NOTES FROM A DIFFERENT VINE: "Educating Me OR You Can Go Home Again"

Have you been making wine for years but never entered a competition? Do you feel that everyone can make a better wine than you? Do you lack confidence in your winemaking, and feel that you lack a certain amount of education? Are some winemaking techniques ex-pounded in book upon book just not 'gelling' for you? Well, you're not alone. I, too, had read the books, but some practices just didn't make sense and I didn't always know if I was doing the right thing. I love to make wine, but every year I felt that I was flying by the seat of my pants. I needed to sit down with an expert/teacher and hash things out. John Daume's "No Holds Barred Winemaking Seminar for Home Winemakers" provided just what I needed.

But how to get there? My husband, who had been on many business trips, graciously told me that it was time that I, too, went on a business trip. His only question: "Will you really learn something?" I answered with a vigorous, "Yes, I have to!" After making flight and rental car arrangements, it was time to take Tom Shudic up on his offer to stay at Chateau Burbank. Tom acknowledged that his offer was still good, and that there would be a room for me the weekend of John's Seminar. I was all set for my "trip back to civilization", as Tom put it. The plane ride was relatively smooth, and getting out of LAX to my rental car was also painless. Arriving at Chateau Burbank in record time, I was greeted by Tom and set up comfortably in my room. Shortly thereafter, Tom's partner in wine Phil arrived, and the pouring began... I believe we started with the bottle of raspberry wine that I had been having trouble with. Instead of using my instruments, I had followed the recipe and wound up putting the TA somewhere on the astral plane! I had chalked it twice, but was reluctant to lower the TA any more. Tom thought it was just fine, he liked it tart. To me, however, it was still TART! Phil offered the 'no-offense' suggestion that it would be a good base for a Sangria. Then it was a glass of Cabernet, or was it Pinot Noir? Or was it Pinot Noir and then Cabernet? I can't remember. But it was all good, and I was making every effort to make my glass last longer than Tom's or Phil's. We all went to work on making a hand-mortared pesto for the pasta, using the home-grown basil Phil brought over. Dinner was delicious. Pasta with pesto, chicken sausage grilled over a French oak barrel stave, chopped salad with Habanero dressing, and, of course, more wine... The final coup came when Phil produced a cigar (whose country of origin is still shrouded in mystery), and the three of us enjoyed a beautiful California evening. Unlike 'Bubba', I inhaled. It was marvelous, only to be eclipsed by the glass of Tom's 1987 Rutherford Cabernet that was positively a religious experience! After the fifth or sixth glass, I had to beg off to get sleep for the next day. Upon having a mug of coffee with Tom the next morning, I was off to John's Seminar.

The Shop was still there! It was like coming home again. After doing some of my own shopping and picking up an order for someone, back in New Mexico, the seminar started… The seminar was informative and intense. Intense in that, not just a lot but, a _ton_ of information was reviewed and covered. Did you know that there is more than one 'window of opportunity' to do an ML? Well, you shoulda' been there. Do you want to know the latest on oak chips versus beans? You shoulda' been there! Do you need a good review on how to combat an H2S problem in your wine? You shoulda' been there! Want to know the latest on how to do a cold-maceration within your economic means? Want to know how fermentation proceeds with whole clusters, anything and everything about cap management, pH correction, crush-time decisions, to sulphite or not to sulphite, yeast, wild yeast and spoilage bacteria, dry yeasts and starters, yeast foods, ML foods, sluggish ferments, stuck ferments, heat and cold stability, and fining? YOU SHOULDA' BEEN THERE!!! I can't go into any of the information that John Daume and Dave Lustig covered because that would defeat the purpose of the seminar. For those of us who were there, it served as the proverbial 'shot in the arm'. It served as the perfect opportunity to ask all those little 'what if' questions and have them answered. It also served as a great forum to exchange ideas, and learn what's new in the world of winemaking. For the mere price of $15, this was the bargain of home winemaking. I came out with a new confidence, if not a certain aggressiveness in my own winemaking. I feel competent to make my own decisions when a problem arises or how I want to proceed with a particular fermentation. If you weren't there, you should make plans to be there next year but,....you shoulda' been there!