinner Dance is fast approaching! The
Saturday, February 2nd membership meeting
will be the annual WVA Dinner-Dance at the Latvian House.
Please make plans to attend. Get Map. This is our only fund-raiser of the year. 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.
If you can volunteer to help with running the party, please call
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.
Items are still needed for the silent auction. Auction items could be
purchased and donated, or may be handcrafted where you can show off your other
talents! Please bring your items to the Latvian Hall 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 set-up 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.
Notes from the President
Thanks to Jerry Uthemann for
sharing his experience in making sparkling wines at our January meeting. It was
another well-attended meeting with several guests and new members. The board is
completing the final revisions to the new member brochure and it should be
available soon. We are also planning to send out an updated membership roster
since we have so many new members.
The WVA logo clothing catalog
and some samples should be available for ordering at the March meeting. We will
also be voting to ratify changes/revisions to our constitution and by-laws at
that meeting. The changes will be made available for all members prior to the
meeting so "do your homework" before the meeting! If you haven't made your
reservation for the dinner dance contact Jim Remus to see if he can add you. You
don't want to miss out on this gala evening of food, wine, prizes, socializing,
dancing, and lots of fun. Hope to see you there.
Joanne
Welcome to New Members
Please welcome new members: Harry and Marie Van
Der Sterren of Williams Bay, WI, Charles and Debra Klimek of
Franksville, and Greg Hecker of Milwaukee.
Beginning Winemaking Program
The club has developed a Beginning Winemaking
Program to help teach new members the basics of home winemaking. The next course
will be conducted on Saturday, March 1, 2008 at
Clifford’s.
It is scheduled to start at 9:00 AM and should last to around 3:00 PM.
The program starts with a general winemaking overview on how to make a white
grape wine, red grape wine, and fruit wines. Then more detail is provided on
specific topics such as the importance of proper sanitation and how to properly
sanitize equipment, the use of the hydrometer how to read it, the how and why of
adding sugar to must and finished wines along with the types of yeast, their
use, and re-hydration. How to rack wine at various stages is demonstrated and
the process of bottling, corking and different types of corkers is also covered.
You’ll also learn how to test for total acidity and how to make corrections, the
use and
sources of sulfur dioxide and the quantities to use, the different types of
fining agents used to clarify wine and even the art of malolactic fermentation.
Please see this
registration form (PDF) for more details. Note that the
deadline for registration is February 22. We are still in need of
experienced winemakers to make presentations. If anyone is interested in
presenting, please contact Tom Courtney at 262-241-6638 or tcandlac@wi.rr.com.
Club Judging on Saturday, March 15
Saturday, March 15 is the date of the 2008 annual
club judging. Note that this will be held on a Saturday rather than on Sunday
which was customary for club judgings in past years. This event provides an
opportunity for you to obtain the WVA judges’ opinion on the quality of your
wine and hopefully their comments will be useful in improving next year’s wine.
Please also make plans to help out at this event. As usual we could use judges,
wine stewards, glass washers etc.
2008
Rules & Regulations (PDF)
Entry Form
(PDF)
The ribbons awarded to the winners are
created by the club and there is a traveling wall plaque for the Best of Show
winner, currently in Don Betlej’s possession.
WVA Club Logo Apparel for Sales Soon
It has been a few years since we last offered
clothing with the WVA logo. Our clothing committee is in the process of
identifying the items that will be offered and creating the ordering forms. The
forms and a few actual items will be available to view at the next membership
meeting.
Fruit Crusher For Sale
Club Member Mike Potratz has a crusher available for sale. It is in
good shape and he would like to get $75.00 for it. If interested,
please contact Mike directly at 920-262-0796 or at corkpuller@sbcglobal.net.
Calendar of Events
January 30, 2008 - Wednesday, WVA
Board Meeting, Howard & Sally Hasselkus’ home, 7:00 PM.
February 2, 2008
- Saturday, Annual WVA Dinner Dance and Fundraiser at the Latvian Hall, 8845
West Lynx Ave, Milwaukee, WI
Get Map.
March 1, 2008
- Saturday, WVA Beginners Winemaking Course at
Clifford’s, 9:00 AM.
March 5, 2008 - Wednesday, WVA
Board Meeting, Don Betlej's home, 7:00 PM.
March 12, 2008
- Wednesday, WVA Membership Meeting at
Clifford’s,
7:30 PM, Critical Wine Tasting of members' wines
March 15, 2008
- Saturday, WVA Club Judging 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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