WinePress.US Where Wine Makers and Grape Growers Share Their
Knowledge
WineFest
2008 Santa Rosa, California July
10, 11, 12th,
2008
The 2008 WinePress.US
Winefest will be held in the center of wine country, in Santa Rosa,
California, July 10-12th. We'll be hosting all events at the
Flamingo Resort & Spa. Register early online below to ensure
your spot.
Let me just say, this resort is truly beautiful,
and they have all that you need for a relaxing visit.
I was very impressed by what all they have to offer, and they're
great people to work with too. On top of that,
they've got an amazing chef.
Scroll on down to learn more
about Flamingo Resort & Spa. You can print out their
registration form, and fax it in to them. You can
also register for the winefest events (not hotel reservations)
online by using the form below, or printing it out and emailing,
or faxing it in to me.
Room rates are $155/night (plus tax) for Thurs, Fri and Sat nights.
For those wanting to stay longer to take advantage of all the beauty
that Santa Rosa has to offer, the Flamingo Resort & Spa is offering
a discounted rate of $119/ night (plus tax) for the three days prior
and after this event.
All Seminar Times / Events
subject to change until schedule is complete. Check back often. Thursday July 10th Events:
9:30 - 7PM - Lake County Wine Country Tour: Full and half
day bus tour of the mountainous Lake County Wine Region -
ALL FREE
2 - 7 PM - half day bus - Confirm with Lake County Winegrape
Commission in forum via email 7:00 -11:00 Cocktail party & get together with cash bar at
the Flamingo Resort and Spa with cheese, crackers and my home made
deer sausage.
Friday July 11th Events: All day at
Flamingo Resort & Spa in Santa Rosa, CA
Registration begins at 9:00 AM
10:00 - 10:50 Bryan Rahn - Coastal Viticultural
Consultants - Vineyard soils, layout & design,
Irrigation
11:00 - 11:50 Michelle Bowen -
Vinquiry - Setting up a Home Lab & How to Use it -
Sulfide issues
12:00 - 12:50 Steve Kemiji - ReCoop Barrels -
Barrel choices - to oak or not to oak
1:00 - 2:00 Buffet Lunch -
Sponsor needed
2:00 - 2:50 Shea Comfort - MoreWine - Yeast /
Bacteria pairings and Structuring Wines
3:00 - 3:50 Bob Peak - The Beverage People -
The Road Less Travelled: Making Rose, Nouveau, and Port
Style Wines
4:00 - 6:00 Local California Wine Tasting
- Philo Ridge, Brutocao, Shannon Ridge, Kendall-Jackson, more....
6:00 - 7:00 Buffet Dinner - Sponsored
by the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission - Talking
about Sonoma County and how to source grapes from Sonoma County
online, with some local small growers to talk to who sell their
grapes to home winemakers.
Saturday July 12th Events: All Day at the
Flamingo Resort & Spa in Santa Rosa, CA
Registration begins at 8:30 AM
9:00 - 10:00 Rick Gunier - Lake County Wine Grape
Commission - How highest elevation affects California
Wine
10:00 - 11:00 Rick Theiner - Logic - Proper
Sanitation in Winemaking procedures
11:00 - 12:00 Mike Orton - The Valley Vintner -
Vacuum transfer procedure
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch Deli Buffet - Sponsored
by WinePod
1:00 - 2:00 Peterangelo Vallis - Blending
Techniques, When, Sample Sizes, Flavor Profiles & Percentages
2:00 - 3:00 Tristan Johnson - MoreWine
- Aeration / Oxidation - Testing SO2
3:00 - 4:00 Andy Coradeschi - Introduction to Wine Tasting -
Educate your palate
4:00 - 6:00 Tasting of wines submitted for Amateur Wine
Competition
6:00 - 6:02 WinePress.US - Joel Sommer - What it is, and where
it's going.
6:02 - 7:00 Dinner Buffet - Sponsored
by the Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission,
an opportunity to discover the wine and grapes from America's
Greenest Wine Region
7:00 - 9:00 Steve Comella - Wine Making Award
announcements, Wine Exchange, - Discussion on 2009 WineFest - Acknowledgements - Auction (cash
bar)
Sunday July 13th Events: Winery tour
offer by Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission. This would be a great day to see the local sights
and wineries
if you haven't already done so.
Donated Door Prizes & Auction Items: "Curt" - many packages of various types of oak - staves,
cubes, dust, etc. Always a hit. Cellar Craft - free kit of choice gift
certificate Noontime Labels - Two (2) certificates for one
free label order each The Wine Appreciation Guild - Three (3) books -
Winery Technology and Operations Vinquiry, Inc. - Two (2) coupons for
harvest analysis
REGISTER BEFORE JULY 1st to save money
and help me with ordering the correct catering.
Cheers, and I hope to see you there. Seating is
limited to the first 150 people.
Saturday Afternoon / Evening
Events Only - Wine Tasting
Seminar, Dinner and Awards starts at
3:00 pm
$125 Per Person Prepaid
$175 after July 1st
Amateur Wine Making
Competition Please fill out form
and email, mail or fax
$15 per bottle entry
PPD
$15 after July 1st
Make a Donation to WinePress.US
$10 each unit.
Your support is greatly appreciated in helping keep WinePress.US
FREE for all to use.
Check Out:
Register early.
Hotel Info:
The Flamingo Conference Resort
and Spa, in the Sonoma County Wine Country, is
a Santa Rosa historic landmark. With the classic charm
of the resort hotels of the 1950s and all the
contemporary amenities important to today’s guests, it
is the perfect location for exploring Northern
California’s premier Wine Country in Sonoma and Napa.
The hotel is centrally located to the towns of
Healdsburg, Sonoma, Calistoga and St. Helena. The
Pacific Ocean, the Russian River and Armstrong Redwood
Grove are both just a short drive away.
Set among the artfully-maintained
gardens is the resort’s world-class health club and spa.
The Santa Rosa resort is central to twelve distinct wine
appellations including the Dry Creek Valley, Russian
River Valley and Sonoma Valley. Recreation attractions
are abundant both at the resort and in the surrounding
Sonoma County countryside.
The World-class 20,000 square-foot
Montecito Heights Health Club with five tennis courts, 25
meter heated lap pool, and 1,200 square-foot group exercise
room is adjacent to the resort. The full-service club
features: Cybex equipment, free weights, a cardio theatre, a
beverage lounge and a daily child care room.
The Spa at Montecito Heights
Enter a private world of relaxation and
rejuvenation at the Spa at Montecito Heights. Wrapped in a
spa robe guests luxuriate in the cozy indoor lounge or
recline on a spa chair under the gentle Sonoma sun on the
secluded outdoor patio. Enjoy innovative treatments and
packages or indulge yourself in one of the spa's specialty
treatments including:
Soothing Vichy rain water treatments
Warming ginger body scrubs
European and clinical style facials
utilizing the finest and ecologically balanced products
available
Natural Spa Manicures and Pedicures
Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports,
Shiatsu, Thai, Prenatal and Reflexology massage
Myofascial and Reiki Therapy
Recommended info to put on wine
competition entry shipments:
Food Samples for Evaluation
Not
taxable per 27 CFR 24.75
Not
perishable – No Commercial Value
Conforms
to applicable IRS and FDA requirements
Possible topics
discussed previously in the WinePress.US discussion forum:
·
How to taste wine and
educate your palate – what to look for when tasting wine
·
2007 Accuvin Presentation
on testing was very well received
·
Aeration Oxidation
how to set up, how to normalize the solutions and how to do the math
·
have a guest
winemaker come in and give an entire presentation on working with
one or two specific varietals. For example, they might cover an
entire hour on just Cabernet, or just Syrah, etc.
·
I'd like to see
some "panel discussions" on specific topics which invites
interactive discussion.
·
Degassing seems to
be an issue that comes up repeatedly on the forum, seems like that
would be a good thing to learn about.....
·
I also wouldn't
mind learning about how to properly prune my grapevines. I'm still
pretty lost on that one.
·
I like
demonstrations, too. Some folks may have never used an acid kit, or
titrated to measure SO2, or used a MityVac. Having a demo station or
a few of them, say during a poster session, where people can get
hands-on experience might work.
·
I agree, vendor
demos are really valuable, and I enjoy them when their given.
·
I *really* would
like to hear from different successful professional winemakers on
their various techniques used. A roundtable discussion or solo
presentation would be invaluable to me. I'd pay dearly to hear Jeff
Cohn discuss his various wine making techniques or Heidi Peterson
Barrett on her techniques in a small venue.
·
A presentation on
how kit ingredients are selected, how far in advance grapes are
contracted for, how the grapes or juice concentrate gets to
factory/winery, especially from foreign sources. You know, that
stuff. How it is held for processing, etc. Is it frozen? Is this all
a secret?
·
A sparkling wine
how-to-demonstration would be excellent. Especially if the person
had the wine at different stages, a la a cooking show: demonstrated
how to add the yeast, how to de-gorge, and different methods for
that process. We've been having a lively thread on this in general
winemaking, but many of us would benefit from seeing the process in
action. Plus it would be fun!
·
I would sure like
to learn a bit about blending techniques. Might seem obvious but I
am sure those that are really good at it have a sound approach to
their blending of varietals. When to blend.
Sample sizes. How long to wait after blending to confirm
blends. Flavor profiles and percentages.
·
I'd love to see one
on biodynamic winemaking.
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Local Photos
Take a look at some recent photos I took on a quick visit to the
Santa Rosa region.
Value...
Keep in mind that four meals will be included for this event.
Recently, I was at a winery expo and had to pay $225 for 6 hours of
seminars and all they included was coffee.
I
truly hope you see the value and wealth of knowledge you'll receive,
not to mention the great friendships you'll make.
A downloadable
wine competition form will be made available shortly if you want to
pay by check or money order.
Phone
Credit Card transactions available soon: Call Joel at 618-768-4900
Sommer
Breeze Vineyard, St. Libory, IL, USA
Sommer Consulting, Web Site
Design & Hosting
