News about wine making and wine appreciation by our Deaf fellows and friends, news not about people
Editor: Rusty Wales, the vintner of Prince of Wales wines
Webmaster: Bobby Skedsmo, the creator of the Estate of Skedsmo wines
Wine Quotation:"A man dies too young if he leaves any wine left
in his cellar."
Andre Simon
French-born wine merchant in England (see last edition for his other wine quotation).
When he died in 1970, there was only one bottle left in his own cellar after collecting hundreds
of wine bottles. 1877-1970
Editor Rusty's Rap:Build Your Own Wine Cellar
With the help of my friends, I dug out tons of dirt from the crawl space before Karen and I moved to our newly-built house. Why? To build my own wine cellar! Even though it is tiny in our crawl space, I can enter without having to crawl. This small (6' x 8' with 6 feet in height) can hold a dozen wine cases (12x12=144). To top it all, this cellar has natural or "passive"; no electricity power is necessary to control the temperature or humidity which meets the basic requirements for storing wine bottles. The digital temperature scale indicates 55 degrees F and 75% humidity . . . that's optimal in a wine cellar. This kind of space is a natural wonder, making sense why some wineries store
their wine in caves! At this writing, my wine cellar remains unfinished. Like making wine, it takes the virtue of patience to finish a good cellar!
Oregon's Superb 2012!
Wine Spectator Magazine - January 31 - February 28, 2015 declared that 2012 was one of best vintages for Oregon's Pinot Noir. A record total of 16 wines earn classic scores of 92 points or higher on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale. "This number is even more impressive when you consider that the 16 bottles hail from 10 different wineries, showcasing both the quality of the vintage and the growing number of top producers." All those are from Oregon, mostly from Willamette Valley near Portland, Oregon! They can be extraordinary, even in the moderately priced "Smart Buy" category. This wine is hitting the market shelves now. In other words, affordable! Wine Enthusiasts magazine
states that on a scale of 10 the Oregon's 2012 vintage is an 11! "The 2012 vintage in Oregon produced some of the finest Pinot Noir fruit we have ever received from anywhere." - Adam & Dianna Lee.
Editor's note: Pinot Noir is a medium-body varietal with low acid and light tannins. You would enjoy a glass of Pinot Noir with or without a meal, unlike the noble full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon which tends to be paired with a steak-type dinner for enjoyment. If you can recall some scenes in the hilarious movie, "Sideways" this show emphasizes the wonders of Pinot Noir!
News in the Deaf Community:
(1) Deaf Grapevine will soon go FaceBook. This will give you all DG subscribers an opportunity for our true "grapevine" comments anytime, not just limited to time-restricted, quarterly eNewsletters.
(2)Teresa Finnigan, the chairlady, and the 2015 Deaf StompFest committee has been working hard as they plan this exciting annual event. Due to the small space at the winery site, limited tickets will be sold. Hurry and don't miss out this year! Here is the formal announcement!
In view of much success with Oregon's Pinot Noir as noted above, you gotta come to Deaf StompFest 2015 in Saturday, September 19th and find out why wines made in Washington/Oregon (Pacific NorthWest) is SO good!! A selfguided tour through Willamette Valley on Sunday, September 20 is being planned.
Cartoons on Wines:
(thanks to Sue Cameron for her submission on a dozen of wine cartoons)
