May 22, 2013 FBV Monthly Meeting & Annual Summary

The next monthly meeting of the French Broad Vignerons will be Wednesday, June 19th at Falderal Winery in Hendersonville NC at 6:30 PM.

The owners, Paul Kovacich & Julia Newbold, will be our hosts.

Dinner will be Pot Luck so bring a dish to share and your favorite bottle of wine.

The business agenda will include officer elections.

Officer nominations so far are:

John Kinnaird for president.

Judy Fland for Treasurer.

Chuck Blethen for Vice PResident of Public Relations.

Alan Staton for Vice President of Education & Training.

Tom Mincarelli for Secretary.

Other nominations can be made Wednesday at the meeting.

Tom will provide some more Vinmetrica testing demonstration as our education session.

Directions to the winery are: 

From Asheville take 26E to the Hendersonville exit 49B Hiway 64W. Stay on 64W (Four Seasons Blvd.) until you come to Main Street. Then take a left on Main. The shop is on 3rd. Avenue West to the right off Main Street. There is some parking across from the winery at the bank parking lot and along 3rd. Avenue and also on Main. Make sure not not to park in any tow away zones. The adress for the Winery is 131 3rd. Avenue West, Hendersonville. If you get lost call Paul at 828-693-7676.

On another note, if you haven't paid your dues of $25.00 per family please bring your checkbook.

Location: Bob Bowles Community Center in Barnardsville.
Time: 6:30 PM
Thank you once again for the hospitality Bob!

Members-Wineries-Vineyards and guests present with hometown region:
Bob Bowles-Barnardsville, NC.
J D Diefenbach of Broad River Winery and Vineyard-Black Mountain, N.C.
Karen and Bob Binns of Parker Binns Winery and Vineyard-Mill Spring, NC.
parker-binns link
Tom Mincarelli of Eagles' Nest Sustainable Micro Home Winery and Vineyard-Black Mountain, N.C.
eagles'nest link
Bill Fish- Flat Rock, N.C.
Paul Kovavich of Falderal Winery-Hendersnville, N.C.
falderalwinery link
Alan Staton of Dalton's  Corner Winery and Vineyard-Zirconia, N.C.
Guests:
Steve Bookspan from SCORE volunteer organization- Hendersonville, N.C.


1- Minutes report by Secretary John Kinnaird from the April 17, 2013 FBV meeting at Bob Bowles:
John Kinnaird was not present to share the minutes and he has posted them on the FBV blogsite for April.
*NOTE* FBV monthly meetings will now be on the Third Wednesday of each month unless rescheduled. June 19, 2013 is the next meeting and the location is to be announced.
April Minutes were approved by all in attendance.

2- Treasurer report by Judy Fland: Judy was out of town.
FBV member & guest policies in effect:
a- Fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
b- FBV member dues are $25 per year for a single person or couple membership.
c- Members joining the second half of the year only owe one-half  (50%) of dues or $12.50.
d- Members in "good standing" may have their winery/vineyard web/blog site link posted in the FBV monthly meeting report for each meeting attended.
e- Potluck dinners are always optional and are after the business part of the meeting schedule.
f- Guests may attend two complimentary meetings before they owe dues and become a full member.
g- Members may submit GPS and elevation information about their wineries and vineyards as well as information of their activities to the Treasurer for the database project.  *NOTE* (see 9-A below).

3- Presidents report by Alan Staton:
Alan discussed the possibility of the FBV forming a new and specific website for the purpose of promoting Western North Carolina and surrounding area quality wines, and for informing visiting and new wine consumers to WNC's unique boutique wines.  The rating and information will be provided by a custom panel of wine judges that will be trained by FBV.
Alan also discussed the continued non FBV monthly training sessions for a panel of wine sensory evaluators that can also judge homemade wines for events in Western North Carolina.
A discussion on how wine lab testing and wine fault testing performed by App. State and the North Carolina Wine Growers Association in the eastern parts of North Carolina, may not be in the best interest to consumers, and that other methods of evaluation would be more consumer friendly.
A FBV Banner will be made for display at Bob Bowles Wine and Food competition in Asheville on August 25, 2013.


OFFICERS REPORTS:

4- Vice President of "Public Relations" report by Chuck Blethen: Chuck was out of town.

5- Vice President of "Educational Activities" report by Paul Kovovich:
Paul is going to schedule an educational trip to a winery-vineyard with a wine lab that we may tour at Over Mountain Winery & Vineyard.
overmountainvineyards link
* NOTE* This optional event will NOT be held on a usual FBV monthly meeting date.

OLD and NEW COMMITTEE PROJECTS REPORTS:

6- FBV Logo and Artwork: Jamie Fish has submitted many renditions for the FBV logo and one has been chosen to be used on the FBV website and other areas.  Thank you for the great work Jamie!

7- Lab Testing for Wine and Vineyard Soil and Grape Tests (Alan-Chuck-John-Paul-Tom):
Alan is still working with AB TEC BioNetwork to get a list of wine tests and equipment needed in the Bio-Center that can be rented by the hour. The committee has not had a meeting or made a report as of date.

8- Winemaker-Grapegrower Survey,  Forum and Festival (Pete-Bob-Paul-Tom):

A- The "Survey" for Home Winemakers and Grape Growers (Bob-Pete-Paul-Tom):

After several meetings and much editing the "survey for home winemakers and grape growers" is completed. The "Survey" has not been sent out yet.  Bob Bowles will send the "Survey" out to some of his email contacts and inform FBV of the results.  Other methods of distribution of the "Survey" are needed to be implemented.

Tom Mincarelli recommended the "Survey" be included with the FBV membership form.  The Membership form and "Survey" form may also be located on the FBV Website with a link to it on the FBV BlogSite.

B- Micro-Winemaker Forum (Peter-Bob-Paul-Tom):
AB TEC. BioNetwork has listed the forum in their spring catalogue and the date was set for March 16, 2013.  Not enough people signed up so the forum was cancelled until fall.
The next date for the first Winemaker Forum is November 9, 2013 at the AB Tec. Campus at the NC BioNetwork Business Center Laboratory lecture room on the second floor. Pete will keep adjusting the details and informing FBV of progress and event schedules.  Non FBV winemakers are also welcomed to join in the forum.

C- Micro-Winemaker Festival (Paul-Tom-):  
Paul stated the possibility of a Winemaker Festival is still in the works. The committee has not had a meeting or made a report on this event as of date.

9- JD Diefenbach's Project Reports (JD):
A- GIS Map and DataBase of Wineries and Vineyards in WNC and other close areas: All members have submitted the requested latitude, longitude, and elevation information to JD for the GIS map project. 
The first phase of the GIS map will allow specific location and information of vineyards in WNC is almost complete. The map will also display locations of railroad tracks and electric power company high tension feeder lines. These features are important for preparation in advance for "Spray Drift" which can damage or destroy vineyard and other crops.
JD will present the functions of the mapping system when it is ready at a future monthly meeting.  The map-site will have a designated "site administrator" and each vineyard operator will be able to set up their page and keep it updated through the "site administrator".
The ARCVIEW program feature will allow a simple click on the GIS map location to observe each vineyard and will display specific information.
The new map will be a major display tool for FBV to promote the wine grape and vineyard industry in Western North Carolina.
Under progress.

B- Home Winemaker Competition at the WNC Agricultural  Center:
JD has talked with Mr. Matt Buchanan at the WNC Ag. Center in November and again recently.  JD will visit Mr. Buchanan in person to see if a Home Winemaker competition can be held this year. Last year the Ag. Center allowed a beer competition on premises.  Wine would only be tasted by judges and not to the public.
JD will invite Mr. Buchanan to one of our FBV monthly meetings.

10- Asheville Wine and Food Competition (Bob Bowles-Alan-Chuck-John): 
A trained FBV evaluation panel will attend the judging for the second time this year.  The scheduled date of the competition is August 25, 2013.
Bob has not decided how the rating system will work this year.
There will be no judging of commercial wines.
FBV is going to resume practicing evaluation and training sessions in June.
A new FBV logo banner with Jamie Fish's artwork will be displayed at the judging section.
All home winemakers should be getting their best wines ready for the event and stay in contact with FBV for details.

11- FBV Blog and Website Report (Alan-John):
The FBV website has a Home Page.
The FBV blogsite that belongs to John Kinnaird is the main outreach and meeting logging system in use.

12- Old Business: 
Tom mentioned that the FBV By-Laws need to be completed for FBV specific needs and voted on.  The next meeting in June or July would be a good time to complete the By-Laws.  Absentee members in good standing should also be allowed to vote for the annual officer elections by email within a designated length of time.

13- New Business:
After Chuck and Jeanie Blethen, and Pete and Judy Fland return from their Europe trip after June 13th, sessions for "wine evaluation training"  that are not scheduled on monthly FBV meeting dates will be scheduled for sometime in June. The training sessions are panned to occur as frequently as possible.
Chuck and Tom will organize the training process.  An official committee name for this training session is needed.

To all French Broad Vigneron members,

We are now accepting officer nominations for the 2013-2014 year.

If you would like to serve as an officer or would want someone in a particular office please submit the name or names to any of the current officers or submit it in person at the May meeting.

The officer positions and responsibilities are as follows:

President--- Running and setting the meeting agenda. Setting up the meeting location each month.

V.P. of public relations---The public face of the group. Relays and sends out correspondence to members and potential members and stays in contact with our outside interests.

V.P. of education --- Responsible for setting up our monthly education sessions.

Treasurer --- Responsible for the monetary part of our group, checkbook, bank account etc.

Secretary --- Keeps notes of meeting and post them on our blog.

Final vote on positions will be held at our June meeting and new officers will assume their roles beginning July 1st.

Thank you for your thoughts and time on this matter.

Alan Staton
President, French Broad Vignerons

As of the May 22, 2012 FBV monthly meeting:
John Kinniard has volunteered to run for the President of FBV if nominated.
Alan Staton has volunteered to run for the Vice President of Education if nominated.
Tom Mincarelli has volunteered to run for Treasurer, Secretary or VP of Public Relations if nominated.

14- Good of the Order: 
(where members can discuss things that concern or benefit FBV and/or members).
Steve Goodspan said his organization provides help for groups like the FBV and may be of assistance.
A FBV Banner will be made for display at Bob Bowles Wine and Food competition in Ashville on August 25, 2013.
Bob and the FBV has not decided how the home winemaker rating system will occur this year.
Bob Bowles donated a Sony micro-cassette recorder for the secretary to use at meetings.  The recorder will need some new casstette's and batteries.  Thank you Bob!
JD Diefenbach brought a bottle of his home grown and made Chambourcin wine for all to taste and evaluate.
Tom Mincarelli brought a bottle of his 2011 100% Lodi Merlot for all to taste and evaluate.
Bill and Jamie Fish are in a Wine Tasters Guild from Michigan and will be offering to supply some of the wine and experience as well as how the process works via telephone or email conferencing.
Chuck Blethen is also applying for the Wine Tasters Guild offerings.
Karen and Bob Binns have offered to host a meeting or evaluation training at their Winery-Vineyard.

15- Adjournment: Meeting adjourned with no objections.

16- EDUCATIONAL SESSION:
Tom Mincarelli demonstrated the Vinmetrica SC-300 Wine Analyzer and Pro Lab Set he sells.  Demonstration tests were made for Free SO2, TA and pH.  Use of transfer pipette's, pipette's and burette's was demonstrated as well as safe handling, storage and disposal procedures for Acids, Reagents and Titrants.
Tom is also providing a growing list of wine and must lab testing analysis services, and will be posting the individual costs on his" Eagles' Nest" website.

The session ran out of  time for the group to view the free online "Sulfite Calculator" application from Winemaker Magazine.
sulfite calculator link
Tom will volunteer to demonstrate it's various uses and benefits at another FBV meeting.

SC-300 Wine Analyzer and  Pro Lab Set
eagles'nest link

The group was small but accomplished much! 

Cheers soon~!!!~ Tom Mincarelli

Hello Vignerons, Vintners, and ALL~!!!~

Our May 22, 2013  (Wednesday) FBV meeting will be held at Bob Bowles Community Center in Barnardsville at 6:30 PM.

***SPECIAL ANNUAL EVENT PLEASE READ BELOW***

Directions:

From Asheville Take 19-23 (or new I-26) north past Weaverville. Take the right onto exit 15 (197 Jupiter - Barnardsville) exit and take a right at the bottom of the ramp to Barnardsville (about 8 miles). 

In Barnardsville the Old Fire House is directly across from the Post Office. Meeting is upstairs, entrance on the side.

The May "Educational Session" will be: 

"Home and Winery Wine Testing procedures with the Vinmetrica SC-300 Wine Analyzer and Professional Lab Set"
Presented by Tom Mincarelli  Owner of "Eagles' Nest" Micro-Home Winery & Vineyard Eagles' Nest link

How to quickly, accurately and economically determine:

SO2 (Free and Total)
pH

TA

Malic Acid data for ending Malolactic Fermentation safely and for best results.

How to read and use pipette's and burette's.
Safe handling of acids and reagents.

What to do once I have data with my wine/must with accurate calculations and adjustments.

To all French Broad Vigneron members,

We are now accepting officer nominations for the 2013-2014 year.

If you would like to serve as an officer or would want someone in a particular office please submit the name or names to any of the current officers or submit it in person at the May meeting.

The officer positions and responsibilities are as follows:

President--- Running and setting the meeting agenda. Setting up the meeting location each month.

V.P. of public relations---The public face of the group. Relays and sends out correspondence to members and potential members and stays in contact with our outside interests.

V.P. of education --- Responsible for setting up our monthly education sessions.

Treasurer --- Responsible for the monetary part of our group, checkbook, bank account etc.

Secretary --- Keeps notes of meeting and post them on our blog.

Final vote on positions will be held at our June meeting and new officers will assume their roles beginning July 1st.

Thank you for your thoughts and time on this matter.

Alan Staton
President, French Broad Vignerons

Our meetings are usually simple:

1- Business starts at ~ 6:45 PM.

2- Educational sessions are presented by a variety of experts usually in the wine and grape industry.

3- If you want a wine that you make or like to be evaluated or judged... bring some along with your favorite red or white wine glasses.

4- Pot-luck dinner is always optional if you want to stay and get to know us.

If you are not a FBV member you can still attend as a guest for two free meetings....hopefully you will want to join and become a FBV member!

Annual membership dues are only $25!

If you would like to host a meeting with the FBV at your location we would like to hear from you!

For more information or to make reservations/arrangements: 

Contact Chuck Blethen-VP of Public Relations @:  Chuck's email link

Cheers soon~!!!~ Tom Mincarelli

"Wine Evaluation Training Program" with Appalachian State and the North Carolina Wine Growers Association (NCWGA)

On Tuesday, April 2nd, Chuck and I went to the Wine Evaluation Training Program sponsored by the NCWGA.  It was held at Raffaldini and that alone made the trip worthwhile. ( at least for me )  In all honesty, I came away with many negative feelings about the process, but I also realize that the two sponsors of the process are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Regardless, the program was an excellent attempt to establish sensory awareness for all the people that were in attendance.  We all had a wonderful opportunity to “taste” about 15 different wines, all with faults in them.  Some of the faults were so severe, I could not even bring myself to taste it after enduring the aroma.  The overall experience was terrific.

If I understand the process, there will be two forms of evaluation - lab and sensory.  It will be possible for a wine to be rejected if it fails the lab evaluation based on technical criteria.  I believe the sensory panel is more advisory than evaluative.  The end product of the process will be that a wine that passes the process would be entitled to use a NCWGA Seal that would certify that it is free of major faults.  It also seems to me that the public, upon seeing the seal, may assume that it speaks to the overall quality of the wine.  Nothing could be further from the reality.  There came a time in the meeting when people were asked if a wine that had, in my opinion, serious flaws was marketable and I was surprised to see the number of people that signaled their belief that it should be.

The crux of my concern is this - If a wine carries a seal that signifies approval and yet is a generally poor example of good wine, what does that communicate about North Carolina wines?  If I were buying a wine and saw the seal and had a less than joyful experience after I opened it, my view would be somewhat negative about North Carolina  wines.  That is my impression of the problem that I see.   I think that assessment is a fair representation of what I heard and experienced.

The tasting was supported by Appalachian State and NCWGA.  I think they are both in a difficult position.  I believe they are trying to do something that is very positive.  They also have to tiptoe around two issues.  If App State participates in an evaluation in which wines are failed based on a subjective taste criteria, they are in the difficult position of having a negative impact upon a group that funds them - tax payers.  If NCWGA does the same thing, it is taking a position against some of the wines of the members.  They are both in a difficult position.

I can tell you that I enjoyed the tasting.  I think I learned a lot.

Pete Fland

Chuck Blethen is in agreement with this content.

Yadkin Valley AVA tour continued

On the second day we visited Elkin Creek winery.  Their wines were generally good.  My favorite was  Classico which is a red blend.  Unfortunately the Classico was sold out.  They had a few bottles left which they used in their tasting room but none to sell. 

An interesting tasting room which always adds to the experience

well tended vineyard and St. Francis watching over the vines

 

The rafters of the tasting room are supported by a central post.

 

view of the top part of the post showing how the rafters intersect

 

We had a cheese tray with a glass of wine at their covered outdoor dining area.

Pictured is a glass of very nice cab sauv the made from estate grown grapes

 

The next vineyard on the tour was Grassy Creek

The show/tasting room was impressively decorated

Lots of wine paraphernalia 

 

The owner was quite friendly.

 

 

 I thought that their white wines were quite good.  The Chardonnay was oaked just right and I did buy a bottle.

 

In downtown Elkin there was a winery named Slightly Off.  We could not resist that.

Turns out that the winery was run very much like Falderal Winery in Hendersonville.  They did not grow or even purchase grapes, rather they bought  juice and made the wine there in 5 gallon carboys.  Any oaking was done by adding oak chips to the carboys. My favorite wine there was a red blend called Roaring River Red.  Many of the wines were sweet, which is not to my liking.

 

 

 We finished the tour with a visit to Carolina Heritage Winery which was just outside Elkin

 

 

 

 A nice rustic Tasting Room

 

The grapes are organically grown,  which is one of the reasons we put this winery on our tour

 

Interesting trellising system

The winery was closed the day we showed up but the gentleman who owned the winery, and the store, and who worked the 15 acres of grapes and made the wine, was kind enough to let us in and give us a free tasting. He grew Chamborcine , Isabella, Muscadine, Traminette, and Norton grapes.  All of these grapes are disease resistant.  Nonetheless, he does have some problems with fungus pressure and this growing season he is experimenting with spraying with compost tea.  He says that he has only been in business for a few years and that the entire operation is a work in progress.

We had tasted Chamborcine wine at other places and were generally disappointed.  The Chamborcine here was excellent.  We bought some.

 

 

 

Yadkin Valley Winery Tour

Every year I hit about 6 to 8 wineries in the Yadkin valley area, spending a little time at each one, chatting with the owners and sampling their wares.  This year we were in the northwest part of that AVA.

First stop Thistle Meadow winery.

Thistle Meadow does not grow any grapes.  They are strictly a winery but they do use NC grapes for most of their wine.

Interesting clay beehive type storage rack.   The bottles are supposedly kept cooler in this.

I tried 6 different wines, mostly red and my favorite was the Air Bellows Red
It seemed like the others were too acidic for my taste

One winery I have been trying to visit for years is McRichie.

 

 

The building is not particularly imposing, certainly nothing like Shelton or Raffaldini but I think they might make the best wines in Yadkin Valley.

They had sold out of a lot of their red wines, ( a good sign) but I was able to taste a red blend called Ring of Fire, a very nice Chardonnay that was oaky but yummy, and a very nice rose.  I don't usually care for rose wine but this was so good that I bought a bottle.  Also bought the Chardonnay and a bottle of hard cider that they are now making.   

 

McRichie does grow their own grapes.  About 20 + acres worth. 



 

FBV April Meeting Minutes

 

The April meeting of the FBV was held at Bob Bowles place.  Many thanks to Bob for his
hospitality.

 

President’s report

 The meeting started with a discussion of the organization’s meeting night.  Pros and cons of meeting on Wednesday were mentioned. 

A motion was made and seconded that our meeting night be on the third Wednesday of each month unless it was convenient for the host to change the night to some other day of the week, and the officers approved the change.  The motion was voted on and it passed

Pete and Chuck and Alan discussed the possibility that our PR is not getting handled the way we would like and that this is part of the problem we are experiencing with classes and other FBV projects getting canceled for lack of participation. 

Alan suggested that we have a committee made of Bob, Chuck, Pete, Alan, and John meet to discuss ways of improving our communication with the community

For the good of the order

Several members attended a wine tasting clinic at Rafaldini winery.  The intent of the clinic was to identify wine flaws.  In conjunction with this the North Carolina Wine Growers Association is offering a sticker to put on bottles that do not have technical flaws to the effect that consumers will know that this is a fault free wine.  FBV feels that this may be misleading the consumer into thinking that the wine is therefore and excellent wine, when in fact it may not be.  There was some discussion about how our organization should react to this concern.  Pete suggested that we should bring our concerns to the NCWGA and ask them to review their evaluation process.  Chuck suggested we ramp up our evaluation process and issue local wine evaluations based on the 4 star system using our members as a sensory panel to issue the ratings.

Tom Mincarelli will organize a series of wine tasting and judging days that meet during the month on days that do not conflict with the organization meetings. At these meetings our members will taste, judge, and discuss different wines in order to sharpen evaluation skills. 

 

Educational component

Alan and Paul presented a sensory exercise related to wine evaluation.  Fifteen different aroma vials were passed around to the membership and each member was asked to identify the odor.  Correct answers were then provided and each member checked their own responses.  It was a fun drill that revealed just how difficult it is to identify aromas.  Judy won the contest guessing 7 out of 15 correctly.  Most scores were much lower.

 

JD feeling the spirit(s)

 

FBV Minutes for March Meeting 2013

 

 

Meeting place:  Falderal Winery 

Treasurer Report:  25 paid Members.

       Bio Network soon to join

        Our physical year runs from July 1 to July 30

         We discussed a dues policy to the effect that:

a.       Members joining the second half of the year only owe ½ dues

b.      Members joining the last two months join for free

c.       Guests may come to two meetings before they owe dues 

Presidents Report:

        Alan reported on his trip to Winery unlimited in Richmond.  Some of his findings were as follows:

a.       in the class on flavor development effects of yeast on reducing green pepper taste no results were discernable between the two strains of yeasts tested

b.      In studies on improving brix at harvest, only crop thinning seemed to have an effect

c.       Chromatographic checking of Malolactic acid sensitivity was best using methylene blue and methylene red indicators

d.      At harvest a chromatographic check of grapes to determine breakdown of acids could give wine maker information for treating grapes during fermentation 

The NC winegrowers association conducted a quality assurance panel April 2.  It was hoped that FBV members would attend and write a report on what they learned     Pete and Chuck said that they would attend 

Chuck affirmed that we need to have input on quality control of wines in WNC

Alan gave a grafting update:  There were 2390 grapes grafted.  They are growing and some shoots are 3 inches  

VP Public Relations Report : Chuck discussed efforts to publicize the forum April 6 at AB Tech

 

Pete relayed the bad news that it looked possible that not enough people would sign up for the forum to make a class.  He did state that the good news is that we are now organized and ready to do a presentation when the opportunity arises and that we will have another shot at making  a forum this coming fall. 

Old  Business:  We need to rank the top 5 tests we would like to have done at AB tech.  They will get the materials necessary for the tests.  We need to get a survey back quickly within one week. 

Advantage west is committed to supplying equipment for what our needs are as well so need identification is important 

New Business:

Tom Mincarelli is now the southeast distributor for Vinmetrica.  He carries chemicals and equipment for simple testing of SO2 both bound and free, and TA, and pH.   

It was suggested that we have members who attend conferences type up an educational report to distribute to the members at the next meeting, or put on the blog for all to read.  This in the interest of keeping the meetings shorter.