Return to flip book view
Message TThe he WWine ine PPressressVolume 49, Issue 4 ocws.org April 2025CALENDARpage 20FROM CAROLYNpage 2THE COURTYARD page 8WINE AUCTION page 6Richard McCormick’s winemaking legacy continues thanks to his wife Robin, son Michael and son-in-law Phil Palacios, posing with a photo montage of the late OCWS home winemaker in the cellar of their family home.see McCORMICK, page 18Years ago, a chance encounter at a home in North-ern California led to a newfound hobby that has played an important role in the McCormick family.It was there that Richard McCormick heard about the Orange County Wine Society and the opportuni-ty to make wine. For those who knew Richard, they know that he turned winemaking into a passion, which is ever so apparent at the family home in Laguna Beach.It’s been 10 years since Richard passed away, but his winemaking legacy perseveres thanks to his son, Michael, and the OCWS Home Winemakers Group that has mentored him along the way.“One of the best things about winemaking is the community part of it,” Michael said. “It’s a ton of work but these guys become mentors and have helped us continue the tradition. It’s a really nice feeling.”It’s hard to imagine a better place to make or store wine than the tri-level McCormick home that sits across the street from the beach with stunning views of the Pacic Ocean. A FAMILYAairAStory & Photo by Greg RislingStellar CELLARS
These are the organization’s agship events. They make us who we are and keep us running. As we approach our busy season, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of volunteering for these four events. You will not nd another organization that provides these opportunities to buy wine at a discounted price, meet winemakers who make the wines we enjoy, taste the latest vintages, learn more about wine and share your wine knowledge with the public. What an incredible opportunity this organization presents to its members.Call to VolunteerMy challenge to you as an OCWS member is to get just a little more involved this year. Volunteer at the auction to break up the day of food and wine, sign-up to steward at one or both of our wine competitions and/or sign up for one of the hundreds of shifts at The Courtyard. Sign-ups for the auction are already open, and we are still in need of dozens of volunteers to make the event run smoothly: OCWS.ws/AuctionVolunteerForm.Volunteer sign-ups for the competitions are already open as well. Go to OCWS.org and log in to your account, then choose competitions at the top to access the Commercial Wine Competition and/or the Home Wine Competition pages. Each competition has its own volunteer form for you to complete. Remember, the earlier you sign up, the better choices you will have. Call to PromoteAnd there are even more opportunities when it comes to wineries. Help us promote the OC Fair Wine Competition by dropping off a brochure at your favorite winery or emailing your wine clubs. Email this link to your favorite California wineries: OCWS.ws/OCWineCompMessage.If you have already volunteered at some point this year, you have my heartfelt gratitude for keeping our organization humming along. Our volunteers are truly our greatest asset.Call to ShareAs we approach our 50th anniversary next year, I also invite you to share your memories of the organization and share your ideas on events and souvenirs to help us commemorate this milestone. 2 OCWS.org April 20252024-25 Board of Directors Carolyn ChristianPresidentCarolyn@OCWS.orgFran GitshamVice PresidentFran@OCWS.orgRich SkoczylasSecretaryRich@OCWS.orgFred HeineckeTreasurerFred@OCWS.orgSue EnglandDirectorSue@OCWS.orgLinda FleminsDirectorLinda@OCWS.orgDaniel VlahovicDirectorDaniel@OCWS.orgCL KeedyDirectorCLKeedy@ocws.orgPresident’s Message By Carolyn ChristianJohn LaneDirectorJohn@OCWS.orgIt seems like just yesterday we were wrapping up The Courtyard at the OC Fair and hosting holiday events in December, but here we are in April, getting ready for another Wine Auction, OC Fair Wine Competitions (Commercial and Home) and the fair. see PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, page 3
April 2025 OCWS.org 3New Members CORNERThe Orange County Wine Society extends a warm welcome to its newest members! Member-ships for the following members were approved by the Board of Directors at the March meeting: Laurence Abelon, John Hatch and Linda Rodriquez, Noreen Kelly and Sarah Kelly-Kilgore, Angelina Lopez, Diana Lugo and Vanessa Silvan.As of March 1, the OCWS has 1,019 members. For new members logging on to their account for the rst time, log on to our website, OCWS.org. Your default login is the primary member’s email ad-dress. The default password is the primary member’s zip code. Both may be changed under the ‘My Account’ tab, once you log on. If you joined us online, then you will have created your password. There may only be one login/password per membership.—Rochelle Randel, OCWS Business AdministratorThe Wine PressStaff BoxThe Wine Press is the ofcial 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 ChristianAlice PolserRochelle RandelEd ReyesWebsite AdministratorWendy TaylorOCWS PhotographerJim BurkCopyright (c)2025 Orange County Wine Society, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.The Orange County Wine Society is a non-prot 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: Ofce@OCWS.org 2024 Wine Competition Results:WineCompetition.comNew OCWS members are invited to a New Member Mixer 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 27. At this free Orange County Wine Society event, new members can meet other new members and the Board of Directors as well as learn more about the many events OCWS has to offer.This event is restricted to new mem-bers who joined on or after May 1, 2023, and who have not previously attended a new member mixer. To sign up, go to OCWS.org, log on to your OCWS account, and look for the New Member Mixer under Events. The deadline for reservations is Friday, April 18. The exact location will be emailed three to ve days prior to the event.The attire is casual (event will be outdoors, weather permitting). Wine, water and light appetizers will be served. This is an invita-tion-only event.If you have never logged on to your OCWS account, your user-name is the email of the primary member on your account and your password is your zip code. You will be prompted to change your password the rst time you log in. If you have issues accessing your account, please contact the OCWS ofce staff at (714) 708-1636 for assistance.Hope to see you there!—Daniel Vlahovic, New Member Mixer ChairNew Member MIXERFree event open to new OCWS membersUse this link to share your ideas: OCWS.ws/50th.For new members, I encourage you to sign up for the OCWS Friends Program to pair you with one of our seasoned members who can introduce you to others and show you the ropes. And if you joined after Jan. 1, 2024, and haven’t attended a New Member Mixer, don’t forget to sign up for the upcoming mixer on April 27.I am truly lucky to lead this organization of over 1,000 members (one of the largest wine enthusiast groups in the nation). I look forward to seeing you at one of our future events. Please stop by and say hello. Cheers to you all!PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE, from page 2
Winery Program4 OCWS.org April 2025Russian RiverVineyards6:30 p.m.Friday, April 25, 2025Hilton Hotel3050 Bristol St.Costa Mesa, CASign-Up Deadline:Sunday, April 20Russian River Vineyards wine-maker Giovanni “Gio” Balistreri will be our featured speaker. He comes from four generations of farmers, and he would not have it any other way. Gio is a farmer, rst and foremost.To produce great wine, Gio believes that you must rst pro-duce excellent fruit. It is the es-sential character and avor of that fruit, when it is harvested, that will determine its potential to become a superior wine. There is no shortcut. You must be there and manage the crop at every step. The Russian River Valley is one of the world’s greatest winemak-ing regions where true devotees of great wine are familiar with the magic of this valley. So, just over a decade ago, he set out to make the most of an incredible environment to make great wine. The Russian River area enjoys warm summer days that are important for sug-ar production in grapes and cool night temperatures to preserve the acidity in the grapes. This pro-vides a combination to achieve and maintain the delicate balance of sugar and acid. These attributes, combined with rich and diverse soil conditions, make the Russian River Valley a winemaker’s dream for Gio to work his magic.—Rich Skoczylas, Winery Program CoordinatorMenuMenuEntree Options:• Grilled free range chicken breast, charred pepper and goat cheese puree, served with chef’s choice of starch and vegetables• Seared salmon with lemongrass vinaigrette, served with chef’s choice of starch and vegetables• Cremini and portobello ravioli with tomato cont, fresh grilled aspara-gus and Madeira cream sauce• Dessert is chocolate mousse cake$62 members, $67 guestsThe evening begins with a sit-down plated dinner served promptly at 6:30 p.m. Arriving before this time will make it easier for you to nd a seat. Be sure to pick up your meal ticket when you check in to show the waiter your entrée selection. Meals are ordered in advance and cannot be changed at the event. Please se-lect your meal carefully, and be sure to wear your name tag to this tasting. After dinner, we will have a short presentation about upcoming events.Members may bring their own wine to enjoy and share during din-ner. Please drink responsibly.Because we contract each meal with the hotel that you selected, the last day to sign up, change your entrée or cancel and receive a refund is noon Sunday, April 20.Sign-UpsSign-UpsSign up on the OCWS website to attend this event. Attendees will self-park in the hotel garage. Bring your parking ticket to the event. Instructions will be provided for validating free parking.Volunteers NeededVolunteers NeededVolunteers are needed. If you are able to help, please indicate when you sign up to attend this event: • Help to place agendas on tables• Help with check-in from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.• Help pour wine for the tasting
April 2025 OCWS.org 5 Winery ProgramHave you ever heard of a small award-winning winery in San Benito County named WildEye Winery? Maybe not, but you will have a chance to taste their excel-lent wines this May.Winemaker Mike Berntsen hand-tends grapes for 10 months, where they grow in full sunlight and are picked gently to retain quality before being delivered to the winery. He grows and partners with growers to source high-qual-ity fruit to be crushed gently and fermented in small fermenters. Both American or French oak bar-rels, or stainless-steel tanks are used. Wines are aged from four to 24 months. It could take up to three years before selected wines are bottled allowing these wines time to evolve.Mike is also one of our judges in the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition.WildEye wines are elegant and fruit forward to showcase the vineyard. This produces ripe, fresh fruit avors and mouthwatering nishes.—Rich Skoczylas, Winery Program CoordinatorMenuMenuEntree Options:• Grilled chicken with roasted corn and poblano salsa, served with chef’s choice starch and vegeta-bles• Grilled salmon, shiitake mush-rooms and asparagus hash, fresh grilled lemon, served with chef’s choice starch and vegetables• Vegetarian—Stuffed quinoa pep-per on arugula, heirloom tomato, broccolini and porcini mushroom ragu• Dessert is caramel an$62 members, $67 guestsEach attendee must pick up a menu card with their name to show your server the entree selected.Dinner begins promptly at 6:30 p.m. Arriving before this time will make it easier for you to nd a seat. After dinner, we will have a short presentation about upcoming events. A meal ticket will be at the check-in table for you to show the waiter your entrée. Be sure to pick up your meal ticket when you check in. Meals are ordered in advance and cannot be changed at the event. Please select your meal carefully, and be sure to wear your name tag.Members may bring their own wine to enjoy and share during din-ner. Please drink responsibly.Because we contract each meal that you selected with the hotel, the last day to sign up, change your entrée, or cancel and receive a refund is Sunday, May 4.Sign-UpsSign-UpsSign up on the OCWS website to attend this event. Attendees will self-park in the hotel garage. Bring your parking ticket to the event. Instructions will be provided for validating free parking.Volunteers NeededVolunteers NeededVolunteers are needed. If you are able to help, please indicate when you sign up to attend this event. • Help place agendas on tables• Help with check-in from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.• Help pour wine for the tastingWildEye Winery6:30 p.m.Friday, May 9, 2025Hilton Hotel3050 Bristol St.Costa Mesa, CASign-Up Deadline:Sunday, May 4
6 OCWS.org April 2025Wine AuctionCan you believe it? The 2025 OCWS Wine Auction is just around the corner. Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 19 at the OC Fair & Event Center in the Hun-tington Beach Building (next to The Courtyard) for this exclusive mem-bers-only event.The auction is a beloved OCWS tradition that serves two major purpos-es: clearing out last year’s competition wines to make room for this year’s wines and supporting the educational programs that are part of our mission. Even better, it’s a fantastic opportunity for members to stock up on premium California wines at a fraction of retail prices.Whether you’re looking to score fantastic deals on California wines, enjoy an afternoon with fellow OCWS members or support the next generation of winemakers and chefs, the OCWS auction is the place to be.Why attend the Wine Auction?This annual event is one of the best ways to enjoy an afternoon with OCWS friends, savor great food and wine and ll your personal cellar with incredible deals. It also happens to be our second-largest fundraiser of the year—right behind The Courtyard at the OC Fair.As a 501(c)(3) nonprot organi-zation, OCWS is dedicated to wine education. We achieve this through a variety of initiatives, including:1. Wine tasting and seminars at the Orange County Fair2. Winery programs3. WineCompetition.com, which highlights the winners of the OC Fair Commercial Wine CompetitionAlso, the OCWS Scholarship Program supports wine and culinary arts-related programs at eight Cali-fornia colleges and universities. To date, we have donated over $940,000, and our goal is to reach $1 million by 2026 – our 50th anniversary.Great deals around the corner at annual member-only wine auction By Carolyn Christian,OCWS President “ You’ll enjoy wine, food, camaraderie and the chance to bring home incredible wine. ”see AUCTION, page 7
April 2025 OCWS.org 7Wine Auction• Over 900 Silent Auction Lots – Ar-ranged in order on tables spanning the venue.• Over 100 Verbal Auction Lots – Auc-tioned off randomly by our professional auctioneer.• Wine Lots – Each auction lot includes four bottles of high-quality California wine, carefully selected by our past and present Cellarmasters and their team of dedicated volunteers.• NEW THIS YEAR – Exclusive winery experiences will be available for bidding, including winery tours and tastings, private dinners and collect-ibles.• Printed & Digital Auction Catalogs – Available to attendees a few weeks before the event.• Mystery Wine Lots – Get incredible deals on surprise selections. Pre-order at the beginning of the event to guarantee you’ll go home with one or more lots.• Gourmet Food & Wine – Enjoy ap-petizers, entrées and desserts through-out the event (included in the price of admission).For the top 30 bidders at the 2024 Auction (those who spent $1,000 or more), exclusive VIP perks will in-clude:• Early VIP check-in• VIP lounge with wine and snacks• Personalized wine service at the ver-bal auction• A special gift bag• Dedicated concierge service and checkoutWhat to Expect at the 2025 Wine AuctionNumber of Wine LotsAvailableVIPExperienceFor just $30 per person, you’ll enjoy wine, food, camaraderie and the chance to bring home incredible wines. Want to be even more involved? Consider volunteering for part of the event.Remember: This is a member-only event – no guests.Join us for another unforgettable OCWS tradition, where we continue to pair wine education with fun. See you there!Last-MinuteReminders• Doors Open at 11 a.m. – Bidding starts immediately• Silent Auction – Bidding will be open between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., with bid sheets being pulled at random through-out the day• Verbal Auction – Our professional auctioneer will facilitate the bidding throughout the day during the schedule sessions listed in the catalog and posted on the wall. • Checkout – The checkout process will begin as close to 5 p.m. as possible and will conclude when all wines have been paid for and picked up. PLEASE NOTE: No early checkout is available. Please plan to stay at the auction until it closes at 6 p.m.Schedule of EventsAUCTION, from page 6
8 OCWS.org April 2025The CourtyardApril has arrived and sign-ups are about to begin for The Courtyard at the OC Fair. Volunteering is an exciting and fun opportunity to meet members, learn about different wines and enjoy the OC Fair. The fair runs Wednesdays through Sundays, July 18 and ending Aug. 17.Sign-ups for The Courtyard will be opened in phases. All volunteers are required to sign up for a minimum of four shifts. We will do our best to ensure you are assigned the shifts that you select. Should one or more of your selected shifts be lled, we will ask you to select another to have the minimum four. The 23 days of the fair have ve daily shifts, Wednesdays through Sun-day. Note that The Courtyard closes each night one hour before the fair closes. The times of the shifts are: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 1 to 4 p.m.; 4 to 8 p.m.; 8 to 10:30 p.m. (Wednesday, Thursday) or 8 to 11:30 p.m. (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Express Bar: 5 to 9 p.m. e Courtyard sign-ups set to begin this monthIt is once again fair time. The Orange County Fair is set to run July 18 through Aug. 17 and is our organization’s largest fundraiser of the year. This year’s theme is “Find Your Happy.”Not only does The Courtyard provide operating revenue for OCWS, it is the face of our organization to the fairgoers (1.13 million in 2024)! The fair also is the place where many new OCWS mem-bers join each year. When The Courtyard visitors see how much fun the OCWS is, they often join on the spot.Rich Skoczylas is again coordinating the volunteer sign-ups. Invitations for managers, stewards and cashiers will be sent via email in April. Server sign-ups will be available on the OCWS website May 1. Volunteers must sign up for a minimum of four shifts.Leslie Hodowanec is the set-up/tear-down crew chair and will announce the dates as the fair opening approaches. This summer, the fair is requiring everyone who works at The Courtyard to complete the Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) training that the Califor-nia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) requires for alcoholic beverage service. This is an online training class fol-lowed by a test and certication is good for three years (see page 9). Sue England (sue@OCWS.org) and Linda Flemins are coordinating the RBS training and certication.It looks like The Courtyard will have a summer run much like last year. We are planning on serving varietal wines by the glass, tastes of the award-winning wines and having the Express Bar. The fun and very popular Featured Winery Program hosted by Liz and Lloyd Corbett (that brought in more than $24,000 in schol-arship donations in 2024) will be back. What to know about Courtyard volunteeringsee THE COURTYARD, page 9—Rich Skoczylas, The Courtyard SchedulerEnsure that your address (OCWS website, My Prole) we have on le is correct to receive courtyard infor-mation and fair credentials.A Responsible Beverage Server (RBS) Certication is required to sign up and work at The Courtyard.Sign-ups will be on the OCWS website.Manager sign-ups will open April 1.Cashier and steward sign-ups open April 15.Server sign-ups open May 1.ALL sign-ups open at 8 a.m. on these dates.The Courtyard sign-ups close May 30.Conrmation of assigned shifts will be sent in late June or early July.8 Things to know about SIGN-UPS42318567
April 2025 OCWS.org 9The CourtyardThe OC Fair is just around the corner. The largest OCWS fundraising effort of the year will be taking place for a total of 23 days, Wednesdays through Sundays, July 18 through Aug. 17. 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) certied through the ABC (Alcohol Beverage Commission) pursuant to fair requirements. It is highly recommended that new members obtain certication sooner than later to be ready when sign-ups open. All OCWS volunteers who are managers, stewards and servers need to be certied. Cashiers do not need to be certied; however, getting RBS certied offers more opportunities to volunteer for different positions. Thank you for your volunteer efforts. You are what makes OCWS the great success it is. If you obtained your RBS certication in 2022, you will have to renew your certicate this year. ABC will send you a renewal certication 60 days from your expiration date. Please email Sue@OCWS.org for more information once you receive your notication from ABC.How do I get started? Check out our tips below! —Linda Flemins and Sue England, OCWS DirectorsOC FAIRRBS Certication renewals required to volunteerOnce you have sent your request for certication to Sue England, she will sign you up for the course through Premiere. You will receive an email with your username and password and a link to the online course. The course is self-paced and you can complete one lesson at a time or all at once. The online course is followed by an online exam with ABC. Once you are RBS certied 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 certied this year.EMAIL USInstructions 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 OCWS has selected.3. Take a nal quiz with ABC online and obtain the RBS certicate, which is valid for three years.3-STEP PROCESSEach OCWS member will need a valid individual email address that will be used to set up an account. Your own individual email address will be your username for the online system. PLEASE NOTEThe ever popular, often-sold-out wine seminars also will return.Don’t forget the added benets of working shifts over the four-week run. Your credentials will give you access to the fair any day it is open (even sold-out days; last year there were nine) and your parking pass also is valid any day. The big plus is that the wine tickets equate to two glasses of varietal wine or eight tastes of award winners per shift worked. You can pour the two glasses into a Govino glass and head to a show. The fair website lists the concert events at both The Hangar and the Pacic Amphi-theatre. If you haven’t volunteered for The Courtyard in a while, consider returning this for some of that summer fun and happy time. If you are new to The Court-yard, come on down.—Fred Heinecke, The Courtyard Committee ChairTHE COURTYARD, from page 8
The OCWS Varietal Hours con-tinue with new themes and new attendees.If you haven’t joined our Varietal Hours by now, here is your chance. As we continue into 2025, we have excit-ing new themes and are experiencing new members joining us.And the best thing? They are FREE. What started as a way of gathering during the COVID quarantines has blossomed into quality time with friends, both old and new. The things we have learned and been taught by this group are priceless.Here is our challenge to all of you: If you haven’t already attended one of these Varietal Hours, please attend one. Yes, just one. We promise you four things. 1) You will have fun. 2) You might just learn something, OR you might teach us something! 3) You won’t regret spending that hour of your life. 4) And you won’t even have to drive home.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 every-one’s mess. We’re always happy to have new members join the fun and meet some people who enjoy wine.Each event has a theme, but we never “kick anyone off the island,” so it doesn’t matter if you follow the theme. Part of the fun is nding a wine to t the theme. The setting 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, Varietal Hours has something Hooray for Tuesdays! New Year, More Funfor everyone. Varietal Hours will be held every other Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m.All you need is a computer (or phone) and internet connection. If you are new to Varietal Hours or to Zoom, please feel free to contact Don Phillips at studiodon1@gmail.com for help and information, even if it means contact-ing him days before the event, and he 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 members, but sign-ups are required. Please log on to the OCWS website to register for the event no later than 7 p.m. (24 hours before), the Monday 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 at the above email 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,OCWS Varietal Hours ChairAPRIL 1TIME:7 p.m.VARIETAL:Temecula Valley WineHO ST:Lee & Cathy PainterAPRIL 15TIME:7 p.m.VARIETAL:Willamette Valley WineHO ST:Don PhillipsAPRIL 29TIME:7 p.m.VARIETAL:Wines from the Middle EastHO ST:Stewart Fricke10 OCWS.org April 2025EventsVarietal HOURS
EventsSpring SOCIALApril 2025 OCWS.org 11Spring is almost here and so is our Spring Social – Vines in Bloom! The wine will be owing on Sat-urday, May 10 at The Courtyard at the OC Fairgrounds. Come join us 3 to 8 p.m. and celebrate with a fun afternoon of food, wine, music and friends. This event is not only fun but also crucial for supporting our Scholar-ship Program. Attendees can choose from several fundraising options, with all proceeds going to the fund. Our Wine Wall offers mystery bottles for $20 (cash only), and we encourage members to donate bottles valued at $20 or more.The committee has prepared themed gift baskets for our Silent Auction. Winning bids can be paid with cash, check or credit card. Table centerpieces also will be available; see Betty Jo Newell for details.There will also be prizes for the best outt. Since we’ll be celebrating the owering of spring, have fun with the theme and arrive in your smart-est attire. Take inspiration from the previous week’s Kentucky Derby, echoing the vibrant and stylish fash-ion on parade.Here are some ideas:For Women: Large, elaborate hats adorned with owers, feathers or ribbons. Spring dresses in bright colors or oral pat-terns. Statement accessories such as large sunglasses or bold jewelry.For Men: Light colored suits or linen with a crisp shirt. Fedoras or straw hats add a touch of sophistication along with a bowtie, pocket square or colorful tie.Buffet:Cooks Caucus will prepare a delicious buffetEntertainment:DJ Henry "Streak" MartinezBest Look Contest:Dress in your nest owery springtime attireWine Wall:Choose a mystery bottleof wine for $20Silent Auction:Gift baskets include wine, gourmet treats, home decor, gardening and fun experiencesCenterpieces:On sale for $15 eachHIGHLIGHTSFood, Fun at Membership Event Prizes will be given in the follow-ing categories:Best Floral FrocksCouples or individual costumesBest Use of the Theme "Vines in Bloom"Best costume or hat with wine themeMost Fabulous FascinatorWomen’s hatMost Debonaire ChapeauMen’s hatAs with all our events, volun-teer help is needed to make the day successful. You will be able to sign up to help when you purchase your tickets on the OCWS website. Volun-teers will be needed for setup, sign-in, pouring wine, serving food and clean up. Looking forward to another won-derful OCWS event!—JoBeth Skaggs,Spring Social ChairThe cost is $50 for members; $55 for guests. Sign up and purchase tickets at OCWS.org.
12 OCWS.org April 2025EventsEver tasted offerings from a winery that had the highest score ever at the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition? Interested in taking a little staycation in the local mountains?OCWS members are invit-ed to attend a private tasting at Sycamore Ranch Vineyard and Winery in Crestline 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 17. Cost is $50 per person and includes a tasting of ve or six award-winning wines along with a charcuterie box to share. There are only 40 spots available and a minimum of 10 people are needed to attend this event. Transportation and lodging are not included. Signups are now available online at OCWS.org.SAVE THE DATE:OCWS OutingThe OCWS Wine-makers Group will be conducting a citrus winemaking class Saturday, April 5, at the La Habra Heights home of one of our members. You will get to pick and juice fresh oranges from trees on the property. OCWS winemak-er Kevin Donnelly will conduct a class teaching you how to turn that citrus juice into wine. We will provide the yeast, additives and instructions for you to take home, along with your fresh juice, where you will complete the winemaking process. You will also get a list of winemaking mentors to contact in case of questions.Kevin has been making wine from grapes and a variety of other fruit for many years. His citrus wines have earned numerous awards in the OC Fair Home Wine Competition includ-ing several Double Gold awards in the 2024 competition.Making wine from fruit is similar to making wine from grapes but the turnaround is much faster. With most fruit wines, you can make a batch in only a few months. is is a great way for experienced winemakers to hone their skills. For a new winemaker, it’s a great way to get some experience before making the jump to grapes. Plus, the equipment needed to make wine from citrus is the same as that needed to make wine from grapes.e citrus picking and winemaking class will last rough-ly ve hours. ere will be a short break with snacks served. Cost to attend and participate in the winemaking is $32. Participants will get the citrus juice, yeast, additives and instructions to take home to turn their juice into wine. For an extra $17, partici-pants may also bring a spouse or friend who can attend and enjoy the day. I’m sure Kevin will bring some of his award-winning citrus wines for all to enjoy. Detailed event instructions, loca-tion and parking information will be sent to attendees approximately one week prior to the event. Right aer you sign up you will get information describing the equipment you will need to have ready at home to com-plete the winemaking process.First-time winemakers, be pre-pared to spend around $140, beyond the class cost, for equipment and bottles. You will nish with about 25 bottles of citrus wine. e equipment can be used for future batches of citrus and grape wine, making them much cheaper to produce.Sign up now on the OCWS web-site. e annual OC Fair Home Wine Competition always features numer-ous fruit wine entries. Yours could be in an upcoming competition.—R—Ed Reyes, ed@OCWS.orgLearn to Make Citrus Wine at Class Open to all MembersCITRUSWinemakersCLASSSaturdayApril 5La Habra HeightsCost: $32Signups: OCWS.org
April 2025 OCWS.org 13Winemakers GroupThe 49th Annual OC Fair Home Wine Competition will be held on Saturday, June 7 at the OC Fair and Event Center. e OCWS Winemakers Group sponsors this event, which is one of the largest amateur winemaking competitions in California.We need volunteers in many areas to help make this event a success. No experience is necessary. New volun-teers will be paired with competition veterans. In return, you’ll get a hot breakfast and lunch, courtesy of our OCWS Cook’s Caucus. You’ll also get the opportunity to taste many of the award-winning wines at the end of the event. Lots of FUN will be had by all!To sign up, please go to the OCWS website OCWS.org/home-wine-com-petition/Look for the volunteer signup page under the “Members” heading.—R—Ed Reyes, ed@OCWS.orgVolunteers needed for annual Home Wine CompetitionCooking at home has always been an interest of mine. You could denitely say it’s one of my hobbies. My interest in cooking probably began a long time ago watching my mom in the kitchen. She was a good cook.I’ve never had any formal culinary training. The closest I’ve come to taking cooking classes was all the hours spent watching Emeril Lagasse, Barefoot Con-tessa and Alton Brown when the Food Network rst started up many years ago.So, I got some of their recipes and tried to copy their dishes. I had some basic cookware and kitchen tools but quickly realized I needed better equip-ment. I bought some high-quality stainless steel cookware, chef’s knives, soup and stock pots, and a good Dutch oven. If you’ve ever gotten interested in a hobby you know there are some expenses involved in getting the right equipment to pursue it.I started by making stews, soups, casseroles and sauces. I wanted to make BBQ meats (the real kind, slow-cooked for hours in a smoker) so I needed to get a smoker. This led to making my own BBQ sauces and rubs. One thing led to another and I had to get mixing bowls, accurate measuring spoons, an immer-sion blender and other assorted kitchen gadgets.My wife and I would go to restaurants and analyze the meals we ate. Then I’d come home and try to recreate them. That led to making up recipes and creat-ing my own dishes. I started experimenting and tweaking recipes to t my own tastes. I played with different cooking techniques and exper-imented to see how spices and avors work together. Then I started learning to cook ethnic dishes from different countries. So, I had to buy specialty spices, Asian sauces, curry powders and other assorted avorings. I even started growing herbs in my back yard.Then the pandemic hit. What else was there to do but to cook more. I began baking so I needed sheet pans, bakeware and wire racks. I bought a professional blender and an ice cream maker too. Thank goodness for Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table and UPS during those times.So, I bet by now you’re wondering what all this has to do with winemaking. Well, to me, my cooking and winemak-ing paths are similar.I never took any formal college or university winemaking classes. I learned from classes offered by the OCWS Winemakers Group. I talked to OCWS winemakers and was mentored by mem-bers of the group.Before making my rst batch of wine, I purchased or was gifted some basic winemaking equipment: assorted carboys, airlocks, hoses, fermenters and a hydrometer. That equipment was sufcient for my rst couple of batches, which turned out OK. But I soon realized I could do better. To make that happen, I needed to pay more attention to detail. I also needed better equipment.I bought a winemaking book (a kind of recipe book, if you will) which, to this day, I still refer to every time I make a batch of wine. I’ve adopted some of the winemaking techniques mentioned in that book. Without a doubt, it’s helped me improve my winemaking skills.I learned to use oak. It sounds simple. But there’s an art to knowing what kind of oak to use for different varietals or Cooking &Winemakingsee WINEMAKERS, page 18
14 OCWS.org April 2025Wine Wisdom1The French Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC) regulations to ensure wine quality were established in 1935. The rst wine region in the Southern Rhone valley to be designated an AOC on May 15, 1937, was:A) HermitageB) RasteauC) Chateauneuf-Du-PapeD) Gigondas2The Rhone River vineyards are divided into a Northern region that is 40 miles long and a Southern Region that is 150 miles long which are not contiguous (there is also a lesser-known Eastern region). How far apart are the two regions?A) 10 milesB) 20 milesC) 30 milesD) 40 miles3Syrah is the only red varietal that is approved for the Northern region. Although most often a single varietal wine, it can be blended with white grapes; Marsanne, Roussanne or Viognier. There is, however, one Northern Rhone AOC that by law will be 100% Syrah, which is:A) CornasB) HermitageC) Cote-RotieD) Saint Joseph4There are two AOCs in the Northern Rhone that only make white wine from the Viognier grape. One of them is Condrieu AOC. The other AOC, created in 1936, is a single vineyard of less than 10 acres. That AOC is: A) Saint-PereyB) VisanC) Chateau-GrilletD) Chusclan5There are 13 different grape varietals that are approved for Southern Rhone wines, eight red varietals and ve white varietals. Whereas, in the Northern region, Syrah is the dominant red grape, in the Southern region the dominant red grape is:A) GrenacheB) SyrahC) MourvedreD) Cinsault6The primary red grape varieties allowed for the Southern Rhone wines are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault. Which other red grape(s) are also allowed?A) Terret NoirB) VaccareseC) MuscadinD) All of the above7The Rhone Valley, also known as the Cotes du Rhone, has an AOC hierarchy which is, from top to bottom: Cotes du Rhone Crus (18), Cotes du Rhone Villages with geographical name (22), and Cotes du Rhone Villages (95). Of the 18 Crus, how many are in the Southern region?A) 8B) 9C) 10D) 11Hi-Yo, Syrah, Away!The Rhone Rangers, a hearty group of “unmasked” West Coast winemakers and wine growers focusing their efforts on Rhone varietals, was formed in the early 1980s. Their goal is to promote the Rhone varietals grown in the U.S. and educate the wine drinking public on the enjoyment of drinking these wines. The American-grown Rhone clones are from grape varietals that have been grown for centuries in France’s Rhone River Valley. Let’s test your knowledge of the Rhone Valley, their grapes and wine.TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
April 2025 OCWS.org 15Wine WisdomTEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE8While we saw that there are white wine-only vineyards in the Northern Rhone, there are also white wine only vineyards in the Southern Rhone. Both AOC Clairette de Bellegarde and AOC Clairette De Die use the Clairette grape. However, one of these AOCs makes a sparkling wine using Methode Ancestrale. Which one?A) Clairette De DieB) Clairette de Bellegarde(Note: Saint-Peray in Northern Rhone also makes a sparkling wine from a Roussanne/Marsanne blend using the Traditional Method)9While the majority of Southern Rhone vineyards make red, white and some rose wine, a large number make only red wine. There is one Southern AOC that makes only rose with Grenache Noir as its basis (Cinsault, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Mourvedre, Picpoul and Syrah are allowed), which is: A) LiracB) VacqueyrasC) TavelD) Cairanne10The Rasteau and Beaumes-de-Venise AOCs both make unique Southern Rhone wines. One uses 50– to 80-year-old Grenache Noir vines while the other Muscat a Petits Grains. What kind of wine are they both making?A) Dry, low alcoholB) VeganC) Fortied, sweetD) Organic, orangeBONUS QUESTION:What was the Lone Ranger’s horse’s name?A) ChampionB) TriggerC) SilverD) TopperAnswers: 1) C; 2) D; 3) A; 4) C; 5) A; 6) D; 7) C; 8) A; 9) C; 10) C; Bonus C; (Champion = Gene Autry; Trigger = Roy Rogers; Topper = Hopalong Cassidy)There is so much more to learn about the Rhone Valley and their grapes and wines. So, hop on your horse and with a hearty hi-yo, away, get a bottle to open and enjoy. Cheers!—CL Keedy,Wine Education CommitteeWhen you are attending OCWS functions, look for the white ribbons on the name tags. The white ribbon will be on the mem-ber’s name tags if they joined OCWS within the last few months. We are using the white ribbon to make it easier for all members to know who is newer. For each event, we will match the attendees to the membership roster and identify new members. During check in, these members will be given the white ribbon to adhere to their name tag. The ribbons are easily re-moved and will not damage the name tag,When you identify a new member by the white ribbon, please take the opportu-nity to say hi! So often we want to reach out and welcome new members, but we don’t know who they are. This gives us an easy way to identify and welcome them.It is always fun to nd out why people are interested in our organization. Are they home winemakers? Have they traveled many places and tasted wines? Do they have a favorite California wine-maker? Does that winemaker enter our Wine Competition? Did they join during the OC Fair because we all looked like we enjoyed serving? Or, do they just like to drink wine? Our new members are so varied and interesting. What a wonderful time to learn about them.Are you a new member looking for other new members? The white ribbons make it easier for to identify them and form new friendships.So look for the white ribbons and introduce yourself! —Alice Polser, Membership Member LiaisonKeep an eye out for the White Ribbon
16 OCWS.org April 2025NewsMini-Tasting RESULTSLast month’s Mini-Tasting was designed to pit similar wines from France and Italy head to head to see if there was a clear preference of one country over the other. As the table below shows, the results were inconclusive from a total preference; however, when matched up 1A versus 1B, 2A versus 2B, etc., the Italian wine won four of the ve matchups, with only the French Champagne outscoring the Italian Franciacorta by a wide margin. What the results did show was a clear preference for the red blends as the two outscored the combined total of the other eight wines. In fact, seven of the eight sites selected either 4A or 4B as their highest ranked wine with ve of the eight sites selecting 4A or 4B as the second highest ranked. The night's winner, Tenuta San Jacopo, Orma del Diavolo, from Tuscany, is made up of 50% Sangiovese, 30% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is in contrast to our second highest rated wine from Bordeaux, France, Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion, 2016, which is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. For this event, a total of 120 members participated across eight host sites. Hopefully, everyone enjoyed an evening with wines from some of the most famous regions in the world. For our next Mini-Tasting on June 28, our expert judges will be comparing wines from the California Coast against wines produced using Inland wineries.—Don Mayer, Mini-Tasting Chair Congratulations to our many chefs whose culinary prowess stood out during our March 1 Mini-Tasting. Each dish was recognized by a group of peers who voted for the best dish of the night. The results at each host site are:Chefs: Steven and Aimee HalliganDish: Minestrone SoupChefs: Dirk Heckel and Stephanie BurtinDish: Verrine Avocado & PrawnsChef: Judy DescardinsDish: MacaroonsChef: Jim BurkDish: Beef BourguignonChef: March Ott Dish: Stuffed Shells (Spinach and Mushroom) Chef: Tricia SheltonDish: Salmon Cream Cheese DipChef: Janet PealDish: Shrimp & Artichoke CasseroleChef: Rochelle RandalDish: Chicken PiccataCongratulations to all the win-ners and a big thank you to the Mini-Tasting hosts! You can look for recipes posted at OCWS.org.—Don Mayer, Mini-Tasting Chair Chefs of the EVENINGItalian wine favored over French varietals—slightly
April 2025 OCWS.org 17NewsIt’s hard to believe it’s time for volunteer signups for the 49th OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition.We have signups online this month, same as in previous years. The Commercial Wine Competition is May 31 and June 1 at the Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa.We try to be exible and ask the same of our volunteers. We can work together to make this another fun event. There are many areas where volunteer help is needed including stewarding, glass washing, drying and bagging a few days before the event. Continuing the efciency, the computer room, scoring verication and medals mailing will be assigned. A sign-up form is included on the website that identies stewarding days, bagging nights and other work parties with times and dates.To qualify for stewarding, you are required to sign up for two additional work parties. We offer bagging, moving of wine to and from the competition site and sorting post competition. We need your support for our work parties to run a successful competition. The good news is that we have hired help for heavy lifting. No training is necessary as newer members will be teamed with competition veterans. Carrying trays of glasses is required if you volunteer to steward. It’s physical and can get tiring.Along with stewarding, you need to be prepared to assist your steward captain by opening wine bottles at the required time, preparing glasses for tags and cleaning up the judges’ tables as needed, while listening to your captain for direction. We are expecting to have carts this year, more than we had last year, as we found this increased our effectiveness greatly. It is imperative that the wines are NOT opened rst thing in the morning as has happened in the past. We have been asked to have as much consistency in timing for the opening of the wines per ight, so all are opened as close to the same time as possible. If you have any questions, please feel free to phone me at (562) 822-3382 or email strompharms@earthlink.net.—Robyn Strom, Volunteer CoordinatorVolunteers needed before, during annual eventCommercial Wine COMPETITIONOne of the organizational values and goals of the Orange County Wine Society is to provide quality wine education and experiences to its members without marking up the pricing of events to make a “prot” off its members. As a nonprot organization, we work hard to fulll our mission of supporting wine education for our members, the public and the future generation of winemakers. In the spirit of being transparent, we wanted to share the recent challenges for our organization with regard to expenses.OCWS was able to weather the recent pandemic through a variety of strategies including cutting back on costs and moving programming online. We survived what was a difcult period for many nonprots. Coming out of the pandemic, several factors have led to substantial increases in the cost of doing business, especially:• Increase in food pricing. All of our venues have increased the cost of food and minimums required to secure the facility. Tax and gratuity have increased since they are a percentage of the food cost. One of our venues increased an incredible 72%, causing us to look for other venues to hold events.• Increase in venue prices. Even if we are able to provide the food and/or wine for an event, the actual venue costs have increased substantially.• Increase in insurance costs. As with all insurance, our alcohol liability insurance costs have skyrocketed. Our insurance carrier now charges for a per-event policy as opposed to our previous annual coverage. This has resulted in an increase of nearly 100%. We are continuing to search for annual coverage at a more reasonable rate. • Increase in labor costs. With the aging of our membership, we have had to rely on paying young adults to help with the physically demanding task of moving wine and equipment.• Increase in technology upgrade costs. Over the past few years, we have had to invest in the upgrading of our website and software to maintain a secure website and services for our members.We are sharing this information with our membership so that there is a clear understanding of the cost increase in dues and events. Please know that the Board of Directors is doing everything in its power to control costs and minimize cost increases for our members. All events are set up to break even, except for The Courtyard and Wine Auction, our two biggest fundraising events during the year.We appreciate your support as we manage the organization through scally challenging times and remain committed to the organization’s mission.—Carolyn Christian, OCWS PresidentFee increases to cover cost of doing OCWS business
News18 OCWS.org April 2025Committee in search of newslettersThe 50th Anniversary Committee is busy preparing for the big event next year. Currently we have copies of 30 years of our monthly newsletter The Wine Press, and we are hoping to get copies of all 49 years. If you have any of the dates, we would like to scan your copies to add to our archives.If you have any of the issues listed below of The Wine Press, or any of the Free Run newsletter that OCWS used to produce for the OC Fair, please contact Carolyn Christian at carolyn@OCWS.org to arrange a time to scan your newsletters. Thank you!—OCWS 50th Anniversary Committee50th ANNIVERSARYWINEMAKERS, from page 13Once inside, there’s a wall adorned with numerous ribbons and plaques from the California State, Los Angeles and Orange County fairs honoring McCormick Win-ery and Cellars for its wines in the respec-tive home wine competitions.In order to meet the demand of his winemaking, Richard built a 400-bottle cellar in 2002. e bottles, both com-mercial and homemade, are tagged for easy reference. Another room is used for bottling and storage.“His rst ribbon was a silver for a Pinot Noir,” Michael said of his dad. “It just grew from there.”Added mom, Robin: “I learned more about wine than I wanted to.”Richard also was very meticulous, probably in part due to his mechanical en-gineering background. “Every single thing he did, he wrote it down,” Robin said. His binders can still be found in cabinets around the house that chronicle the winemaking process and the adjust-ments. Blending probably was Richard’s favorite because he enjoyed the aspects of chemistry that would result in a great tasting wine.Aer Richard died, there was plenty of wine that needed to be bottled. at’s when the Home Winemakers group rallied and helped out.“Wine requires a lot of attention,” Michael said. “It’s a big (OCWS home wine) community. ey rallied around our family. ey were godsends.”Much like his dad, Michael has caught the winemaking bug. Production averages 20 to 25 cases a year making both white and red wines that he hopes can someday be as good as his dad’s. Praising his dad’s winemaking skill, Michael said, “Dad made amazing Pinot Noir; he was well known for it.”Despite the amount of energy to make wine, Michael is proud to follow in his father’s footsteps.“It’s not only about the enjoyment of drinking something you made and hitting your tongue for the rst time,” he said. “It’s about sharing it with other winemakers and getting their input. It’s denitely fun to make something and seeing how it turns out.”McCORMICK, from page 1how long it should be in contact with the wine. Just like in cooking, it takes experience to know what spices to use in a dish or what kind of wood to use when smoking certain meats.I purchased testing equipment and a gram scale so I could pay closer atten-tion to the chemistry factors that affect a wine’s taste. It also helped me determine just the right amount of acid needed to keep the wine in balance. I bought wine ltering equipment and learned clarifying techniques so my wines look better now. Just like with cooking, if I wanted to be a better winemaker, I needed to spend the money to get better equipment. I only bought one or two winemaking items each year so it didn’t break my budget.Would it be easier to just go to the store and buy wine? Undoubtedly. But I enjoy the learning and creativity involved in winemaking. So besides producing a great wine, one of my goals is to improve my winemaking skills or learn some-thing new with each batch I make.If you are interested in winemaking, you can start with some basic equip-ment like I did. Try it for a while, make a batch or two. Start off slow and see if you enjoy it. But if you’re bitten by the winemaking bug, you’ll need to spend several hundred dollars for the equip-ment to make better wine, just like with any other hobby.This month, the Winemakers Group will offer a new opportunity to all OCWS members. Kevin Donnelly, will teach you how to make wine from fresh citrus juice. Yes, you can make excellent wine from fruit other than grapes. Mak-ing wine from fruit is similar to making wine from grapes. If you ever wanted to learn how to make wine, this is your op-portunity. See the article in this month’s newsletter for class details.—R—Ed Reyes, ed@OCWS.org
Photo of the MonthApril 2025 OCWS.org 19The 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 up-coming newsletter as well as on the OCWS website. The winner also will receive a bottle of wine from the OCWS wine cellar. If you have any questions, email Photo@OCWS.org. THE 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 somehow wine oriented. It may be of a winery, vineyard, the winemak-ing 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 anytime but will be considered only for the month it was submitted. There is a limit of ve (5) submissions per month. Upon submission, rights to the photo are given to the OCWS for marketing purposes, so before you submit it make sure it is your property. Please get permission from any people in the photo.The photo must be submitted in one of the following formats: JPEG, RAW, TIFF or Photo-shop. Any size is acceptable, 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 insucient entries are en-tered 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. Photos are due by the last day of the month to be considered for that month’s winner. 1245Calling all OCWS photographersGOBS OF GRAPESThis month’s Photo Contest winner is Damian Christian for his shot of the fer-menting tanks at the David Coffaro Winery in the Dry Creek region in Sonoma County.36
2025UPCOMINGEVENTS20 OCWS.org April 2025MAY 17OCWS OUTINGSycamore Ranch / CrestlineJune 7HOME WINE COMPETITIONOC Fair & Event Center / Costa MesaApril 27NEW MEMBER MIXERLocation TBAApril 25WINERY PROGRAM / RUSSIAN RIVER VINEYARDS / Hilton Hotel / Costa MesaApril 5CITRUS WINEMAKING CLASSLa Habra HeightsMay 9WINERY PROGRAM / WILDEYE WINERYHilton Hotel / Costa MesaApril 15VARIETAL HOURS / WILLAMETTE VALLEY WINEVia ZoomMay 10SPRING SOCIAL OC Fair & Event Center / Costa MesaApril 1VARIETAL HOURS / TEMECULA VALLEY WINEVia ZoomApril 19OCWS WINE AUCTIONOC Fair & Event Center / Costa MesaMay 31-June 1COMMERCIAL WINE COMPETITIONHilton Hotel / Costa MesaApril 22TRIVIA NIGHTWine Lab / Costa Mesa