OCWS Newsletter - March 2024 : simplebooklet.com

2 ocws.org March 20242024 Board of Directors Carolyn ChristianPresidentCarolyn@ocws.orgFran GitshamVice PresidentFran@ocws.orgRich SkoczylasSecretaryRich@ocws.orgMel JayTreasurerMel@ocws.orgGeorge CravensDirectorGeorge@ocws.orgSue EnglandDirectorSue@ocws.orgLinda FleminsDirectorLindaF@ocws.orgFred HeineckeDirectorFred@ocws.orgJohn LaneDirectorJohn@ocws.orgPresident’s Message By Carolyn ChristianAs we roll into March, I am reminded how truly lucky we are as an organiza-tion, built on and by volunteers and bound together by our love of wine (and food)! On the one hand, we enjoy wine with loved ones and friends, and on the other hand, we feel strongly about educating peo-ple about wine and supporting the California wine industry. They are but two sides of the same lucky coin. And this is what makes our organization so unique.The OC Wine Society has so many types of events, from small gatherings at members’ homes or on Zoom, to larger events such as tastings at hotels, social functions at The Courtyard and wine auctions, to larger pub-lic events like the Wine Courtyard at the OC Fair. Each of these events provides us great opportunities to learn about wine, support our scholarship fund, drink and buy wines, and most importantly spend time together!Volunteers are what make our organiza-tion work. It is not easy running an organiza-tion with over 1,000 members. And although I proudly lead this organization, I do not do it alone. Behind the scenes are groups of vol-unteers who keep things running smoothly, from our nine-member board of directors, to ofcial committees that run events, to teams who help with year-round work. There are so many people to thank for their tireless commitment to our organi-zation. Although I don’t have the space to name each and every person, as you read through the newsletter, you will see many of their names and images. You can also nd the names of our top volunteers on our website. And next time you are at one of our events, please thank the volunteers you see there.I invite all of you to volunteer for one or more of our upcoming events. Doing so will help you get to know other members better, learn more about wine, and even rub elbows with some amazing winemak-ers.Here’s a preview of what is coming up the next few months… Winery ProgramsYour chance to meet the winemaker or winery owner and enjoy dinner and a wine tasting at a local hotel — Dou-ble Bond Wine (March), San Pasqual Winery (April) and San Simeon Wines (May).Varietal Hours Every other Monday evening through July we have educational and fun wine tastings via Zoom with informative topics, knowledgeable hosts, and a chance for ev-eryone to share information on what they are drinking. This event goes on hiatus during the OC Fair.Wine AuctionA great event in April for a great cause, where you can purchase wine at a fraction of retail. Tickets include wine and food throughout the event and a chance to bid on great California wines. Volunteers are needed for this event as well.Spring Social Event “Let The Good Times Roll” in April is a celebratory member event with wine, food, music and dancing.Pinot Noir Mini-Tasting An exciting potluck event at members’ homes throughout the OC in April.Winemakers’ Events Informative events to help hone your own winemaking skills – Wine Blend-ing Seminar (April) and Kit Wine Class (June).Bubbles ‘n’ Brunch In May the brunch will be held at the OC Mining Co., a Sunday gathering where members share their favorite bubbly. OC Fair Commercial and Home Wine Competitions Our agship events in June that make the OCWS such a prestigious organiza-tion known throughout California! Please don’t miss your opportunity to volunteer for these amazing competitions! See MESSAGE, page 3

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March 2024 ocws.org 3The Wine PressStaff BoxThe Wine Press is the ofcial newsletter of the Orange County Wine Society, Inc. The newsletter is published monthly. The Wine Press welcomes input from the OCWS membership. Please forward comments, questions and suggestions to Editor@ocws.orgExecutive EditorsCathy RislingGreg RislingContributing WritersOCWS Board of DirectorsJim BurkDamian ChristianScott HarralAlice PolserRochelle RandelEd ReyesWebsite AdministratorWendy TaylorOCWS PhotographerJim BurkCopyright (c)2024 Orange County Wine Society, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.The Orange County Wine Society is a non-prot 501(c)(3) educational organization incorporated under the laws of the State of California with its principal place of business in Costa Mesa, California.Orange County Wine SocietyP.O. Box 11059Costa Mesa, CA 92627Phone: (714) 708-1636Fax: (714) 546-5002Website: OCWS.orgOCWS Email: Ofce@ocws.org 2023 Wine Competition Results:WineCompetition.comThe Orange County Wine Soci-ety extends a warm welcome to its newest members! Membership for the following members was approved by the Board of Directors at the February 2024 meeting: Taylor Alber, Brit Free-man, Brian Halle and Karen Nguyen, Donald Lank and Olga Borodina, Dale Laube, Christopher Rivera, and Tim and Mary Sumida.As of Feb. 1, the OCWS has 1,045 members.New Members: For new members trying to log onto our website, and who have not already created their own password, go to OCWS.org. Your default login is the primary member’s email address. The default password is the primary member’s zip code. Both of these may be changed under the tab “My Account” once you log on. However, there may be only one login / password per membership.—Rochelle Randel, OCWS Business AdministratorNew Members CORNERWe are headed toward the 48th Com-mercial Competition June 1-2 and you should see the signups on our website in March any day now. Boy this year has gone by fast!We understand that these are changing times and conditions; please be exible and we can work together to make this another fun event. There are many areas where volunteer help is needed, steward-ing, glass washing and drying. Continuing the efciency, the computer input will be assigned. A sign-up form is included on the web-site—ocws.org/2024-commercial-competi-tion-volunteers/—that identies stewarding days, two bagging nights and other work parties with times and dates. In order to qualify for stewarding, we need you to sign up for two additional work parties. We can offer bagging and moving of wine to and from the competition site, including sorting. We also will be assigning the ribbon mail-ing crew. We denitely need your support for our work parties in order to run a successful competition. The good news is that we will have hired help for heavy lifting. No train-ing is necessary as newer members will be teamed with competition veterans.A quick check—if you volunteer to steward, it involves carrying trays of glass-es. It’s physical and can get tiring. Along with stewarding, you need to be prepared to assist your steward captain by opening wine bottles, preparing glasses for tags, cleaning up the judges’ tables as needed and listening to your steward captain for direction.It’s really all about teamwork for this to be successful. If you have any questions, please feel free to phone me at (562) 822-3382 or email strompharms@earthlink.net.We look forward to your participation in this very important event.—Robyn Strom, OCWS Volunteer CoordinatorVolunteers needed for annual eventCommercial Wine COMPETITIONMESSAGE, from page 2You won’t regret it. Preparations begin early for these events. Watch for eblasts, newsletter announcements and postings on how to get involved.Wine Courtyard at the OC Fair Our other claim to fame is running the Wine Courtyard for the entire length of the OC Fair in July and August with hundreds of volunteers! Make sure you get your RBS certication now and join us behind the counter at The Courtyard! Volunteering at The Courtyard is one of the best experiences. Details for all the events mentioned above can be found in this newsletter and on our website at OCWS.org (logon required). Trouble logging on? Please contact our ofce for assistance.We look forward to seeing you at one of our future events! Wishing you all the luck in the world this March! Sláinte (Cheers)!

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Winery Program4 ocws.org March 2024Double BondWine6:30 p.m.Friday, March 8, 2024Avenue of the Arts Hotel3350 Avenue of the ArtsCota Mesa, CASign-Up Deadline:Sunday, March 3There’s a saying that a winery makes wine with the end goal to make good wine. But that sim-ply is not Double Bond…What?! So, Double Bond doesn’t just make wine. They make that moment you hope for when you open a bottle; the poured an-ticipation swirling around your glass, then dancing on your palate and nally lingering long after the sip has gone. The meticulously curat-ed grapes, unhurried aging, hand-crafted French oak barrels, heavy bottle and pur-ple-stained natural corks sealed with thick foils are all supporting characters in the production that is you opening a bottle of their wines and imbibing in all that Double Bond is. John Klacking’s fascina-tion with wine started with a wine-making kit as a teenager that matured at UC Davis, where he and his collegiate roommates brewed their own beer and produced homemade wines.They spent their free time blind tasting the results of their eorts and frequented Napa wineries.After graduation as a PhD biochemist, John eventually be-gan collecting world-renowned premium wines and became consumed with the process of making ne wine and producing the very thing he spent so much time trying to nd around the world. Eventually in 2007 he estab-lished his own winery, Double Bond. He has earned numerous awards and distinctions from the nation’s top competitions and judges, including the OC Fair Commercial Wine Compe-tition.—Rich Skoczylas, Winery Program CoordinatorVolunteers NeededWe need several volun-teers to help place hand-outs on the tables at 5 p.m. and with check in 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Please indicate you can help when you sign up to attend this event. MenuMenuSalad Course:Dinner includes a salad with warm artisan breads and rolls with sweet butter and a choice of the following entrees:Entree Options: • Chicken—Chicken parmesan with a rich tomato marinara sauce and mozza-rella orzo pasta with wilted spinach. • Fish—Herby tilapia with wilted greens and mushroom orzo pasta.• Vegetarian—Cauliower parmesan with a rich tomato marinara sauce and mozza-rella orzo pasta with wilted spinach.$56 members, $61 guestsNOTE: Meals are ordered in advance and cannot be changed at the event.RemindersRemindersPick up your meal ticket when you check in to show the waiter. Sign up on the OCWS website to attend. Attendees can self-park in the hotel garage and get their ticket validated at OCWS check-in or pay $10 for valet parking. Dinner begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.; meeting follows at about 7:30 p.m.Members may bring their own wine to enjoy and share during dinner. Be sure to wear your name tag. As we need to contract the meals with the hotel, the last day to sign up or cancel and receive a refund is Sunday, March 3.

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Winery ProgramMarch 2024 ocws.org 5San Pasqual Winery6:30 p.m.Friday, April 12, 2024Avenue of the Arts Hotel3350 Avenue of the ArtsCosta Mesa, CASign-Up Deadline:Sunday, April 7San Pasqual Winery, a fre-quent award-winning winery, is a small, family-owned winery located in La Mesa. Owners Linda and Mike McWilliams are relative newcomers to the win-ery business, beginning in 2009 by establishing San Pasqual Winery. Their tasting room became an instantly popular gathering spot with the community. In 2013, they moved winery oper-ations to an industrial area after successfully campaigning to re-vise an outdated zoning statute that prohibited “fermentation” activities.San Pasqual produces 3,000 to 4,000 cases of small hand-crafted lots using grapes sourced from local vineyards and renowned viticulture re-gions throughout California. Most of these wines are sold directly from the winery and tasting room locations to give a more personal connection with the people who enjoy their wines.Their wines include Chardon-nay, Cabernet Franc and Cab-ernet Sauvignon, plus lesser known varietals such as Tannat and Teroldego. They also produce a line of unique passion fruit-based wines (including habanero-in-spired “Hot Passion”), that goes perfectly with the San Diego climate. One of their many achieve-ments include their Malbec—selected to represent Califor-nia-style Malbecs in Cahors, France, “home” of Malbec.—Rich Skoczylas, Winery Program CoordinatorMenuMenuThis evening starts with a light, sit-down, plated dinner. Each attendee will receive a menu card picked up when you check in that you show your server the meal you have selected. Salad Course:Crisp Romaine lettuce hearts with roasted heirloom tomatoes, pepitas, shaved parmesan and creamy Caesar dressing, warm artisan breads and rolls with sweet butter.Entree Options:• Chicken—Herb-crusted breast of chicken with crushed ngerling po-tatoes, roasted baby vegetables, herb RemindersRemindersSign up on the OCWS website to attend this event. Attendees can self-park in the hotel garage and get their ticket validat-ed at OCWS check-in or pay $10 for valet parking. Dinner begins promptly at 6:30 p.m. with the meeting at about 7:30 p.m. Members may bring their own wine to enjoy and share during din-ner. Be sure to wear your name tag. As we need to contract the meals with the hotel, the last day to sign up or cancel and receive a refund is Sunday, April 7.Volunteers NeededVolunteers NeededWe need a couple of volunteers to help with check-in 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Please indicate you can help when you sign up. oil, carrot puree and fennel orange reduction.• Fish—Grilled salmon with mustard dill sauce, tomatoes and red onion on top and crushed ngerling potatoes served with grilled zucchini.• Vegetarian—Eggplant pomodoro with fresh plum tomatoes, green olives and capers served over angel hair pasta.$56 members, $61 guestsNOTE: Meals are ordered in advance and cannot be changed at the event.

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Winery Program6 ocws.org March 2024San SimeonWines6:30 p.m.Friday, May 10, 2024Avenue of the Arts Hotel3350 Avenue of the ArtsCosta Mesa, CASign-Up Deadline:Sunday, May 5MenuMenuSalad Course:Dinner starts with an Orange County salad with mixed baby eld greens, candied walnuts, endive, cherry toma-to and balsamic vinaigrette and served with warm sourdough baguettes with sweet butter.Entree Options:• Buffet—Beef stroganoff served over wide egg noodles, sour cream and green onion garnish on the side and charred rainbow carrots.• Fish—Roasted salmon with haris-sa, preserved lemons, chickpeas and fresh mint, orzo pasta and charred rainbow carrots.• Vegetarian—Wild mushroom ravio-li on a bed of butternut squash puree with sage brown butter emulsion. $56 members, $61 guestsBe sure to pick up your meal ticket when you check in to show the waiter. Meals are ordered in advance and cannot be changed at the event.Sign-UpsSign-UpsSign up on the OCWS website to attend this event. Attendees can self-park in the hotel garage and get their ticket validated at OCWS check-in or pay $10 for valet parking. Dinner begins promptly at 6:30 p.m. with the meet-ing following at about 7:30 p.m.Members may bring their own wine to enjoy and share during dinner. Be sure to wear your name tag. As we need to contract the meals with the hotel, the last day to sign up or can-cel and receive a refund is Sunday, May 5.Volunteers NeededVolunteers NeededWe need several volunteers to help with check-in from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Please indicate you can help when you sign up to attend this event. San Simeon wines are terroir- driven and shaped by unique soils and the Pacic Ocean’s inuence, which cools the vine-yards at night to give the wines their distinct freshness. The fog and cool air from the sea plays a vital role in their vineyards, where their wines can only be described as…Rugged! Rened! Respected!Their wines are 100% estate grown and certied sustainable from two of the most presti-gious regions along California’s Central Coast: Monterey and Paso Robles. Their vineyards are meticulously farmed to yield grapes with concentrated avors and aromas, while winemaking techniques create unique wines of the highest quality, character and complexity. They represent the pinnacle of vineyard-to-bottle winemaking.The San Simeon winemaking team includes Marty Spate, who brings over 20 years of experi-ence to the role of winemaking, wine growing and sourcing. His career has touched multiple countries spanning from Aus-tralia to Italy and most recently California’s Central Coast. —Rich Skoczylas, Winery Program Coordinator

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Bubbles ‘n’ BrunchMarch 2024 ocws.org 7W e’re going to continue our brunch journey with an old standard in Orange County. In 1974, some 90 years after the last appreciable silver was coaxed from these hills, the Orange County Mining Co. opened its doors. Ever since, the restaurant has provided guests with a rustic, casual American steakhouse and saloon ex-perience. We will meet in one of their private banquet rooms, Angels Camp. So, let’s relax, toast, laugh and enjoy the view! Here is a sneak peek at some of their buffet options: Pastries • Eggs BenedictScrambled Eggs with CheeseBacon and SausageOmelet and Wafe StationsCarved Prime Rib • HamEnchiladas • FajitasSnow Crab Legs • ShrimpSmoked Salmon There will also be a selection of assorted salads and desserts.The price for this buffet is $71 for members and their guests, all inclu-sive. Parking is all valet, at $8 per vehicle. Carpooling or ride sharing is suggested. The event will be posted on the website for signups. Space is limited; when the event lls up, please contact the ofce to be placed on a waitlist. Each person is requested to: 1. Bring a bottle of your favorite champagne and/or wine.2.Bring champagne and/or wine glasses.3. Please wear your OCWS name badge. 4.Please drink responsibly.Because we need to contract with the restaurant the attendance count, the last day to sign up, make changes, or cancel to receive a refund is April 29. Any cancellations after this date would be lled and refunded from the wait-list. Looking forward to toasting with you again!—Rochelle Randel, OCWS Champagne Brunch CoordinatorOrange CountyMining Co.10000 S. Crawford Canyon RoadOrange, CA11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.Sunday, May 5, 2024Sign-Up Deadline:Monday, April 29

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California is known for having a diverse range of excellent wines, and due to the many different micro-climates, even a single varietal can produce very different wines across the state. For the April Mini-Tasting, we are going to explore and compare Pinot Noirs from a number of regions in California. These may include Carneros, Russian River, Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, Mendoci-no County and Sonoma.Hosts: Mini-Tastings are held at various host sites around Orange Coun-ty. If you would like to host this event, please e-mail George Cravens at george@OCWS.org or call/text (949) 510-5318. You may need to sign up and pay until hosts are selected. Reimbursement will be made for all host sites.Locations: Host sites and directions will be announced to those attending approximately one week prior to the event. We try to place you at the location nearest your home or to accommodate your specic site request; however, your assigned host site is also based on the order in which your sign-up is received in the OCWS ofce.Cost: The cost to attend the tasting is $35 for members and $40 for guests.Mini-Etiquette: Each person at-tending brings a potluck dish (appetizer, entrée, side dish or dessert) ready to serve a small portion to 16 people. Please coor-dinate your food selection with your host site to assure an appropriate balance of food types served during the evening. There will be a special bottle of wine that evening as a prize for Chef of the Evening. Our winning Chefs of the Eve-ning can have their recipe published in the OCWS Wine Press. Please plan on arriving promptly at 6 p.m. so the event can get started on time. Please bring your own wine glasses for tasting; keep in mind the wines are served in ights of two.After the cut-off date for online sign-ups, please contact the OCWS ofce to determine availability, or to be added to a wait list. The cancellation deadline is April 14 for a refund. After that date, due to the advance purchase of wines, you will not receive a refund unless there is a wait list.Note: If the website says the Mini-Tast-ing is sold out, please call the ofce to be added to a wait list. If we have sufcient demand and host sites, we may be able to expand the tasting to accommodate more members.Bon Appetit!—George Cravens, OCWS DirectorPinot NoirMini-TastingVarious Locations6 p.m.Saturday, April 27, 2024Sign-Up Deadline:Sunday, April 148 ocws.org March 2024Mini-Tasting

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Chef of the EveningFall Off the BoneBabyback BBQ RibsIngredientsRack of baby back ribs1 Tbsp. olive oilEqual parts sea salt and ground pepper Sriracha BBQ sauce or one with a kickInstructionsPREHEAT oven to 275 degrees.RINSE and dry the ribs.REMOVE any membrane material then coat top side of the ribs with olive oil.SPRINKLE with equal parts salt and pepper.WRAP and seal ribs in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.PLACE on center rack and bake for 3 to 3.5 hours. Remove and open the top of the foil.SLATHER on the sauce and broil on the center rack for 8 to 10 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling to a caramel-ized perfection.—Recipe courtesy OCWS members Kathleen Alva & Paul WooldridgeDo you like Montepulciano? Are you talking about geography or wine? If you are talking geography, the town of Montepulciano, located in the Tuscany region of Italy, makes beautiful Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines (locally called Prugnolo Gentile) using Sangiovese grapes.There are two basic qualities of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines. The higher quality is Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) requiring a minimum of 70% of Prugnolo Gentile Sangiovese grapes whose taste is often referred to as combining the elegance of Chianti Classico and the power of Brunello. The lesser quality wine, but still delicious, is referred to as Rosso di Montepulciano DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata). More on the four types of classication for Italian wines (DOCG, DOC, etc.) to come in a future article.If you are talking wine, then that’s Montepulciano D’Abruzzo made from the Montepulciano grape in Italy’s central, eastern region of Abruzzo. In central and southern Italy, Abruzzo is the most productive region after Tuscany. In Abruzzo a majority of the wines are produced by co-ops. Most wines in this area are unremarkable and therefore more affordable, however, you can believe that efforts are being made to change that! Montepulciano, are you talking geography or wine? Confused? Don’t be, if you like the wine then enjoy it. Cheers!Do you have a question on wine? Please submit it to us at ofce@ocws.org.—Linda Flemins, CL Keedy andthe Wine Education CommitteeWine WISDOMExploring the region, wine behind MontepulcianoInstructionsPREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.COMBINE cream corn, tamale, chiles and milk and add to baking dish; crush crackers over top.SPRINKLE grated cheese over all and bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes, or until completely bubbly.—Recipe courtesy OCWS member Adrienne DavisCorn & Tamale CasseroleIngredients2 14 oz. cans of cream corn2 small or 1 large beef tamale, broken up1/2 of a 4 oz. can Ortega Chiles, dicedSplash of milkCrushed saltine or Ritz crackers Grated cheddar cheeseMarch 2024 ocws.org 9

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10 ocws.org March 2024EventsSpring Membership SOCIALCelebrating in the spirit of New OrleansWhatever you call this city – The Big Easy, NOLA, Crescent City, Hollywood South, N’awlins—New Orleans offers so much to visitors. It is a modern city surrounded with legend, distinctive music, celebrations and mystery. To celebrate this city, and to enjoy a wonderful time at the Spring Membership Social, we are converting The Courtyard into a mini–New Orleans.At the center of the event will be the Mardi Gras celebrations. Wear you purple, green and gold! We will have masks and beads for sale. On the walls surrounding the tables, we will pay homage to the Jazz/Zydeco music, the Garden District, downtown and the French Quarter. What a beautiful, colorful city!SILENT AUCTIONThis event will include a silent auction to benet the OCWS Scholarship Program. Last spring we raised $1,000 for the scholarship program and this year we hope to exceed that amount. We already have some donations to start the following baskets: gardening, picnic, S’mores, wine and spa day, beach day, Italian dinner, a beautiful set of Waterford crystal wine glasses, hand-painted wine glasses and candleholders. Do you have items you would like to contribute? Please call Alice Polser at (410) 299-8810 or drop items off at the OCWS ofce any weekday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.FESTIVE DECORAdditionally, we have hand-crafted holiday cork decorations, a metal wine barrel top with a heart center, a corkboard and a cork wreath with holiday interchangeable bows. NOTE: All purchases for the auction can be paid by cash, check or credit cards.MASKS, BEADS FOR SALEMasks and beads will be offered to help offset the new tablecloths. Masks are $10 each and beads will be $5 each.The new tablecloths will greatly improve set-up and reduce the amount of paper we use during each event. Pick up your masks and beads at the event. Cash only.DINE & DANCEReady to dance? We have a DJ coming in with great music! Before we start dancing, he will play a variety of New Orleans music – Zydeco, blues and jazz. Once everyone is ready to start shaking those beads, he will play tunes to get us moving! The last hour and half of the event will be YOUR turn to shine. We have John Goodnight, a longtime member, inviting you to sing karaoke! NEW ORLEANS-STYLE FOODNow, let’s talk food! The Cooks' Caucus is working on some amazing items for the Spring Social. Driven by the cuisine of New Orleans, some items under consideration are red beans and rice, gumbo, jambalaya, king cake bites, desserts and more. Bring your appetite and be ready to indulge!LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERSWith all this going on, we, of course, need great volunteers who make our events so fun. Volunteer positions include wine servers in 30-minute shifts, set-up two hours before, clean-up an hour after, food servers 30-minute shifts, sign-in table from 2:45 to 3:15 p.m. and mask/beads table, two 30-minute shifts.You can sign up for the volunteer shift you want or email Alice Polser at ajpolser@gmail.com.MARDI GRAS SPRING SOCIAL3 to 7 p.m.Saturday, April 6OC Fair & Event CenterCosta Mesa, CA—Alice Polser and Betty Jo Newell,Event Co-Chairs

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March 2024 ocws.org 11EventsAhh, to be a wine judge . . . it’s a romantic notion. Whenever I tell people about the OC Fair Home Wine Competition and our volunteer wine judg-es, I can almost see the thought bubbles forming above their heads saying, “I’d love to be a wine judge.” I’m sure they imagine sitting around sampling endless quantities of wine giv-ing their thumbs up or down. Judging in a wine competition is way different than that. A good and successful judge is well trained with a completely different mind-set than the average wine drinker. As wine drinkers, we already judge wine but not in a way that a good com-petition judge would. We like or dislike a wine to t our personal preference or pre-conceived notions of what we think a particular wine should taste like. And, we’ll judge that wine to be good or bad (thumbs up or down) based on that. How many times have you ever thought about why you liked or didn’t like it?It sounds counterintuitive but a wine judge does not judge wine, at least not in the sense of good or bad. It’s not about personal preference. A wine judge critiques how a wine is made. A judge determines if there’s anything technically wrong with it. Most importantly, a wine judge looks at a wine to see that it has all the particular qualities and characteris-tics of the varietal being judged. Like or dislike is not part of the equation.I like to use meatloaf as an example of how to think about this. Just about all of us have had meatloaf. We all have certain expectations of how it’s supposed to taste. We probably have a particular style of meatloaf we like. Do you like it sweet with BBQ sauce, brown sugar or ketchup? Maybe you like it savory with herbs or mushrooms. Do you like sauteed vegetables in it? Do you like your meatloaf with or without a gravy sauce? What about the meat itself? Do you prefer ground beef? Maybe you like a combination of beef and veal or maybe some pork? Maybe you’d rather have it a little leaner with ground turkey instead.All of these are variations of meatloaf. They all have elements of a meatloaf. If you lined them up, they’d probably all look similar and you would recognize them all as being meatloaves. If you tasted them all, you’d likely nd some made in a style you prefer and call them good. Some might be made in a style you don’t prefer.But you can’t judge those you don’t prefer to be bad. There’s nothing wrong with any them. If the meat was undercooked or spoiled, then that would be a bad or un-desirable meatloaf. If it was overcooked and so dry that you couldn’t eat it, that too would be undesirable. No one wants one that has so much salt, spice or brown sugar that it would overwhelm your taste buds. If the seasonings were out of balance, that would be undesirable. If it didn’t have enough egg, bread crumbs or another binder to hold it together, then it would crumble when you cut into it and that would be undesirable too. Those undesirable qualities are not true to what a correctly prepared meatloaf should have.It’s the same idea with wine. Using Pi-not Noir as an example, we all likely pre-fer it to be a certain way. We’ll taste one and say we like it or not based on what we think a Pinot Noir should taste like. Maybe you like one with more body or mouthfeel. Maybe you like a more fruit-for-ward style with lots of strawberry upfront. Winemakers GROUPLessons in Wine Judging 1012024 OC Fair Home Wine CompetitionHello to all of our OCWS Winemakers, and all of our Winemaker wannabes and friends! Our upcoming Home Wine Competition will be held on June 8, 2024, and as with every year, we will be looking for volunteers to act as stewards, support tasks, and even judges.In return, the Cooks' Caucus will provide a hot breakfast and lunch, wine tasting at the end of the event, and LOTS of FUN will be had by all!If you would like to be involved with this year's Home Wine Competition, please go to our website at OCWS.org/home-wine-competition/ and watch for our 2024 update, or contact me at kevindonnelly@ocws.org. I look forward to seeing you all on June 8!—Kevin Donnelly, Chairman, 2024 OC Fair Home Wine Competitionsee WINEMAKERS page 13

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Events12 ocws.org March 2024Are you ready to restock your wine cellars (or wine racks), and support the amazing work the OCWS does each year? The 2024 OCWS Wine Auction is scheduled for Saturday, April 20 at the OC Fair and Event Center in the Huntington Beach building (next to The Courtyard).I can’t tell you how many times I hear OCWS members say, “We just opened our last bottle of wine that we bought at last year’s auction. When is the next one?” Whether this is the case for you or not, I highly recommend attending this long-standing OCWS tradition.This event is a great way to spend time with OCWS friends, share some wine and great food, and ll our personal cellars with great California wines at amazing prices! Next to The Courtyard at the fair, this is our second most important fundraiser of the year. As a reminder, the OCWS is a 501c(3) organization with a mission to support wine education. We do this through our programming at the OC Fair (wine tasting, seminars, featured wineries), Winery Programs during the spring and the Wine Competition. But by far our biggest support of wine education is the OCWS Scholarship Fund, which this year surpassed $820,000 in donations to eight California colleges and universities with wine and culinary arts-related programs.So whether you are looking to ll your wine cellar with some great deals on California wines, spend time with friends enjoying great wine and food, or you want to show your support for the wine industry by contributing to the OCWS Scholarship Fund, the OCWS auction has you covered. The OCWS has been pairing wine education and fun for decades, and this event is no exception. At only $25 per person for wine, food, friends and a chance to get some great deals on wine, the auction is the best deal in town. You can get even more involved by contributing your time as a volunteer during part of the event. As a reminder, this is a MEMBERS ONLY event – no guests.—Carolyn Christian, Wine Auction ChairWine AUCTIONNearly 1,000 Silent Auction Lots – Placed in order on tables that span the event venue.Nearly 100 Verbal Auction Lots – Auctioned o randomly by our professional auctioneer.All lots consist of four bottles of quality California wine curated by our own cellarmaster and his team who have spent weeks putting together the lots. Printed and electronic catalogues of the auction lots will be available for attendees a few weeks before the event. Food and wine are served throughout the event in several courses (appetizers, entrees and desserts). Mystery lots of wine are available at low prices and can be ordered at the beginning of the event, guaranteeing you will go home with something.Doors open at 11 a.m. and bidding starts immediately. Silent auction lots will be picked up randomly throughout the event until 4:30 p.m. The checkout process will begin shortly after 5 p.m. and will conclude when all wines have been paid for and picked up. No early checkout is available under any circumstances. Please plan to stay until 6 p.m.14253678 WHAT TO EXPECT9Fill your cellar with great deals at wine auction

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EventsMarch 2024 ocws.org 13WINEMAKERS, from page 12Maybe you like it to be earthy or have a “barnyard” nose. Does this make the other styles bad? No. There’s nothing wrong with the other styles. You just don’t prefer them. Now if the wine was bitter from being in contact with the grape skins and seeds for too long then that would be unde-sirable. A Pinot Noir that didn’t nish fermenting would have excess residual sugar, an undesirable quality. Too much tannic bitterness from excessive oak is undesirable. A thin, watery wine or one that doesn’t taste like a Pinot Noir at all is an undesirable quality. In winemaking we call these faults. I’m sure we’ve all seen wines that are cloudy or hazy. We’ve probably tasted wines that were oxidized and starting to turn brown from exposure to air or improper storage. We’re familiar with “corked” wines with that wet cardboard smell. Those too are all wine faults.So, a competition wine judge looks for faults in a wine, or more correctly, lack of faults in a wine, which indicates a well-crafted wine. As a judge at the Home Wine Competition, I always want to see (and taste) those excellent wines as I appreciate the work and attention to detail it takes to create them.Competition judging is a thoughtful process that requires stamina and mental discipline, not the rst thing you might think of when you hear the words “wine judge.” It’s our job to evaluate and give honest feedback for every wine we judge. To me it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in the wine society.The Winemakers Group is gearing up for this year’s OC Fair Home Wine Com-petition on Saturday, June 8. We are al-ways looking for new judges. We provide training and you’ll work with experienced judges on competition day.If you’re interested, feel free to reach out to our Director of Judges, John Lane, our Competition Chairman, Kevin Don-nelly, or myself and we’ll be happy to talk with you about wine judging.Cheers!—Ed Reyes, ed@ocws.org The OC Wine Society is excited to announce the 2024 scholarship donations in the amount of $46,640. These funds were awarded as scholarships to the eight programs listed in the table below. This year’s donations raised the total amount of OCWS scholarships awarded since 1996 to $828,663. The scholarship funds come from a variety of sources, including tips at the OC Fair Wine Courtyard, OCWS Wine Auction, the featured winery program, and judges’ stipend and member donations. We thank our members for their hard work and support that made this year’s scholarships possible.OCWS SCHOLARSHIPS University/College Program sChool total Allan Hancock (AHC) Viticulture and Enology $5,750 Cal Poly Pomona Agricultural Science $5,790 Cal Poly SLO Wine and Viticulture $5,750 CSU Fresno Viticulture and Enology $5,750 Orange Coast College Culinary Arts $8,150 UC Davis Viticulture and Enology $5,850 Napa Valley College Viticulture & Winery Technology $5,850 Wine Business $3,750TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS $46,6402024 Scholarship AllocationsJust a friendly reminder that you can make a donation to the OCWS Scholarship Fund anytime. There are two ways to donate:1. Mail a check — Complete your check using the same instructions as above, and mail it to the OCWS ofce at OCWS, P.O. Box 11059 Costa Mesa, CA 92627 Attn: Scholarship Fund. A donation letter will be sent to you.2. Donate Online — Log on to your account at ocws.org and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/. You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.—Damian Christian, Scholarship ChairCSU Sonoma/Cunningham

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14 ocws.org March 2024EventsSign-Up Planning for The CourtyardMarch is here and we are getting ready for the series of sign-ups for The Courtyard. Volunteering to help is an exciting opportunity to meet members, learn about different wines and enjoy the OC Fair.Cashiers will be able to sit throughout their shift. Other work involves standing to pick up and serve from a bottle or moving several bottles of wine.Signing up for the fair will be opened in several phases. All members are required to sign up for a minimum of four shifts. Other things to know:1. RBS Certication is required before signing up for The Courtyard.2. Selected manager members sign ups open April 1.3. Cashier and steward sign ups open on the OCWS website April 15.4. Server sign ups open on the OCWS website May 1.5. All Courtyard sign ups close on the OCWS website June 15.We will have ve daily shifts during the 23 days of The Courtyard, Wednesdays through Sundays, July 19 through Aug. 18. The sooner you sign up for your shifts, the greater the opportunity to get the shifts you want. The times of these shifts will be:10 a.m. to 1 p.m.1 to 4 p.m.4 to 8 p.m.8 to 10:30 p.m. (Wed., Thurs.) OR 8 to 11:30 p.m. (Fri., Sat., Sun.)Express Bar: 5 to 9 p.m.Note that The Courtyard closes one hour before the fair closes.In the past couple of years, the OC Fair has limited fair attendance where only a certain maximum number of people are allowed entry. One of the benets of volunteering at The Courtyard is entering the fair any day to work or just to enjoy the fair and parking is included.—Rich Skoczylas, Courtyard SchedulerRBS certication: 1 month closerOnce you have sent your request for certication you will receive an email from #1 Premiere with your username and password and a link to the online course. You may take the class one chapter at a time or all at once. The online course is followed by an online exam with ABC. Once you are RBS certied you are ready to serve at the OC Fair.ONLINE CLASSPlease send an email to RBS team members Sue England and Linda Flemins at RBS@ocws.org, letting them know you need to be RBS certied this year.EMAIL USEach OCWS member will need a valid individual email address that will be used to set up your account. Your own individual email address will be your username for the online system. Thank you so much for your volunteer efforts! You are what makes the OCWS the great success it is.PLEASE NOTEInstructions will be sent to you when you register. 1. Create an RBS account with Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). 2. Take a course with the RBS course provider that the OCWS has selected.3. Take a nal quiz with ABC online and obtain the RBS certicate, which is valid for three years.3-STEP PROCESSBefore we know it, the OC Fair will be upon us again. The largest OCWS fundraising effort of the year will be taking place for a total of 23 days, Wednesdays through Sundays, July 19 through Aug. 18.Volunteering at The Courtyard is a unique and fun experience. All Courtyard volunteers handling wine in any capacity are required to be RBS (Responsible Beverage Server) certied through the ABC (Alcohol Beverage Commission) pursuant to fair requirements. It is highly recommended that new members obtain certication sooner than later to be ready when sign-ups open. All OCWS volunteers who are managers, stewards and servers need to be certied. The only volunteers who are or will be cashiers do not need to be certied; however, getting RBS certied offers more opportunities to volunteer for different positions.How do I get started? Check out our tips below! —Linda Flemins and Sue England, OCWS DirectorsYou must be RBS certied before signing up to volunteer. Here’s how:The COURTYARD

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March 2024 ocws.org 15Let’s go back to the word FREE! Who would like to attend a FREE wine event and not even need a desig-nated driver? How about attending an event with like-minded people who enjoy wine?You won’t even need to get up off your couch! The OCWS has been hosting these exact events for the past three years and we’ve been ne tuning and improv-ing them as we go.So picture this… Your own comfort-able furniture. A glass of wine in your hand. Chatting with fun friends, some you know, some you may not. Right there in your own house with friends, old and new. And here’s the best part! You don’t even have to clean up everyone’s mess! We’re always happy to have new members join the fun and you will likely learn something new (or better yet, teach us something new) and meet some people who enjoy wine.Each event has a theme, but we never “kick anyone off the island,” so it never matters if you follow the theme. The set-ting is very casual, with stories told about each of the wines we’re drinking, what we do (or don’t) like about them, where we got them, and more.Regardless of your knowledge of wine, the Varietal Hours have something for everyone. Varietal Hours are held every other Monday from 7 to 8 p.m.All you need is a computer (or phone) and internet connection. If you are new to the Varietal Hours or to Zoom, please feel free to contact Don Phillips at don@OCWS.org or George Cravens at george@OCWS. org for help and infor-mation, even if it means contacting us days before the event, and we will walk you through the process and even do a short Zoom meeting just for you to get you comfortable with the process.The event is open to all OCWS mem-bers, but sign-ups are required. Please log on to the OCWS website to register for the event no later than 10 p.m., the Sunday night before the event. Couples only need to sign up for one person since this event is via Zoom. A link for the Zoom meeting will be emailed to you on the day of the event.We are also looking for hosts for upcoming Varietal Hours. It’s fun and easy to do. Please contact Don or George at the above emails if you wish to host, or with any questions or suggestions.We look forward to Zooming with you soon at one of the future Varietal Hours. Bottoms Up!—Don Phillips, Varietal Hour Co-ChairVarietal HOURCheck out where the fun is FREE DATE TIME VARIETAL HOSTS March 18 7 p.m. African Wine Janet Riordan March 4 7 p.m. San Diego County Wines CL & Adrienne Keedy April 1 7 p.m. Fool Us With Something Dierent David Price April 15 7 p.m. Favorite Springtime Wine Ed ReyesEvents April 29 7 p.m. NY/East Coast Wines CL & Adrienne Keedy May 13 7 p.m. Unusual Varietals Elee & Don Phillips

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16 ocws.org March 2024When he’s in the cellar, the 15-foot-high tower built with stacked stone and adorned with the colorful bottoms of wine bottles is illuminated signaling Paz is inside.Curious neighbors had to know what was going on, so they stopped by and they were fortunate they did. Not only does he make wine out of his 93 square-foot cellar located in his yard, he also has a wide selection of ne wine that will delight any palate.“When the light is on, my wife knows I’m in the cellar,” Paz cracked. “Neighbors would come over to see what I was making and word started to spread.”The cellar, which serves as a laboratory as well as storage, cost $5,000 to build and was partly inspired by Paz’s desire to make wine in 2010. As a member of the Orange County Wine Society, he and other mem-bers would go on trips to different regions in California to learn about winemaking.“For me, it was about developing relationships with winemakers,” Paz said. “I want to know the latest and greatest techniques. They give you a lot of hints and are able to share ideas.”His cellar can accommodate about 300 bottles and about 85 percent of his collec-tion is wine made under his label — Paz-Espana. Paz’s grandfather designed a house for a man in Mexico who opened his doors to those who were persecuted for their religious beliefs during the Cristeros War. In 1977, Paz was able to make the trek to Polanco, Mexico and visit the home.When he knocked on the door to the tri-level house that sat on a corner (similar to the Flatiron Building in New York City), the man who was well into his 90s let Paz inside for a tour. He also gave Paz a sheet with his grandfather’s original drawing that now serves as the design for the wine label along with the family coat of arms from Spain.Paz makes about eight to 10 cases of wine a year, primarily reds like Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. He has quite a few medals from home wine competitions but maybe most impressive is winning a Double Gold and being named Best in PAZ, from page 1Class at the California State Fair in 2017 for his Chardonnay. “You eventually become your own critic,” Paz said of his wines. “I’ve learned you can’t make good wine from bad grapes.”His cellar is always 85 to 90 percent stocked and the star of his collection is a bottle of the renowned Sassicaia. Much of the wine he produces he shares with others or gives away. His niece is getting married soon, and take a guess what the guests will be drinking?As for those neighbors, they not only drink the wine, they have helped Paz along the way.“They feel like they are part of it. It’s something they would never experience,” Paz said. “There’s a whole romance to wine. It becomes a talking point, a conver-sation starter and it’s something we all enjoy.” Feature Storyphotos courtesy Greg RislingMike Paz’s Yorba Linda cellar houses about 300 bottles. The star of his collection is a bottle of Sassicaia.“When the light is on, my wife knows I’m in the cellar. —Mike PazHome Winemaker”

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March 2024 ocws.org 17Photo of the MonthSORTING PARTYThis month’s winning photo is courtesy member Virginia Kawai. The OCWS sponsors a photog-raphy contest and you are invited to participate! As you might have guessed, the subject is “wine,” but this can mean many things to many people.Do you have a great shot of the sun ltering through the vines just before picking? Or an action shot of wine being poured with some great swirls in the glass? Perhaps a romantic shot of a couple toasting each other?These are a few ideas and I’m sure you have many more of that great shot involving wine in some way.Each month the photography committee will select a Photo of the Month for publication in the upcoming newsletter as well as on the OCWS website. The winner also will receive a bottle of wine from the OCWS wine cellar. The ultimate goal is to publish an OCWS calendar consisting of the 12 best photos of the year. These may or may not be the 12 monthly winners.If you have any questions, email Photo@OCWS.org. Calling all OCWS photographersTHE RULESEntrants must be OCWS members in good standing and the submitted photo must have been photographed by the OCWS member when he/she was an active member.The photo must be some-how wine oriented. It may be of a winery, vineyard, the winemaking process, the nished product or simply the consumption. But don’t limit yourself just to these ideas!The photo or photos may be submitted to the OCWS photography committee any-time but will be considered only for the month it was sub-mitted. There is a limit of ve (5) submissions per month. Upon submission, rights to the photo are given to the OCWS for marketing pur-poses, so before you submit it make sure it is your property. Please get permission from any people in the photo.The photo must be sub-mitted in one of the follow-ing formats: JPEG, RAW, TIFF or Photoshop. Any size is ac-ceptable, but it is preferred to be at least 3000x2400 pixels, which is an 8”x10” shot at 300 dpi for printing. In the event that insu-cient entries are entered in a month, the committee reserves the right to move any contributed photos to the next month.To submit a picture, attach it in an email to Photo@OCWS.org. Be sure to include your name, phone number, picture location and picture title. Pho-tos are due by the last day of the month to be considered for that month’s winner. 124536

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18 ocws.org March 2024 2024UPCOMINGEVENTSMarch 2OCWS MINI-OUTINGDeFalco Family Wines & Foods / Fountain ValleyMay 5BUBBLES ’N’ BRUNCHOrange County Mining Co. / OrangeApril 21HOME WINE COMPETITION JUDGING SEMINARCourtyard, OC Fair & Event Center / Costa MesaApril 6SPRING SOCIALOC Fair & Event Center / Costa MesaMarch 18VARIETAL HOUR / AFRICAN WINEVia Zoom June 29KIT WINE CLASSOC Fair & Event Center / Bldg. 15 / Costa MesaApril 20WINE AUCTION OC Fair & Event Center / Costa MesaMarch 4VARIETAL HOUR / SAN DIEGO COUNTY WINESVia ZoomApril 12FEATURED WINERY / SAN PASQUAL WINERYAvenue of the Arts Hotel / Costa MesaMay 10FEATURED WINERY / SAN SIMEON WINESAvenue of the Arts Hotel / Costa MesaJune 8HOME WINE COMPETITIONCourtyard, OC Fair & Event Center / Costa MesaMarch 8FEATURED WINERY / DOUBLE BOND WINEAvenue of the Arts Hotel / Costa MesaApril 7WINEMAKERS BLENDING SEMINARCourtyard, OC Fair & Event Center / Costa MesaJune 1-2COMMERCIAL COMPETITIONHilton Hotel / Costa Mesa

OCWS Newsletter - March 2024

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