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TThe he WWine ine PPressressVolume 49, Issue 7 OCWS.org July 2025CALENDARpage 17FROM CAROLYNpage 2THE COURTYARDpage 4VARIETAL HOURS page 8Wine seminars are a big part of The Courtyard experience at the OC Fair. They help fulll the OCWS mission of wine education.Larry Graham, OCWS historian and longtime chairman of The Courtyard, said the rst seminars were held in 2000. Early seminars were pretty basic then. Most fo-cused on a single varietal such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay, or on a style of wine such as Rhone. Some were simply about red or white wines.Then around 2002, Graham, then-OCWS president, asked member Carol Frank to conduct a food and wine pairing seminar at the fair. She changed it to “Cheese and Wine Pairing” as she thought people could relate better to that. She still gives that seminar, one of the longest-running seminars in the lineup.Another longtime seminar in the mix is WINE SEMINARSSee SEMINARS, page 15Kevin Coy and other OCWS members host seminars for fairgoers.at the 2025 OC Fair— By Ed Reyes — Message
July is a signicant month for the OCWS. We begin the process of transforming The Courtyard at the OC Fair into the OCWS oasis for fairgoers to experience California wines—by the taste and the glass, and learning experiences like wine seminars.It is the climax of our major events for the year and our main member recruitment mechanism. On the heels of the OC Fair Commercial and Home Wine competitions, our organization prepares for the public presentation of months of preparation. It is part of our wine journey that makes us who we are.The Courtyard at OC FairIf you are not signed up to work at the OC Fair, I invite you to support OCWS efforts as a customer, enjoying the wines we serve and supporting the Scholarship Fund. Invite your friends and family and attend the Featured Winery Program.If you are signed up to work The Courtyard this year, I thank you in advance, for you are the lifeblood of this organization. Without volunteers covering the hundreds of shifts at our booth, we would not be the organization we are today. Supporting WineriesIn addition to The Courtyard, there are other ways to support the OCWS. With the results of the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition now available, I encourage you to support the wineries who entered their wines. Our results website, WineCompetition.com, allows you to search by varietal, wine region, winery, award level and more. Choosing one of these wines for your next purchase further cements our role in providing much-needed income, particularly for the many boutique and limited-production wineries that enter our competition. Use our website to help determine which wineries you wish to visit on your next trip to wine country. Make sure you congratulate wineries on their OC Fair medals during your visit.Also, share the WineCompetition.com website with friends and family who ask for wine recommendations!For those who enjoy spending time on “the socials,” take a moment to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn— @ocwinesociety. Like our posts and make positive comments on the winery posts from our competition entrants. They have much to celebrate with their awards. Your interaction means more people will notice the amazing award-winning wines entered into our competition each year. More exposure of wineries means more entrants next year. While other wine competitions are struggling during the wine market downturn, we have remained stable this year, thanks to the great support of our members.Thank YousThere are so many people I wish to thank and too many to list here. From those in leadership positions to committee volunteers to event volunteers… you are all an integral part of this organization. Please take a moment to read the wrap-up articles on our events in this newsletter and join me in thanking everyone who helped make our events a success throughout the year.Election TimeWe have an election for board members this fall. I encourage those of you who have ever considered getting more involved to throw your hat in the ring. Serving on the board does require a time commitment, but it is a very rewarding experience to be part of the leadership of this organization. Greg Hagadorn’s article in this issue will provide more details on the process. We are so fortunate to have over 1,000 members who help us run so many successful wine events. I am proud of our members and their contributions to the organization, whether large or small. It all makes a difference. As we approach our 50th anniversary next year, we have much to be thankful for, as we continue on our individual and collective wine journeys. Cheers to you all!2 OCWS.org July 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.org
July 2025 OCWS.org 3New Members CORNERThe Orange County Wine Soci-ety extends a warm welcome to its newest members. Memberships for the following were approved by the Board of Directors at the June meeting: Dave Dietrich, Mike and Cindy Leone, Joseph Rocha, Dirk Uys and Jessica Whitlock. As of June 1, the OCWS has 1,052 members. For new mem-bers logging onto their account for the rst time, log on to our website, OCWS.org. Your default login is the primary member’s email address. The default pass-word is the primary member’s zip code. Both may be changed un-der 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 2025 Wine Competition Results:WineCompetition.comOC FAIRSummer fun returns with new features, wines by the bottle If you are looking for your happy, it is almost here! The Orange County Fair with the theme, “Find Your Happy,” kicks off on Friday, July 18. With that opening day, The Courtyard begins our traditional 23 days of wine service. As always, we will have the award-winning wines by the taste (two tastes for $5) and varietal wines by the glass for $11.There will be some new features at The Courtyard for 2025. The premium wines as selected by Cellarmaster Bill Redding will now be available by the bottle. Servers will pour an entire bottle into our new reusable plastic bottles. Volunteers who have too many drink tickets will be able to enter the extras into a weekly drawing for a bottle of wine. We will now be able to accept dona-tions to the Scholarship Fund via credit card. Servers will simply ask if the cus-tomer would like to make a donation to the fund before the transaction. Regis-ters have a designated scholarship key.The Courtyard Committee thanks ev-eryone who has signed up to work this summer. For anyone who is looking for additional shifts, Rich Skoczylas will be sending out the very popular “Save Our Shifts” emails as the fair approaches. Leslie Hodowanic and the magical mystery set-up crew will work July 8-10 to transform the four walls and bar into The Courtyard for the fair.All training for volunteers will be at The Courtyard. On July 7 at 6 p.m., Cheryl Knapp will hold a training session for cashiers (there are some changes this year). On Saturday, July 12, there will be three training sessions. Helga Hrowal will train the stewards at 9 a.m. and Maia Pherson’s training for servers is 10 a.m. At 11 a.m. there is a second cashiers’ training. Managers’ training is Monday, July 14 at 6 p.m. in The Courtyard. All new volunteers are encouraged to attend and anyone who wants a refresher may attend. All cashiers are encouraged to attend one of the two sessions.This is a wonderful opportunity for a very fun time. There are great folks to work with and great wines to serve. The Courtyard is our organization’s largest fundraiser of the year.See you at the fair!—Fred Heinecke, The Courtyard Committee Chair
4 OCWS.org July 2025The CourtyardIt is amazing to experience the entire OC Fair setting up around us the week before it starts and you can be a big part of it all. The Courtyard has always been a special place for the OCWS. If you enjoy using power drills and stepladders and wearing clothes you don’t mind getting grubby, this crew is for you. When you walk in and look around, you can say you helped transform The Courtyard into one of the best venues at the OC Fair!It will take our dedicated vol-unteers several days to set up The Courtyard before the fair starts, the only place that not only serves award-winning wines that we all en-joy but is the largest source of OCWS scholarship funds generated during the fair. Set up is not the same as server shifts and RBS server training is not required to volunteer.Dates for set up are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 8, Wednesday, July 9, and Thursday, July 10 the week before the fair starts. There may be another day added the week of the fair for last-minute adjustments. We will be moving and setting up express bars and hanging signs and decora-tions.What gets set up must come down after the fair ends. The date to tear down The Courtyard is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18, and Tuesday, Aug. 19.Members can sign up for any or all ve dates with me directly at Les@OCWS.org; lunches and parking will be provided. Please contact me with any questions. Thank you to our crew for making The Courtyard the best place to “Find Your Happy” at the 2025 OC Fair! —Leslie “Les” Hodowanec, 2025 OC Fair Courtyard Set Up/Tear Down Coordinator‘Find Your Happy’ setting up e Courtyard this monthOC FAIR 2025: Featured Wineries July 18 Macchia Winery July 19 Graveyard Vineyards July 20 Eberle Winery July 25 San Simeon Vineyards July 26 Bella Grace Vineyards July 27 Dark Star Cellars Aug. 1 California Street Winery Aug. 2 Sculpterra Winery Aug. 3 Fallbrook Winery Aug. 8 Pear Valley Vineyard Aug. 9 Morel Vin Winery Aug. 10 Wilson Creek Winery Aug. 15 Wine Guy & Wine Gal Aug. 16 Seis Soles Wine Co. Aug. 17 Wiens Cellars
July 2025 OCWS.org 5The CourtyardSpring has arrived and sign-ups have begun 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 Wednes-days through Sundays, July 18 and ending Aug. 17.Sign-ups for The Courtyard are 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 Sunday. 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. (Wednes-day, Thursday, Sunday) or 8 to 11:30 p.m. (Friday, Saturday). Express Bar: 5 to 9 p.m. —Rich Skoczylas, The Courtyard SchedulerVolunteer sign-ups for e Courtyard have begunIt is once again fair time. The Orange County Fair is set to run July 18 through Aug. 17 and is our organiza-tion’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 were sent via email in April. Server sign-ups are now available on the OCWS website. 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 followed by a test and certication is good for three years. 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 7Ensure 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 opened April 1.Cashier and steward sign-ups opened April 15.Server sign-ups open May 1.ALL sign-ups open at 8 a.m. on these dates.Conrmation of assigned shifts will be sent in late June or early July.8 Things to know about SIGN-UPS4231567
6 OCWS.org July 2025Home WinemakersCongratulations to all our OCWS winemakers who won awards in the recent Home Wine Competition! New and seasoned winemakers took home almost two dozen Double Gold medals for wines made from varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Nero d’Avola and more.OCWS winemakers also garnered Double Golds for port, dessert and fruit wines. Nebbiolo and red blend kit wines also won big. Many more of our winemakers won gold and other medals as well.The competition results speak to the group’s improved winemaking skills. Some of that comes from the many winemaking classes recently offered to new winemakers. It’s also a product of the mentorship and resources offered to those new winemakers and a reection of the communication within the group and the willingness to help one another when questions or problems arise.Of course, great results are possible only with great grapes. The Winemakers Group has been fortunate to get high quality fruit from reliable sources for many years. Otherwise, it would be impossible to make quality wines.It’s too early to tell if the 2025 harvest will bring above-average quality grapes. But early indications are that there will be an unusually large amount of fruit available to home winemakers. It also appears we home winemakers will have access to varietals that are not normally available to us.Due to economic conditions in the California wine industry, commercial wineries are reducing their purchases from vineyards or “taking a year off” completely. So the vineyards are turning to home winemakers. I am already getting correspondence and seeing ads from vineyards seeking buyers for grapes typically sold to commercial wineries. While it hurts to see our indus-try suffering, we home winemakers will benet. I’m predicting that this year we’ll have access to some super high-quality fruit that will have the potential to produce outstanding wines in the future.Our 2025 grape purchase is in the planning stages. Varietals available, sources and estimated prices will be announced at the Winemakers Group quarterly meeting this month. Look for email and newsletter announcements about the upcoming grape purchase throughout the summer.Here’s to making great wines!—Ed Reyes, ed@ocws.orgCheers to award-winning OCWS winemakersThe Orange County Wine Society, in conjunction with the OC Fair, has sponsored the OC Fair Home Wine Com-petition since 1976. This competition is open to all amateur home winemakers in California. It is one of the largest amateur home wine competitions in the USA. The judging is double blind and the scoring is based on a modied UC Davis 20 point scale. To ensure continuity in the valuation and scoring of the wines, we hold judging workshops prior to each year’s competition.The winemakers who enter the competition do so not just for the bragging rights of the awards but also to get feedback from the judges. If a judge marks a wine lower for a characteristic that can be corrected, the winemaker can then make an adjustment to his/her wine prior to nishing and bottling. That is probably the most valuable feedback for the competition entrants.The competition is held in early June. Four Best of Show awards (for Red, White, Fruit and Dessert Wines) are announced the day of the competition with the remaining awards posted the next day. Labels are also judged during this competition. Awards are presented for Best of Show along with Gold, Silver, and Bronze in each label category.The OCWS Winemakers group provides the manage-ment for the competition. This continues to be the largest annual activity for the Winemakers group.For a complete listing of winners of the Home Wine Competition and Home Wine Competition Label re-sults, visit OCWS.org.Annual competition judging winemaking skills since 1976
July 2025 OCWS.org 7EventsThe next Winemakers Group quar-terly meeting and potluck will be Saturday, July 5. Signups are now open on the OCWS website. The South County beach location will be announced one week prior to the event. Cost is $10 per person to cover supplies. All OCWS members are welcome, you don’t have to be a winemaker to attend.Each attendee, or couple, is asked to bring a potluck dish (appetizer, salad, side dish or dessert) ready to serve a small portion to eight people. Please bring any serving utensils necessary for your dish and a bottle of wine per person (homemade or commercial) to share. Plates, napkins and tableware will be furnished. We’re hoping to taste many of the award-winning wines from the recent OC Fair Home Wine Competition. Many of our talented winemakers earned Double Gold and other awards. For new and aspiring winemakers, this is your chance to meet, mingle and learn from our experienced winemak-ers. We will also have a short meeting to review the Home Wine Competition and announce upcoming events. There will be no SO2 testing at the event.Winemakers, did you make wines from grapes purchased through the Winemakers Group? Bring those wines to the event. It’s always interesting to taste how differently they turn out.We all start with grapes from the same vineyard which were harvested at the same time. Most of us even used the same yeast and yeast additives sup-plied with the grapes. The difference in the nished wines is how we processed those grapes after taking them home. What is your unique winemaking style? Bring your wines and let’s com-pare notes.Attendance at this event is extreme-ly limited so sign up now. Volunteers are needed to help set up prior and help clean up after the event. You can sign up to help when you register to attend the event. If you have questions, contact Ed Reyes at ed@OCWS.org.Quarterly Meeting, Potluck Slated July 5Winemakers GROUPSIGN UP TODAYNoon to 4 p.m.Saturday July 5South Orange CountyCOST: $10The 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 Amphitheatre. If you haven’t volunteered for The Courtyard in a while, consider returning for some of that summer fun and happy time. If you are new to The Courtyard, come on down.—Fred Heinecke, The Courtyard Committee ChairTHE COURTYARD, from page 5If you are innovative, open-minded, possess good interpersonal skills, are re-sults oriented and a problem solver, then a position as an OCWS director might be right for you. The beginning of a three-year term of the nine members of the Board of Di-rectors, according to the bylaws, shall be staggered such that three members’ terms will expire each year. The three vacated board positions will be lled each year by a vote of the OCWS membership, fol-lowing the Annual Business Meeting in September. The overall time commitment varies based on assignments and partic-ipation. We are moving from having the Board manage some events to having our members run event with a board coordi-nator being the liaison regarding budgets, event timing and placement.A candidate should possess some of the following skills and experience as well:• General knowledge of OCWS events and activities• Experience as a volunteer in some events• The ability and time to organize events during the year• Selected event, budget management skills• Be a member in good standingCandidates must present their Decla-ration of Candidacy in writing, by mail or via electronic media to the Election Chair no later than 14 calendar days prior to the scheduled Annual Business Meeting. The last date to declare candidacy for this year’s election is Friday, Aug. 22. During the Annual Business Meeting, candidates can speak to the membership and present their qualications. A written Statement of Qualications must be pre-sented to the Election Committee no later than ve calendar days after the Declara-tion of Candidacy is submitted. For more information, contact Greg Hagadorn at (714) 388-8803 or at Greg@OCWS.org. —Greg Hagadorn, 2025 Election ChairBoard ELECTIONSCalling all Candidates
If you haven’t heard of our Varietal Hours by now, here is your chance. Because of the success we are having on our change to Tuesday nights, we are greeting new members every Varietal Hour. And even with the approaching OC Fair, we are having more Varietal Hours than ever. We will also be start-ing up the Tuesday after the fair ends.The Varietal Hours are FREE. Sure, you say, nothing is free, and if it is then it’s not worth my time. What started as a way of gathering during the COVID quarantines has blossomed into quality time with friends, both old and new. And the things we have learned and been taught by this group are priceless.So 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 three 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! 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 never matters if you follow the theme. The setting is very casual, with sto-ries told about each of the wines we’re drinking, what we do (or don’t) like about them, where we got them, and more.Tuesday nights, when the fun never stops8 OCWS.org July 2025EventsVarietal HOURSAUGUST 19TIME:7 p.m.THEME:Wines Discovered at the OC FairHO ST:Damian & Carolyn ChristianJULY 8TIME:7 p.m.THEME:Wines under $12HO ST:Ken KnappRegardless of your knowledge of wine, the Varietal Hours have some-thing for everyone. Varietal Hours are held 7 to 8 p.m. every other Tuesday.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. for help and information, even if it means con-tacting 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. 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 Chair
NewsJuly 2025 OCWS.org 9The second annual Wine De-fect Workshop was held last month with more than 40 people attending. The event allowed the partic-ipants to compare the “A” bottle that the OCWS Commercial Com-petition judges identied as faulted against the alternative “B” bottle. As the “A” and “B” bottles were collected at the competition they were gassed and later refrigerated to allow everyone to taste wine similar to what the judges tasted, given that a week had passed.Working as teams, each group was given seven different sets of bagged wine to evaluate and to determine if they picked the same faulted wine as the judges. Smoke Tainted, Corked and Oxidized, along with Chemical and Microbial defects were explored and evaluat-ed. Additionally, thanks goes to CL Keedy, who led a special session on the attributes of a supertaster. Treated strips were given to the group to test their own ability to detect bitter, acid and sweet. The energy was positive, the learning was collaborative and by all accounts everyone enjoyed the chance to taste some bad wine and learn about wine defects.—Don Mayer, Event Coordinator2nd Wine Defect Workshop a SuccessEvent WRAP-UPThe 49th annual OC Fair Commer-cial Wine Competition has just been held and now what’s left to be done is still a lot before starting prep work for the 50th annual competition next year. Each competition takes a full year from start to nish, and then we start all over again. Unless you’ve volunteered for this amazingly, professionally run and labor-intensive event, I assure you, it is mindboggling as to what it takes to achieve success year after year.By the time you read this, the 2025 competition will have taken place, but the competition is not technically com-pleted until the last bottles are sorted, the award medals are mailed and the Double Gold and Best of Class plaques have been hand delivered. Planning for next year then begins barely two months after completion of the prior competition. The hotel contract for 2025 was ne-gotiated three years ago, with the 2026 and 2027 in place and the 2028 contract having just been negotiated. The rst of several communications to over 4,000 wineries will be sent in September for the 2026 competition. This is just the tip of the iceberg.The Commercial Competition Committee is comprised of a number of people, from the chairperson, who heads the committee, to the director of judges, who contacts and coordi-nates 90 professional winemakers and winery principals to judge the compe-tition, to the facilities coordinator, who handles the hotel and banquet arrange-ments, to the volunteer coordinator, who schedules and directs 300 volun-teers over the course of the competi-tion season, to the judges’ liaison, who provides the judges with competition information and is available to them the entire weekend, to the data entry room supervisor, who sees that all the judges’ results are entered into the software data base, to the scoring and verication lead, who oversees con-rmation of every judge’s individual scoring. Impressed yet? How about a most vital role, head of cataloging, who with her crew, oversaw 2,465 wine entries this year? No, that is not bottles it is entries, which equates to no less than 12,000 to 15,000 indi-vidual bottles processed. Then there’s the bagging coordinator, as the compe-tition is a double-blind tasting. And let’s not forget that the wines and all equipment are transported to and from the hotel, which is the responsibility of the move coordinator. There’s also a technology supervisor and major support staff, as well as the supervisor for the Wine Sort, which places the wines in The Courtyard cel-lar and storage for use at The Courtyard at the OC Fair and the next year’s wine auction. And, let’s not forget the label competition coordinators, whose team handles that competition throughout the weekend and, last, but not least, the OCWS marketing committee, who has brought exposure of the competition to new heights this year.I could continue to bore you with more statistics, positions and a com-plete list of the players who, out of their passion for the OCWS and the goodness of their hearts, take lead roles but, sufce it to say, all of this is accomplished at the hands of hundreds of dedicated volunteers without whom the OC Fair Commercial Wine Com-petition would not be what it is today. Truly amazing! —Fran Gitsham, OCWS Vice PresidentTaking a look behind the scenesCommercial COMPETITION
News10 OCWS.org July 2025 After more than two decades of dedicated service as the ofcial OCWS photographer, Jim Burk has de-cided to retire from his role behind the lens. Jim has done an outstanding job documenting our events and members over the years, leaving us with a rich visual legacy. We are incredibly grate-ful for his commitment and are pleased to share that he has graciously offered to mentor his successor once identied.Now, we’re looking for our next OCWS photographer. If you have pho-tography experience and are interested in capturing the vibrant spirit of our events, we’d love to speak with you. This volunteer position plays a key role in preserving the memories and mile-stones of the OCWS.If the primary photographer is un-available for a comped event, a Photog-raphy Committee member may attend and shoot in their place. We recognize that this role may be too much for one person alone, so we welcome those interested in covering specic events or sharing responsibilities.Interested? Please reach out to Car-olyn Christian at carolyn@OCWS.org by June 30 to express your interest.Let’s raise a glass to Jim and nd the next great visual storyteller for the OCWS!In search of new OCWS photographerPhotograph OCWS events throughout the yearServe as Chair of the Photography CommitteeHelp select the monthly Photo Contest winnerEdit and deliver 20–30 top images per event to the Marketing Committee for Facebook and promotional useMaintain organized electronic archives of all event photosTake the annual panoramic photograph of the judges at the Commercial Wine CompetitionRESPONSIBILITIESComplimentary Admission for Photographer Plus 1 at:Spring and Fall Membership EventsWinery ProgramsWine AuctionJudges’ Dinner (Commercial Wine Competition)ATTENDANCE & BENEFITSTicket Purchase Required:Champagne BrunchDine with Wine Installation DinnerHoliday Dinner DanceMini-TastingsWinemakers’ Group EventsOther events not listed aboveOPTIONAL ATTENDANCEVolunteer OPPORTUNITYCommittee looking for past 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 ANNIVERSARY
July 2025 OCWS.org 11NewsWe are only two months away from the OCWS annual Business Meeting slated 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5. In our continued efforts to reach the most members possible, the meeting will again be presented via Zoom.The meeting will focus on the current state of the organization, including a year in review and nancial status. We will cover events and highlights of the year, as well as discuss plans for the remainder of 2025.Our annual election for the Board of Directors is upcoming and this meeting will give everyone the opportunity to hear from the candidates, who will present their qualications and goals during the presentation. During this meeting, we will be presenting volun-teer awards.Sign-ups for this event are required, although there is no cost to attend. A Zoom link will be sent to each attendee in advance of the meeting. You only need to sign up once per household unless you will be viewing the meeting on separate computers. Please note that this is a member-only event.On behalf of the entire OCWS Board of Directors, I encourage you to attend this important meeting. The meeting will be conduct-ed in accordance with the OCWS bylaws and govern-ment regulations for 501(c)(3) nonprot organizations.We look forward to seeing you at the meeting. For those unable to attend, a re-cording will be posted for your viewing.—Carolyn Christian,OCWS PresidentMembers encouraged to attend via ZoomAnnual Business MEETINGThe OCWS funds scholarships for eight California colleges and univer-sities, including Allan Hancock College (AHC) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO). AHC offers multiple degrees and certicates in viticulture, enology, wine and food pairing, and wine busi-ness. The AHC viticulture and enolo-gy programs typically have over 100 majors per year and are equipped with a four-acre “practice” vineyard next to the college and additional vineyards in Los Alamos. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has one of the largest enology and viticulture programs in the country and offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in wine making and viticulture. Cal Poly SLO will accept 77 new students this all in these programs. In May, I had the good fortune of attending the 2025 Scholarship Awards Ceremony at AHC. The OCWS scholar-ship has been distributed to one student with several others under consideration. We met the current recipient, Mark Gabriele, who is a returning student very interested in making wine for his third career. He purchased a ve-acre vine-yard in the Cayucos Valley and recently added Syrah grapevines. He is attending AHC to learn how to care for his vine-yard and make his own wine. Recently, AHC Winery won a gold medal in the 2025 OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition for its 2023 Pinot Noir (90 points).Also in May of this year, I visited Cal Poly SLO for a reception and lunch with their enthusiastic scholarship recipients. The university awarded the OCWS scholarships to ve students: Stella Dowd, Phoebe Dueltgen, Elizabeth Hast-ert, Stella Tarantino and Evelyn Tostado.Cal Poly SLO has several dedicat-ed winemaking facilities. They have a 14-acre campus vineyard and in 2019, the university opened the Justin and J. Lohr Center for Wine and Viticulture, which includes a 15,600 square-foot winery and space for grape crushing, fermentation, bottling and classrooms and teaching labs for the enology and viticulture courses. Students are given hands-on experience in all aspects of the wine industry. Cal Poly SLO submitted several wines to the 2025 OC Fair Commer-SPOTLIGHT: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Allan Hancock CollegeOCWS SCHOLARSHIPSJust a friendly reminder that you can make a donation to the OCWS Scholarship Fund anytime. There are two ways to donate: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.Mail a check — Make your check out to OCWS and mail it to the OCWS ofce at OCWS P.O. Box 11059 Costa Mesa, CA 92627 Attn: Scholarship Fund A donation letter will be sent to you. DONATE TODAYcial Wine Competition and received gold medals for their 2022 Pinot Noir (92 points) and 2023 Chardonnay (90 points) and silver medals for three other wines.—Damian Christian, Scholarship Chair
12 OCWS.org July 2025Wine Wisdomsee AVA, page 13Exploring America’s Appellation of OriginIn France, the National Institute of Origin and Quality, a public organi-zation supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture, is in charge of granting, reg-ulating and administering the appellation d’origine contrôllée (AOC) for French wine. There are 363 AOCs.In Italy, the denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) system to regulate wine has its policies set by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, while having a consortium of wine producers, Consorzio del Vino, enforcing and man-aging the system. There are 330 DOCs.In Spain, a Consejo Regulador, a regulatory council for each wine region enforces regulations and quality control for the denominacion de origin (DO) sys-tem. These councils are overseen by the Instituto Nacional de Denominaciónes de Origen located in Madrid. There are 69 DOs.In the United States, the American Viticultural Area (AVA) system, the United States’s answer to the French AOC system, is regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), a part of the Department of Treasury. As of October 2024, there are 276 AVAs in 34 states with 154 AVAs in California alone.While the French AOC system was started in 1935 with Chateauneuf-du-Pape being designated an AOC in 1936, the U.S. didn’t start its AVA system until June 1980, when it designated the rst AVA in Augusta, Missouri. Napa, the sec-ond U.S. AVA, received its designation in January 1981.But why and how are AVAs desig-nated and what do they mean to wine drinkers?The United States Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, Chapter 1, Sub-chapter A, Part 9.12 establishes the regulations that govern the creation of an AVA. Under these regulations, a petition must be submitted to the TTB that spec-ies the Name, Boundaries, Distinguish-ing Features and Maps and Boundary Descriptions of the AVA.The Name of the AVA must be veri-able through common use for the area to be so designated.In the Boundaries section of the peti-tion, detail of the “commonalities or simi-larities within that boundary” must be specied with an explanation of why the features within the boundary are different from adjacent areas.The Distinguishing Features part of the petition must give “a description Are there benets to having an American Viticultural Area (AVA) distinction under the federal regulations? Our Wine Education Committee says yes!
Wine WisdomAVA, from page 12July 2025 OCWS.org 13of the common or similar features of the proposed AVA affecting viticulture that is distinctive.” Once again, these features must illustrate how they are different from adjacent areas outside of the AVA. The distinguishing information to be provided includes climate (tem-perature, rain, fog, wind, etc.); geology (landforms, earthquakes, oods, etc.); soils (parent material, texture, slope, drainage, fertility, etc.); physical fea-tures (at, hills, lakes, rivers, etc.) and elevation (maximum and minimum).And nally, the Maps and Boundary Descriptions requires a U.S. Geological Survey map for the AVA with the pro-posed boundary clearly marked.The above is an abbreviated descrip-tion of the AVA’s petition requirements. But it illustrates the effort and time that is needed to establish an AVA.And what is the advantage of having an AVA? The U.S. wine industry and consumers benet from appellation of or-igin labeling. Valuable information about the wine, consumer education, local brand knowledge and regional economic growth can all be gathered from knowing the appellation of origin.Under federal regulations a wine can be labeled with an AVA as long as at least 85% of the grapes used to make the wine come from that AVA. Additionally, the wine must be fermented, bottled and aged within the state or one of the states where the AVA is located. This appellation of origin on a label is in addition to the other federal regulations for wine labels that require brand name, kind of wine, alcohol content, net contents, health warning, producer or bottler name and address, sulte declaration and others.The federal rules have established the basics for wine labels in general and for appellation labeling in specic. State rules are often stricter as is the case in California. To be labeled a California wine it must be made from 100% Califor-nia-grown grapes. To list a specic AVA the rule is the same as the federal rule—85% of the grapes from that AVA. But to be labeled a varietal wine in California it must be made from at least 75% of that varietal grape. To be vintage dated at least 95% of the grapes must come from that har-vest year. Note, too, that California also requires the California Redemption Value (CRV) to be on the label.But wait, there’s more. More advan-tages to having an AVA, that is. An AVA is a geographical area so when you buy a vineyard, you also acquire the intrinsic value of the AVA in which the vineyard is located. This intangible AVA can further be described as a right to use the AVA designation on the wine label. This right to use can inuence how grapes and wines are priced, and how growers and wineries can structure their nances, prots and taxes. This value is referred to as an “intangible,” which is similar to a brand name or a trademark. Think Nike, Disney, Starbucks or Napa Valley. AVAs also can be thought of as a federal license, grant or permit. Think liquor license or patent.Most of us know that land cannot be depreciated, however, if a person/entity buys a winery with a vineyard that exists in a designated AVA area, once that AVA is properly appraised that value can be allocated away from the land and amortized (intangibles are amortized and tangibles are depreciated) over 15 years thereby potentially reducing the person/en-tity’s tax liability each year for 15 years. The more valuable the AVA in which the vineyard is located, the greater the poten-tial tax benet. In 1993, the federal government created Internal Revenue Code section 197, which addresses intangible assets. In 2010 the IRS came out with a Chief Counsel Memorandum stating that an AVA is an intangible IRC 197 asset sub-ject to 15-year amortization. The chal-lenge is, how much of the cost/purchase price can you allocate to the AVA (and not the land)? That is a question for appraisers, accountants, attorneys and the IRS to argue. Yet if you are in the market to purchase a vineyard or winery that is located in an AVA area, you will want to ensure that the AVA’s intangible value is appraised and documented as part of your purchase.So, whether you get a bottle of wine that is labeled AOC, DOC, DO or pref-erably AVA no matter, just sit back and enjoy it!—CL Keedy & Linda Flemins,Wine Education CommitteeSign up for Gold Medal Mini-TastingThe Fall Social slated Saturday, Oct. 11 at the OC Fairgrounds will feature a chili cook off. Complete information will be available in the August issue of The Wine Press.If you are a chili chef and interested in com-peting in the cook off, please email Alice Polser at ajpolser@gmail.com.Save the date folks, our most popular Mini Tasting is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 6. For any member interested in hosting, reach out to Don Mayer at DMayer0709@Gmail.com. The website is open to register. This event will sell out, so sign up early. Priority is rst-come, rst-serve for location preferences. Fall Social to feature chili cook off
Photo of the Month14 OCWS.org July 2025WINE BOTTLE ARTThis month’s winner is John Molina for his shot at the art exhibit FOSO: Fibert Optic Symphonic Orchestra by Bruce Munro at Sensorio in Paso Robles featuring thousands of wine bottles and ber optics.The OCWS sponsors a photography contest and you are invited to partici-pate! 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 com-mittee will select a Photo of the Month for publication in the upcoming news-letter 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. 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
FeatureJuly 2025 OCWS.org 15SEMINARS, from page 1“Gold Medal Award-Winning Wines.” Seminar presenter Bill Redding says the seminar showcases outstanding wines from California wineries from this year’s Commercial Wine Competition. Redding was asked to give the semi-nar when he was Cellarmaster. It was originally created and given by legend-ary OCWS member Chris Cunningham when he was Courtyard Chairman.Drawing from the interest in pairing food and wine, many current seminars prominently feature unique foods. “Snack Foods and Wine Pairing,” cre-ated by Ken Knapp, is a newer seminar inspired by that trend. So is Carolyn Christian’s “BBQ and Wine Pairing.” “People talk about what foods to pair with different wines, but sometimes they forget that the sauce also plays an import-ant role in the pairing,” Christian says.Some seminars were inspired by out-of-the-box ideas from OCWS members or unlikely events. Seminar presenter Ed Reyes says that while working at the fair about 15 years ago, “several of us served guests who happened to have fair food while tasting at the awards bar.”“We started asking each other, what would you pair with such and such?” Reyes says. “We made a list of 20-25 pairings and tried a few of them during the fair.” Thus, “Fair Food and Wine Pairing” was born.“Grapes and Grains” was originally an OCWS Zoom webinar, presented during COVID by Sara Yeoman. It was inspired by her knowledge of beer, gleaned while working in the food service industry. Peo-ple have heard of pairing wine and food, she says. You can also pair beer with food. This seminar pairs wine with food then beer with the same food.“Sparkling and Sweets” is another seminar that came to life during the pan-demic. It was originally a holiday-themed webinar inspired by presenter Fran Git-sham’s love of Champagne and sparkling beverages. That webinar was also the inspiration for “Is it Sparkling or Cham-pagne?” in which a variety of foods are paired with a variety of bubblies.Whatever the origin, fair seminars today have evolved to incorporate the “over the top” aspect of the fair experi-ence. Sara Yeoman, seminar committee chair, said the events should be fun. “People come to the fair to be entertained,” Yeoman said. “We want the seminars to be an extension of that experience.” A former college instructor, Christian says the seminars provide a learning op-portunity that stays in people’s minds. “The best learning occurs when peo-ple have an opportunity to experience (what) they’re being taught,” Christian says.Seminars have also evolved as the public’s knowledge of wine has grown. Seminars like “New and Unusual Wine Varietals,” “Italian Varietals,” “Summer White Wines” and “California Wine Regions” offer the chance to explore wines or wine regions that people might not have known about or were unwilling to try a few years ago.Beyond the educational aspect, seminars are geared to showcase the partnership between the OCWS and other fair vendors. Much of the seminar food as well as the beer for “Grapes and Grains” is donated by fair vendors. To reciprocate, these vendors are promoted during the seminars and with signage in The Courtyard. Seminars have also helped strengthened the ties between the OCWS and OC Fair. In recent years, the fair has promoted the seminars on their website and has included them in their weekly “fair events” calendar.Featured wineries are involved in seminars too. All 3 p.m. seminars will feature a wine donated by that day’s featured winery. Representatives from the winery are also invited to speak at the seminar and seminar participants are encouraged to visit with them after the seminar. Of course, seminars have always been a great way to attract new OCWS members.This year, OCWS members will present 16 seminars that weave fun and memorable experiences with wine education. Wine seminars will be held in The Courtyard on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 and 3 p.m. beginning the second weekend of the fair. All seminars are $30 and include food or an assort-ment of snacks. All include eight or nine 1-ounce wine or beer tastes. Seminar tickets are only available at The Courtyard. Tickets for all seminars go on sale the rst day of the fair. Many sell out quickly so get yours right away.This year, make the wine seminars part of your courtyard experience at the OC Fair.Bryan Widstrand of Steinbeck Vineyards & Winery (center) discuss-es winemaking during last year’s wine seminars.
16 OCWS.org July 2025 Wine Courtyard at the OC Fair2025 Schedule of Eventshosted by the Orange County Wine SocietyWine Tasting / Wine By The GlassWine Express BarFeatured Winery Program(Fri, Sat, Sun)11 AM - 10 PM (Wed, Thu, Sun)11 AM - 11 PM (Fri, Sat)5 - 9 PM 3 - 7 PM 1 - 2 PM 3 - 4 PM7/18/2025 Fri x xMacchia7/19/2025 Sat x xGraveyard7/20/2025 Sun x xEberle7/21/2025 Mon7/22/2025 Tue7/23/2025 Wed x x7/24/2025 Thu x x7/25/2025 Fri x xSan Simeon7/26/2025 Satx xBella Grace VineyardsIs It Sparkling or Champagne?Fran Gitsham & Linda FleminsFair Food & Wine PairingEd Reyes & Sara Yeoman7/27/2025 Sunx xDark Star CellarsNew & Unusual Wine VarietalsKen KnappBBQ & Wine PairingCarolyn Christian7/28/2025 Mon7/29/2025 Tue7/30/2025 Wed x x7/31/2025 Thu x x8/1/2025 Fri x xCalifornia Street Winery8/2/2025 Satx xSculpterra WineryGold Medal Award-Winning WinesBill ReddingSnack Foods & Wine PairingKen Knapp8/3/2025 Sunx xFallbrookCheese & Wine PairingCarol FrankBBQ & Wine PairingCarolyn Christian8/4/2025 Mon8/5/2025 Tue8/6/2025 Wed x x8/7/2025 Thu x x8/8/2025 Fri x xPear Valley Vineyard8/9/2025 Satx xMoreI VinGold Medal Award-Winning WinesBill ReddingGrapes & GrainsEd Reyes & Sara Yeoman8/10/2025 Sunx xWilson Creek WinerySparkling & SweetsFran Gitsham & Linda FleminsSummer White WinesKevin Coy8/11/2025 Mon8/12/2025 Tue8/13/2025 Wed x x8/14/2025 Thu x x8/15/2025 Fri x xWine Guy & Wine Gal8/16/2025 Satx xSeis SolesCheese & Wine PairingCarol FrankCalifornia Wine RegionsCarolyn Christian8/17/2025 Sun x xWeins CellarsItalian VarietalsKevin CoyFair Food & Wine PairingEd Reyes & Sara YeomanFair ClosedFair ClosedWine Seminars(Sat, Sun)Date DayFair ClosedFair ClosedFair ClosedFair ClosedFair ClosedFair ClosedFeature2025 ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP: The HangarJuly 1824K Magic#1 Bruno Mars TributeJuly 19 Start Making SenseTalking Heads Tribute BandJuly 20Jimmy's BuetA Tribute to Jimmy BuetJuly 23DevotionalThe Depeche Mode ExperienceJuly 24The Monkees Men#1 Monkees TributeJuly 25Zepplica International Led ZeppelinTribute BandJuly 26It’s Britney BeepA Live Tribute to BritneyJuly 27Yachty By NatureSmoothest Yacht Rock BandJuly 30Elton - The Early YearsA Tribute to Elton JohnJuly 31Green TodayA Tribute to Green DayAug. 1DSBWorld’s Greatest Tribute BandAug. 2Which One’s Pink?Tribute to Pink FloydAug. 3Embajadores del Mariachi:Sol de Mexico de Jose HernandezAug. 6Queen NationTribute to the Music of QueenAug. 7Queen NationTribute to the Music of QueenAug. 8Dead Man’s PartyTribute to Oingo Boingo and Danny ElfmanAug. 9Rihanna ReplayTribute to the Only Girl in the WorldAug. 10One More NightThe Phil Collins ExperienceAug. 13Damage Inc.Southern California’s Metallica Tribute BandAug. 14Red CorvetteA Tribute to PrinceAug. 15Twisted GypsyFleetwood Mac ReimaginedAug. 16Blink 180TrueA Tribute to Blink 182Aug. 17Hot LavaThe Ultimate B-52’s Revue
2025UPCOMINGEVENTS July 2025 OCWS.org 17September 6GOLD MEDAL MINI-TASTINGVArious LocationsAug. 18-19THE COURTYARD TEAR DOWNOC Fairgrounds / Costa MesaSeptember 5OCWS ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING7 p.m. / Via ZoomJuly 8-10THE COURTYARD SET UPOC Fairgrounds / Costa MesaJuly 8VARIETAL HOURS / WINES UNDER $12Via ZoomJuly 5WINEMAKERS GROUP QUARTERLY MEETING & POTLUCK / South Orange County July 18-Aug. 17OC FAIR OC Fairgrounds / Costa MesaOctober 11FALL SOCIAL / CHILI COOKOFFOC Fairgrounds / Costa MesaAugust 19VARIETAL HOURS / WINES DISCOVERED AT THE OC FAIR / Via Zoom