Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Welcome New Member Domanico Cellars

I am pleased to welcome our newest member, Domanico Cellars, to the FWWS. Here is some information on them:

We are a small family owned and operated winery located in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. We love great wine and have been involved in the Washington wine scene for a number of years. Our focus is making great wines from the best vineyards. Our grapes are hand picked, hand sorted, gently crushed, pressed and aged in the best french oak barrels. Some years we may blend, others we may not. Our promise is to always produce the best wines possible based on what the vineyards, grapes and maturing vintages tell us. Our 2007 release is now available at the winery.

http://www.domanicocellars.com

Welcome to the org!

Welcome New Member Passion Vineyards

I am pleased to welcome our newest member, Passion Vineyards, to the FWWS. Here is some information on them:

Since 2000, Winemaker Chuck Laird has been pursuing his passion, and refining his technique, until he developed the perfect bottle of passion....... disguised as wine.

Officially started in 2006, Chuck and his crew crushed and pressed 6 tons of grapes at the Issaquah winery this year, including: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Merlot, Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. All the grapes are grown in the southeastern part of Washington state, on the hills above Benton City. With a good relationship with the grower, Chuck is able to help manage the growing process of the grapes along with Scott, from deciding on the amount of canopy left over the fruit, to the proper picking time when the brix levels are perfect.

Passion Vineyards is a small, "boutique" winery, producing around 600 cases of different varietals every year. We hope to grow every year and with your support, we will! We hope you'll come visit, try our wines and enjoy a glass of Passion with us!

http://www.passionvineyard.com

Welcome to the org!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

FWWS Regional Meeting in Walla Walla

Dear FWWS Members,

As part of our program to replace a single annual meeting with multiple regional meetings, an FWWS Board member will be hosting a gathering in Walla Walla this coming Wednesday, August 31, at 7 PM. The meeting will be at Isenhower Cellars south of Walla Walla. We will be discussing current FWWS proposals, the upcoming Liquor Board Forums and any items of concern to members. Please attend if you are able and feel free to invite other winery owners that you think may be interested in FWWS.

If you have questions please contact John Morgan at (509) 429-1834.

Thank you.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Liquor Control Board Selects Farmers Markets for Tasting Pilot

July 27, 2011

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) today selected the 10 farmers markets that are invited to participate in a pilot program that allows wine and beer tastings at farmers markets…

Wine Sensory Workshops Presented by WSU Viticulture & Enology Program

Basic Palate Training (August 24, 2011)

Presented by Dr. Carolyn Ross

In this workshop, we will provide basic palate training with many practical exercises for wine sensory evaluation. Specifically, we will start the workshop with a broad discussion of sensory evaluation. Following this introduction, wine appearance will be presented, including color, clarity and other appearance attributes. We will then move on to an extensive review of wine aromas, including a discussion of the Wine Aroma Wheel and practical activities for the recognition of wine aromas. Following the aroma presentation, we will move on to discuss wine taste (sweet, sour, bitter), wine flavors and wine mouthfeel, all providing practical examples of these attributes. We will finish up with a discussion of wine finish and overall quality. All of these sensory attributes will be discussed in further detail, along with techniques used to evaluate the attribute and the vocabulary used to describe the attribute in a wine. Practical examples of each attribute will also be presented to help illustrate. This will be a very important workshop for wine professionals and those interested in learning more about wine sensory evaluation.

August 24, 2011 – 1:00 to 4:00pm
Consolidated Information Center, Room 120
WSU Tri-Cities, Richland http://www.tricity.wsu.edu/admission/contact/campusmap.html

Registration fee - $40.00
To register please contact Debbie Schwenson at 509-372-7224 or schwenso@wsu.edu.

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Advanced Sensory Workshop (August 25, 2011)

Presented by Dr. Carolyn Ross, Dr. Thomas Henick-Kling and Dr. Richard Larsen

This workshop will provide additional training for those interested in learning more about their aroma and taste sensitivity, as well as their detection thresholds for different aroma compounds. In this workshop, we will present several key aroma and taste compounds at a range of concentrations to allow the participants to recognize their personal detection threshold for these important compounds. We will talk about the wide range of sensitivity that exists among individuals and also within the same individual for different compounds. It is important that winemakers (and consumers) know the sensory threshold is not an absolute value – there are people who can detect a particular aroma or taste compound at concentrations well below and some who can only detect it at much higher concentrations.

August 25, 2011 – 8:00 to 4:00pm
Consolidated Information Center, Room 120
WSU Tri-Cities, Richland http://www.tricity.wsu.edu/admission/contact/campusmap.html

Registration fee - $90.00
To register please contact Debbie Schwenson at 509-372-7224 or schwenso@wsu.edu.