WineFest 2009 Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN               October 15, 16 & 17th, 2009

REGISTER BEFORE September 10th 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 100 people.

Register early.

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.

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