The GOOD NEWS is that Brad and Christy at Pinnacle Ridge Winery invited us to offer Wine Appreciation classes at the winery starting in May. They are helping us market these classes through their winery newsletter and by providing information and the option to register for classes at the winery. In turn, we'll be helping better educate their customers about wine tasting and the "world of wine." Classes are still just $35 per person.
We are offering each class on a Thursday night and a Friday afternoon, trying to accommodate people's different schedules. If you'd prefer a different day or night, let us know before we schedule our next set of classes in July and we'll try to schedule classes at the most popular times. We still offer Home Schoolin' classes for groups of 8 or more at your home, business, or organization. Email us at Vintageconnections@comcast.net for more information on Home Schoolin' or classes at Pinnacle Ridge.
Classes at Pinnacle Ridge Winery are limited to 18 people, so contact us soon to register!
Below is an excerpt from Pinnacle Ridge's April Newsletter.
NEW AT PINNACLE RIDGE:
WINE EDUCATION CLASSES!!
Wine educators Dean and Lisa Foster team up with
Pinnacle Ridge. The seminars will be held at Pinnacle
Ridge in a newly renovated space designed for special
wine tastings. Seminars run 2 and ½ hours and cost
$35.00 per person.
Red and White: Wine Appreciation Basics
Thursday, May 12, 6:30-9 PM or
Friday, May 13, 1:30-4 PM
Learn more about wine, wine tasting, wine and food
pairing, and the world of wine. In this seminar, you’ll
learn by tasting, discussing, and comparing three of the
world’s most popular red wine types and three of the
world’s most popular white wine types. Taste, Learn,
Enjoy!
What’s in a Name?: Wine Appreciation Basics
Thursday, May 26, 6:30-9 PM or
Friday ,May 27, 1:30-4 PM
Wine names and labels can be confusing. In this
seminar, you’ll learn how wines get their names so you
can more intelligently shop for and enjoy different kinds
of wine. You’ll learn by tasting, discussing, and
comparing six wines that get their names in several
different ways. Taste, Learn, Enjoy!
For more information contact: Dean and Lisa Foster
Wine Educators and Consultants
610-469-6164 or 610-310-9942
vintageconnections@comcast.net
Wine Mystery Novels
By accident a few years ago, we discovered a series of "Wine County Mysteries" by Ellen Crosby (click here for more info). We've read (OK, Dean has read) the first four and we are ordering the remaining two on this list.
The Merlot Murders, 2006
The Chardonnay Charade, 2007
The Bordeaux Betrayal, 2008
The Riesling Retribution, 2009
The Viognier Vendetta, 2010
The Sauvignon Secret, 2011
The Chardonnay Charade, 2007
The Bordeaux Betrayal, 2008
The Riesling Retribution, 2009
The Viognier Vendetta, 2010
The Sauvignon Secret, 2011
We've also enjoyed several wine-themed books by Peter Mayle including The Vintage Caper and The Cottage with Too Many Keys (set in the Finger Lakes) by Robert W. Gregg.
Sit back with a glass (or bottle) of wine and enjoy!
What We've Been Drinking
It's been two weeks since we published this blog, so the list is longer than we can remember. Here are a few highlights. Also, remember to go to our other blog, The Grapevine, in the Pottstown Mercury for weekly wine recommendations and detail about (usually) two wines.
To celebrate our partnership with Pinnacle Ridge, we opened two of Brad's best wines. His Veritas always wins awards, and we've been hoarding a few bottles of his 2005 vintage, along with some 2004 Chambourcin Reserve. Wonderfully rich, deep, and smooth.
To lighten things up a bit (not the same night), we enjoyed a bottle of Manatawny's Blanc de Blancs. Joanne makes a great, just off-dry sparkling from a combination of grapes (hence the Blanc de Blancs with an "s" rather than Blanc de Blanc without an "s").
Good friends came for dinner one night. They came for wine, actually. Dinner is just a necessary side-effect when staying 6-7 hours and enjoying a few good wines. They surprised us with CHAMPAGNE, you know, the real stuff from Champagne, France. This time is was Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. Wow! Yummy. Need we say more?
We countered with a White Springs Fume Blanc (sauvignon blanc aged on oak), an Allegro Vineyards and Winery (south-central PA) Chardonnay, the Trapiche Oak Cask Pinot Noir that we reviewed in our newsletter and Grapevine blog last week, and our favorite semi-dry Rieslings, a Hermann Wiemer (2006).
Somewhere along the way, during the week somewhere between dinner and watching some TV, we (Lisa mostly) enjoyed a Hunt Country Seyvl Blanc and a Sheldrake Point Pinot Gris. We had to cancel our Wines of the Finger Lakes class, so compensated by drinking these two Finger Lakes wines we earmarked for that class. (We weren't going to share the Hermann Wiemer Riesling, sorry).
Over the past couple of weeks we also attended two American Wine Society tastings, one with the Perkiomen Valley Chapter where we sampled and learned about four Oregon wines: a chardonnay, a pinot gris, and two pinot noirs. We didn't write down the names because we'll get detail in the group's next newsletter. We'll recap those next time.
Enough for now?
Enough for now?
ENJOY RESPONSIBLY!!
Dean and Lisa Foster
Vintage Connections: Wine Educators and Consultants
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