!a 9wL/!b íLb9 {h /L9Çò b9í{ Prom oting Appreciation of Wine T hrough Education Spring 2010 Volume 24, No. 1 / Cincinnati It Is! Join us as we host the largest consumer wine education conference in the ! Ç United States. Cincinnati, Ohio has been selected as the host location for the 2010 AWS National Conference, November 11-13, 2010. Conference !í{ ! b Registration materials will be available in the late summer. !í{ 9 C The host hotel is the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati and the AW S room block officially opened for reservations on Thursday, March 18. Please call !í{ . b 1-888-421-1442 and mention that you are with the AWS Conference, or book online at https://resweb.passkey.com/go/kaws. / L ! / " # We are pleased to offer the room rate of $135 (single or double occupancy) / b $ for the conference this year. D! !&& ' NOTE: As with our conferences in 2008 and 2009, please remember that there is a one night, non-refundable deposit required for booking in the a AWS conference rate. b /& ) M ark your calendars for N ovem ber 11-13, 2010 b h && b See you in Cincy! t , a " ' Ç - ! í . { !í{ b T he G reat Wines of Chile & Argentina If you‘re not yet familiar with the wines from these countries, you‘re in for a treat this year. The NTP committee has been working hard to assemble a great cross-section of wines from this region for you to sample. Chile and Argentina have been making wine since the 1500‘s and their products include AWS Website Updates both familiar varietals like Cabernet Sauvi- http://w w w .am ericanw inesociety.org gnon and also Carmenère, Torrontés and Malbec, which may be new to you. Recently added information includes: Information on the 2010 National Conference in Cincinnati The information on conducting the tasting (Go to Conferences–2010) and the wines will be sent to all Chapter Chairs by March 15. Please conduct your ñ Photos and videos from the 2009 National Conference tasting and submit the results by October 15 (Go to Conferences–2009) so we can present the results at the National ñ List of 2010 Committee Chairs, Regional VP‘s and Chapter Chairs Conference in Cincinnati. (Go to About Us–AW S Directory) D ennis Cassady ñ Information on the 2010 National Tasting Project (Home Page) NTP Chairman R em em ber to keep your profile up to date! Log in on the right side of the [email protected] H om e page and select Update M y Profile. t , a " D! !&& í t. C 53 . Happy New Year!! West Comes East These first couple months have been very invigorating. Spe- United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilask recently cial thanks to the members who have taken the time to con- announced the appointment of Karen Rose as Chief of Staff to nect to me and voice their thoughts and concerns about the the Secretary of Agriculture. American Wine Society and our future. We continue to ad- Karen Ross comes to Washington with leadership experience dress the issues that have been expressed to me. I believe having been the President of the California Association of Wine we are getting a handle on the glitches in our email system. Grape Growers (CAWG), a position she held since 1966. Prior When the database from the old system was ingested into to that she served as Vice President for Government Affairs for the new one, as to be expected, a few problems arose. The the Agricultural Council of California. new system offers a wide variety of powerful capabilities. The web team has been working diligently to address and allevi- Mrs. Ross is well acquainted with Washington, having actively ate those annoying glitches that many of us have encoun- participated in the conduct of the annual U.S. Wine and Grape tered while using the member profile database. Yes, I have Policy Conference, held in Washington each year. As the encountered those annoying goblins also! But, we cannot leader of the California representatives to the conference, she turn our backs on the system because, in the long run, it will personally met with the Senators and Representatives of her help improve the efficiency and bottom line of AWS. state to brief them on the interests of small crop and grape growers in California in the annual farm bill. As we move forward, we cannot fully take advantage of the flexibility of the new system without the help of each AWS Mrs. Ross has always believed in the value of research in im- member. It is extremely important that each member (both proving and stabilizing crops of all varieties, but, in all prob- primary and secondary) go to the web-site and input their ability, will maintain a strong interest in the wine and grape data under the member profile (chapter affiliation, special industries. interest, etc.). In the future we will be able to tailor the dis- tribution of information based on member preference. This And We STILL Don‘t Know What Wine Was Served! data will also serve as a guide for selecting presenters at our On November 24, President Obama, as Chiefs of State are annual conference. I was on the board in 1983 when we pur- want to do, hosted a big party for the Prime Minister of India. chased the first small computer for AWS. Today, computer Invitations to attend went to the highest and mightiest. power abounds but it is only as good as the information that Among those who felt they should be in attendance was the goes in. Make sure to keep your profiles updated as this will winemaker and scion of a well-known Virginia winery and his help greatly in the effectiveness in serving you - the mem- wife, Tareq and Michaele Salahi. But, they had no invitation. bership. When the time came to go to the party, the invitation had not At the end of February we held our second board meeting of arrived. No matter, they would go anyway and surely they the year. During this meeting we explored a few basic but would be on the list. very essential goals for the future of AWS. The areas of chap- ter development, membership growth, member benefits, After an afternoon of excited preparation, the Salahis arrived wine industry relationship and overall marketing of the or- at the pedestrian gate of the White House where they pre- ganization were the key items discussed. Paul Wagner, of sented two forms of identification and were told to join an- Balzac Communication, was on hand to help ascertain how other group of —just arriving“ guests. his organization could aid in achieving our goals. They by-passed the name tag table and proceeded to a second In order to balance the budget for this year, we were re- checkpoint where they again presented their passports as quired to reduce the hours allocated for administrative sup- identification. They entered the White House and mingled with port in the national office. During the annual renewal period the crowd. They wound up in the Presidential receiving line many hours are spent handling mailed in forms. In the com- and, in the Blue Room, were introduced to President Obama. ing year if more members take advantage of renewing online Photos were taken, with the President, Vice President and it will greatly reduce the hours required to process the infor- other notables. It was approaching 9:30 pm, time for dinner, mation, thereby saving both work hours and funds. and the Salahis had no table assignment. One difficult challenge for the American Wine Society is one At this point Mrs. Salahi said she wasn‘t feeling well and they shared by many organizations nowadays, especially non- would have to leave. The charade was over and it was a suc- profits. Just like others, the problem of too little money, too cess–almost. The press noticed that the Salahi names were small a staff or too few volunteers to effectively deliver many not on the official guest list. With all the security checks, how of the expectations of the membership plagues AWS. We will could they have gotten in? continue to attempt to work smarter and take advantage of the technological aids that the new web site/database offers. The press leapt like vultures. A State Dinner that normally would have rated a few column inches and a couple photos If you have any thoughts you desire to share with me please became a major story with finger pointing, White House se- free to email me at [email protected] crecy and a Congressional hearing … and a ton of publicity for the —little old winemaker“ from Virginia. Willis Parker We still don‘t know what wine was served for dinner–that‘s a AWS President, 2010-2011 state secret. Continued on Page 6 !í{ b1{ " ' t" ' !í{ / b W .. / 9!5 ! í { 3" The Atascadero (CA) Chapter met on December 11 at the home of Janice and Gary Smith for a tasting featuring old Earthy, citrusy, complex with a long, creamy aftertaste and young Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly from Napa. The goal Piper Heidsieck (Reims, France) 40 was to learn if the mature wines remained in good shape and Sulfur or burnt match nose, light to compare their flavors with that of the few younger wines. Riondo Prosecco Spago Nero (Veneto, Italy) 15 The reviews were good for both age groups of wines with the Fruity, tropical nose with flavors of sweet peaches. '04 Honig Napa Cab being the favorite wine of the tasting.