Meeting

Hal Hanifl will be our Guest Speaker in May.
Hal is the new wine maker for Nevada City Winery, filling the shoes of Mark Foster who retired last year. Hal has a lot of experience making all types of wine, with stints in Austria, Washington State and in the Napa/ Sonoma area.
He has definite ideas on the varieties and the styles of wine that he plans to make, and we’re sure he will share his ideas with us.
Of course he plans to bring a few bottles along for a wine tasting that will be a springboard to talk about wine. Yes, it’s another meeting ‘all about wine’!

Just a reminder that we will be having a SWGGA General Meeting by Zoom this evening at 7:00 PM. The invitation is below.

Program: John Gilman, Proprietor of New West Wine Co, will talk about his wines, his approach to wine selection, and how he got “into” wine in the first place. This will be a gentle interview by myself, taking place in John’s shop, with the usual Q&A afterwards. The wine shop is located in the Holbrooke Hotel, but access is from Main Street in Grass Valley.
We hope to see you then.

Wine tasting at Ponderosa Hall!  That’s the big idea for our October meeting. We will explore the world of low-cost wine. Dare I say cheap? They may surprise you. You’ll be the judge of six wines, and it will be a blind tasting. They’ll be commercial wines so that you can say what you’re really thinking – you won’t hurt anybody’s feelings. We’ll see if we can arrive at some sort of consensus when the dust settles. Bring two glasses each, as we will taste in pairs: A versus B, and so forth.  

So, it has been decided, in order to keep in contact with the SWGGA membership, there will be a Zoom meeting on September 16th at 7:00 PM. This will be a casual meeting with general discussions, Q & A about wine and grapes, harvest, crush, or anything else you’d like to discuss. Pour a glass of wine and enjoy.

Our annual SWGGA Potluck and Barbecue Picnic originally scheduled at the home of members Al and Linda Schafer on Sunday, August 29th, has been cancelled by the SWGGA Board of Directors. Everyone is disappointed with this difficult decision, but the health and well being of our members has to come first.

We are fortunate to have Alison Crowe join us by Zoom for this meeting. Alison is a very busy winemaker, and finds time to write columns (known as the Wine Wizard) for WineMaker magazine and has books to her credit. “The Wine Maker’s Answer Book” is a tour de force, as they say; well worth reading and keeping as a reference.

At our next monthly meeting on June 17th, Rod Byers will present the final results and special awards for the 2021 SWGGA Wine Competition, describe the judging process and discuss the winning wines with the winemakers, as he has done in the past. Getting to know how some of the best wines were made is always a hit, as is Rod’s inimitable way of conducting the meeting. We hope everyone will attend this special event.

There were a total of 51 wines submitted, of which 33 were Red, 13 Whites, 4 Roses’ and one dessert wine.

As of this writing, it will be by Zoom on Thursday, June 17th at 7:00 PM. You will be emailed the Zoom Invitation on the morning of the 17th.

Get your wines ready for our May Meeting:  “Can This Wine be Saved” Hear expert commentary on your favorite or not-so-favorite wine that you made with loving care. 

We don’t have to have 750 ml bottle samples.  But whatever bottle you use, exclude air, have a good closure, and label it with your name and what’s in the bottle… the usual. 

Drop off your sample at the UPS store at 111 Bank Street in Grass Valley starting Tuesday, May 18 through Thursday May 20 at 5 PM.  If you need an alternate drop off, let me know:  Peter Willcox: willcoxps@yahoo.com.