SAN DIEGO AMATEUR WINEMAKING SOCIETY
January 2005
Business:
Dues - $12.00 per household were due January 1st. If you have yet to pay, please
send a check made out to SDAWS to our faithful & hardworking treasurer,
S Sgrosso: 3576 Nettle Place, Fallbrook, CA 92028. Thanks, all.
Rich Cook, Coordinator of the San Diego County Fair Home Wine Making Competition,
thanked SDAWS for sponsoring the purchase of a San Diego County/Del Mar Fair
plaque for the Italian Varietal in 2004. SDAWS will again be a sponsor for the
S.D. County Home Winemaking Contest this year. There also will be several SDAWS
members judging the competition, as well. By the way, SDAWS members Rick &
Jennifer Buffington won the Italian Varietal category for their Italian Clone
Barbera Red Wine last year. What comes around goes around. You can view the
plaque in person 3-19-05 if you so desire.
In conjunction with the wine judging, above, the San Diego Amateur Winemaking
Society will conduct a three-hour Wine Judging seminar 2-19-05. The seminar
is now full. For those who will attend, the seminar will be held by Lum Eisenman
at Belle Marie Winery from 9:30 AM to 12:30. See you there.
For anyone interested in bottles see the Bulletin Board,
http://sdaws.org/bulletin.htm. Rick B. has 20 cases of Chardonnay type bottles
and 9 cases of Flint Claret wine bottles (with punt) available. $5.75 and $4.75
a case, respectively. It is the 4th article down from the top.
January 15th Meeting:
The January 15th SDAWS Meeting held @ Wayne & Marty Warner's was incredibly
fun, with about 45 members in attendance. Great Speakers...What a house! Thanks
again to the Warners.
The speakers who presented:
1) Lars Gilman, owner of Hydrobrew, spoke about beer making techniques and also
about obtaining wine making supplies. He offered a 10% discount to SDAWS members.
2) Dwayne Helmuth, Callaway Coastal wine maker for 23 years, spoke about the
Fallbrook area's potential as a top quality wine country & the advantages
and application of American wine making techniques VS the old world techniques.
3) Pete Anderson, SDAWS Grape Growing Mentor and consultant, gave a presentation
on winter pruning techniques, training the cordon, etc. It was held outside
amongst the Warner's beautiful hillside Pinot Noir vineyard. Great weather for
it!
Thank you to all the speakers. They were contacted after the meeting and thanked
personally.
Trivial Pursuit Winners: Jeanne Benowitz won a bottle of (E. Guigal) Chateauneuf-du-Pape
for answering the "what is the origin of the word Shiraz?" question.
Therese FitzRandolph won a Grgich Zinfandel for answering "what does Presidio
mean?"
March 19th Meeting:
The next SDAWS meeting will be held Saturday, 3-19-05 @ 12:00 PM. The location
is Rick & Jennifer Buffington's Cougar Vineyards & Winery. Another great
venue. The address is: 2383 Dos Lomas, Fallbrook, CA 92028. The Mapqwest link
is click
here.
More info to follow in an email as we close in on the date.
Winter Wine Growing & Making Advice:
From Pete - Now is the time to be pruning. PRUNING HIGHLIGHTS
WHAT is Pruning: removal of vegetative growth. WHY Prune: controls size and
form of vine; optimize production potential; maintain balance of growth and
fruit; delay budburst. WHEN to Prune: dormant period which is from leaf senescence
to budburst; also summer period for tipping and hedging of vine. TYPE of Pruning:
cane (Guyot, Cordon du Royat) and spur (single/double cordon, head). HOW to
prune: dependent on cultivar and type of canopy desired.
(Good sites for info on this topic - http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/story.php?S_No=624&storyType=garden
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/616/5855.htm
)
From Rick B. - It is a good idea to get all the equipment, supplies, barrels,
etc. for the 2005 crush early to ensure you don't have to drive all over CA
@ the last minute. Many of the items we need become in short supply in the summer
& many international companies (read European wine making equipment) take
quite an extensive summer vacation when you really need something fast in August.
Good sites: http://stavin.com
http://www.scottlaboratories.com
http://napafermentation.com
Upcoming Competitions:
1) Enter your wine in the 2005 Wine Maker's Magazine International Wine Competition:
Last year they had entries from 41 American states, 7 Canadian provinces and
4 countries. Leslie & Sam Oriza, SDAWS members, won a gold medal for their
2001 Syrah from the 2003 amateur winemaking contest. The deadline is April 15,
2005. For details, see http://www.winemakermag.com/feature/296.html
The main page is: www.winemakermag.com
To download an entry form see
http://www.winemakermag.com/feature/wineform.pdf
2) 2005 San Diego International Wine Competition, sponsored by the Social Service
Auxiliary. Held April 23 & 24th. Deadline is April 1st. Main page: http://www.sdnwc.org/davidlake.html
For an entry form: http://www.sdnwc.org/EntryForm_SDIWC.pdf
3) 2005 San Diego County Fair Home Winemaking Competition: "Guidelines
and entry information for the various competitive exhibits at the San Diego
County Fair will be available sometime in March." http://www.sdfair.com/index.php?fuseaction=2004fair.competition_exhibits
4) 2005 Orange County Fair Wine Competition: "2005 Competition Handbook
and Livestock Manual will be available online in late March, 2005". http://www.ocfair.com/ocfec/whatshappening/orangecountyfair_2005.asp
5) 2005 LA LA Land County Fair Limited Production Competition. Entry deadline
is April 1st. Entry form: http://www.fairplex.com/wine2005/entry_form/2005/Limited%20Production%20Entry%20Form.pdf
6) Cellarmaster's 31st Annual U.S. Amateur Winemaking Competition will be held
March 6th. Entries are due by 2-19,: http://www.cellarmastersla.org/judging.htm
Upcoming Events:
1) The 2005 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium & Trade Show will be held
January 26 & 27 in Sacramento. This is one of the largest in the US. For
details see
http://unifiedsymposium.org/tradeshow.htm
2) The Temecula Valley Winegrower's Association Winter Barrel Tasting will be
held January 29 & 30th. Visit up to 20 wineries one time each over a one
or two day period. Barrel and tank samples paired with complementary food. $75
(DD $50). For info & tickets see: http://www.temeculawines.org/events/jan29.asp
3) Home Wine Blending Seminar, Orange County Wine Society Office, Orange County
Fairgrounds. for information contact the OCWS office 9AM - 5PM @ (714) 708-1636
or email office@ocws.org
.
40 Orange County Wine Society's 2005 Wine Extraordinaire event will be held
April 3, 2005 Anaheim Hilton Hotel. http://www.ocws.org/newsletters/extraordinaire_2005.htm