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September 2008
News
Winemaking Gizmos & Gadgets
The
September 2008 membership meeting of the Wisconsin Vintners
Association will begin at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, September 10th at
Clifford's Restaurant, 10418 Forest Home Ave,
Hales Corners, WI. The program this month will showcase homemade
gadgets and gizmos that members have made to assist them in their
winemaking. If you have something that you'd like to share with the
members, please contact
Tom Courtney
at (262) 241-6638 or
tcandlac@wi.rr.com. We'll highlight it at the meeting and on our
web site.
For the past couple of years now, every month we raffle a bottle of
wine to one of our members who has dinner at
Clifford's
prior to our meeting. Please plan on joining the group for dinner
starting around 6:00 PM. The award wine this month is a bottle of
Bouchon California Superior Reserve 2002 Merlot. This wine “has
classic black cherry aromas and is full-flavored, soft and lasting
on the palate. This wine will work well with full flavored dishes
like lamb or beef”..
Welcome to New Members
Please welcome new members: Carol and Melvin Shea
of Big Bend, WI, Steve and Denise Leannais of New Berlin and Joseph &
Kathleen Jaeger of Franksville.
Club Dues Time
It's the start of the club's 39th year and that
means it's dues time. The cost of a membership remains at $15.00 for a
year of informative meetings, wine tastings, access to grapes and juice, other
subsidized club events and just plain fun with people bonding together with a
similar passion, home winemaking. Please send your check, payable to
the Wisconsin Vintners Association, to treasurer Mike Bell, 612
Fairview Ave, South Milwaukee, WI 53172 or bring it to the next meeting.
Annual Club Picnic
The weather was great this year and we
had a record turnout of 68. We had registered 73. As
usual, we had chicken, corn and many, many dishes to pass. No
one left hungry. Thanks to
Dave Brandt
for picking up the chicken and thanks to
Tim
Larsen
for bringing and grilling the corn despite many broken
ribs. The corn was the best ever.
Howard Hasselkus and Len Montalbano won
the bean bag game and
Jerry Horzewski's
daughter and granddaughter Diane and Amy won the washer toss.
There were a lot of game participants and everyone had a good time.
Thanks to
George and Mary Scovronski
and family for running the games and providing prizes.
Al and Mary Downs brought their
completely restored Model A mail truck with an amazing display of
fruits and vegetables. Also, they provided blackberry merlot slush
and peach belinni slush. They were wonderful and went great on a
hot day. Thanks to Al and Mary for the unexpected surprise.
The plan is to again next year have the
picnic at the same location. The park ranger and warden were both
very cordial and helpful. Many hands went into putting this picnic
together and thanks to everyone.
Karen and Bill Schneider
Grapes and Juice
Available to Club Members this Fall
The
Wollersheim Winery will again graciously offer for
sale to our members white wine juices
and red wine grapes (crushed and de-stemmed). As past participants
of this program know, availability, costs, and delivery dates are
"evolving" during this time of year. White wine juices
expected to be available are Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Riesling,
Seyval, and Vidal. Red wine grapes expected to be available are
Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. Deliveries are expected
to take place from late September through early November. Costs will
be known within the next couple of weeks, but are expected to be
about the same as 2007, or slightly higher due to increased
transportation costs.
If you have any questions about this program, or if you are
interested in ordering any of these juices or grapes, please contact
Tom Courtney
at 262-241-6638 or tcandlac@wi.rr.com as soon
as possible, but no later than Saturday, September 6th. Only people
who have contacted Tom will receive further information.
Club Members, Mark & Kris Stilson, have a vineyard located
near Rio, WI which they call Springvale Vineyard. It's located
midway between Beaver Dam and Portage and they have a
"pick-your-own" operation. Please click
here(PDF)
for a description of what grapes they grow and when the picking is
expected
to happen.
9/7/07 Update
–
we were out to the vineyard this weekend and took some readings.
The Millot are at 20.5 Brix and the Foch are at 19 Brix. The Birds,
Bees and Asian Lady Beetles are at bay. Things look good for
harvest next weekend 9/13 & 14. If you are planning on picking
please Email or call if you have not done so as we’ve had a good
response thus far and want to make sure we gauge the demand with the
crop.
9/12/08
Update
– According to the weather forecast it looks like
we will have a wet start to the harvest tomorrow 9/13/08. As
of now it looks like things should start clearing up mid-day and be
fairly dry through Sunday. We originally planned on starting
at 10 AM tomorrow 9/13/08. However, we’d ask that everyone
watch the radar and adjust their arrivals accordingly. I guess
compared to last year’s fiasco - 10” of rain, splitting grapes,
etc., this shouldn’t be that big a deal. We could be trying to
grow grapes in Houston. Let us know how this impacts schedules
as I know some of you have a 2-3 hour drive to get to the vineyard.
9/16/08
Update
– Thank you to all who stopped by the vineyard to
pick grapes this last weekend. The weather didn't cooperate as well
as we would have liked, but it was a still a successful harvest.
We've had several inquiries as to whether there are still grapes
available. Bottom line the answer is yes! Almost all of the
Millot have been picked as they were the ripest, however, we still
have around 1200# of Foch left and 300 - 400# of Frontenac. Norm
can arrange to be out at the vineyard any day this week and we'll
also be around this weekend - 9/20 - 21st. If you are interested
please contact Norm and myself and we'll try and accommodate your
needs. Thanks!
2008 WI State Fair Amateur Winemakers Competition
The 2008 WI State Fair Amateur Winemakers
Competition took place this year on Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17.
Thanks to all of our club members who participated in setup, bottle check-in,
judging, stewarding, glass washing, data entering and all of the other tasks. A
special thank you goes out to Chuck & Mary Howell, co-chief stewards, and
Howard Hasselkus, my co-chairman, whose help was instrumental in making
this event a success.
Congratulations also to the 17 WVA members who won a total of 64 ribbons. Best
of Show - Dry Wine winner was Jeff Stanislawski for his Pinot Noir.
George Scovronski also won a Best of Category award for his Wild
Grape/Elderberry wine. Check the
WI
State Fair page
on this website for the complete listing of the judging
results. Judging sheets and award ribbons will be mailed to the participants
within the next month or so. Best of Show and Category plaques and prize
money will be sent out after the end of this year's WI State Fair (July 31 to
August 10). Results and plaques will be on display at a booth in the
Wisconsin Products Pavillion during the fair.
WVA Club Logo Apparel for Sale
The club has a large assortment of club-logo
apparel, available for order by all members. Order forms will continue to be
available at our membership meetings.
Calendar of Events
September 10th 2008, Wednesday - WVA Membership Meeting at Clifford’s in
Hales Corners, WI, 7:30 PM: Homemade Winemaking Gizmos & Gadgets
October 1st 2008, Wednesday - WVA Membership Meeting at Clifford’s in
Hales Corners, WI, 7:30 PM: Red Star Yeast Company Presentation. This
is NOT on our usual second Wednesday of the month meeting date. Please
make a note of this.
October 8th 2008, Wednesday - WVA Board of Directors Meeting at the home
of Bill & Karen Schneider, 7:00 PM
November 5th 2008, Wednesday - WVA Board of Directors Meeting at the home of
Erv & Bobbi Herman, 7:00 PM
November 16th 2008, Sunday - Annual Harvest Dinner at Clifford’s in Hales
Corners, WI, 5:00 PM Appetizers / 6:00PM Dinner
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
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Sponsor!
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