Wine Blogger Conference : Here I Come!

A little over a year ago I decided to embark on the 2-year WSET Diploma journey. Classes started in July of 2015 and I have never turned back. I also made the bold decision to start a wine blog. Writing for the public takes some balls. What do you have to say? Can you make it interesting? Do other people give a shit?  If you can answer these questions affirmatively, then hey, write away.

Within one month I started the Diploma course, launched a blog, and attended the Wine Bloggers Conference in Finger Lakes, NY.   I can wholeheartedly say that WBC15 was one of the most exhilarating and exciting experiences I've ever had. It was an incredibly packed schedule filled with panels, discussions, tastings, networking, etc. Sounds boring and uninspiring as hell, right? But this... THIS was an experience. Everyone was PASSIONATE about wine and about what they had to say about wine. I was brushing elbows with stay at home moms who started their blog for fun, professional bloggers who work in the wine industry, and Masters of Wine (MW).  I left the conference inspired and energetic.  It was there that I realized I had a voice and that I wanted to use it. My blog was (and still is) a work in progress. Sometimes I struggle with: what do I want to convey here? Who is my audience? Etc.

As we speak, I am driving up to Lodi for my second Wine Bloggers Conference and I couldn’t be more excited. It is going to be a whirlwind and a half! Fun things on the agenda include: a sunrise harvest(!), an interview of a fellow blogger (Amanda Barnes of Around the World in 80 Harvests), and an interview for a fellow blogger (Heather Lipp of 10K Bottles).  Movin’ on up!

Below is the full itinerary for the sessions I am attending. 

The SOMMspirations blog will be dark during WBC16 and another week or so after as I gather my thoughts, notes, sanity(!), etc.

The Wednesday and early Thoursday activities are part of a pre-excursion I signed up for.  The trip is in Lodi as well and the theme is: Experimental Wines & Old Vines.

Wednesday August 10

3:45pm Vineyard walk and tasting of Rhone white grape varieties and Rose with Acquiesce Winery & Vineyards proprietor/winemaker Susan Tipton

5pm Lizzy James Vineyard walk with Harney Lane Winery owner/winegrower Kyle Lerner and winemaker Chad Joseph

5:30pm Tasting of Harney Lane Winery wines followed by Lodi wine country dinner

Thursday August 11

6:15am Sunrise grape picking and field sorting (location TBD)

7:15am Farm laborers’ breakfast beneath the vines

8:30am Mokelumne Glen Vineyard walk and field tasting of German/Austrian varietals with the Koth family (owner/winegrowers) and Markus Niggli, winemaker, Markus Wine Co

10am Bokisch Ranches’ Las Cerezas Vineyard; Introduction to Spanish grape growing with Bokisch Ranches’ owner/winegrower Markus Bokisch

11am Terra Alta Vineyard walk and tasting of Bokisch Vineyards’ Spanish varietals with owner/winegrower Markus Bokisch and winemaker Elyse Perry

Noon Lunch under the giant oak in Terra Alta Vineyard

1:15pm Abba Vineyard walk and field tasting of Grenache/Syrah with owner/winegrower Phil Abba and winegrower/winemaker Michael McCay, McCay Cellars

2:15pm Rous Vineyard walk and shaded tasting of ancient vine Zinfandel with owner/winegrower Craig Rous and multi-winemaker/vineyard Zinfandel tasting with Ironstone Vineyards’ Steve Millier, Macchia Wines’ Tim Holdener, and Mike McCay of McCay Cellars

6pm Interview with Heather Lipp of the 10K Bottles blog

6pm-8:30pm Registration and Lodi Opening Reception at Mohr Fry Ranch featuring a casual walk-around tasting of a careful selection of Lodi’s premium vineyard-designate wines. Live music by Snap Jackson & The Knock on Wood Players and dinner from Paul’s Rustic Oven Pizza.

Friday August 12

9am Opening, Welcome, and Keynote Speaker, Andrea Robinson

9:55am History of Grape Growing and Wine Making in Lodi

11am The Truth About Viticulture. Learn from a panel of experts how every little detail is important to successful grape growing, from weather to planting the right grape variety to harvesting at the proper time

11:55am Lunch and Expo

1:45pm Wine Discovery Session: Zinfandel Blending Workshop (Mike Dashe of Dashe Cellars and Brendon Eliason of Periscope Cellars)

3pm Live Wine Blogging (White & Rose). This is the pre-eminent event at the Wine Bloggers Conference. Winemakers will each have five minutes to pour their wine, present their story, and answer questions from a table of bloggers.  Bloggers will analyze and describe their impressions live via social media or their blogs.

4pm-8:30pm Excursions into Lodi Wine Country. Each excursion will include winery and vineyard visits, tastings, and dinner.

Saturday August 13

9:15am Wine Samples. Learn from both wineries and bloggers the intricate (but sometimes clumsy) dance that involves wineries sending samples to wine bloggers.

10:30am Making Google Love Your Blog. What does Google need to find your blog in 2016?

1pm Wine Discovery Session: Au Natural Alsace (Organic and Biodynamic Wines presented by Wines of Alsace)

2:15pm Panel of Wine Blog Award Winners

3:15pm Live Wine Blogging: Red

4:30pm From Passion to Pro: Getting Paid to Write About Wine. Learn some tricks of the trade, ways to make the jump from personal blogging to paid writing, and stories of the trials and successes of being a wine journalist.

5:30pm Wines of the World. Featuring Wines of Alsace from France and wines from the Consorzio Italia diVini & Sapori from Italy.

7pm Dinner, hosted by Lodi Wine. Dinner by South, Sacramento’s hotspot for contemporary Southern cuisine. This year’s WBC Dinner With Lodi Wine will feature a diverse selection of premium wines from 16 of Lodi’s top winery brands. Winemakers and owners of each winery will play sommelier to two dinner tables each, sharing their wines, their story, and – without doubt – their passion for good times.

9pm Wine Blog Awards Presentation

9:30pm Announcement of 2017 Location and Date

Sunday August 14

9:30am Increase Your Audience and Engagement. From social media groups to television producers, freelancing to working with other media sites, find ways to promote your blog and increase your community engagement.

10:45am Blogger Reports. Hear five-minute reports from your fellow bloggers that describe what they are doing as bloggers in the wine world.

Readers, please let me know if there is anything specific you'd like me to report back about: a particular session, pictures from the excursions into wine country, etc.  Let me know in the comments below and I will do my best to share with you all!

Disclosure: In exchange for a reduced rate to the Wine Bloggers Conference, attendees are required to write at least three blog posts about the conference either before, during or after.

Lodi Native (Part 2)

As a reminder, Lodi Native is a winemaking project where the goal is to make minimalist (aka low-intervention) terroir driven Zinfandels in the Lodi and Mokelumne River sub-AVAs. Layne Montgomery a Lodi Native winemaker also with M2 Wines gives a wonderful description of why Lodi Native exists: To prove to skeptics and the ill-informed that Lodi vineyards can, and do, produce world-class wines, to show that “old” vineyards can be productive and profitable, and to prove that the romance and sentimentality can be a “highest and best use” of land, labor, equipment, etc.  In summation, to bring attention to Lodi as a great wine-growing region as a whole, and to show that Lodi is a region of merit and deserves respect.

Enough talk about Lodi Native, lets dig into these wines! The first vintage of Lodi Native was 2012. The current vintage is 2013 and this is what I tasted, in this order (lowest alcohol to highest):

Stampede Vineyard, 13.9% ABV, Winemaker, Ryan Sherman (Fields Family Wines)

Marian’s Vineyard, 14.5% ABV, Winemaker, Stuart Spencer (St. Amant Winery)

TruLux Vineyard, 14.5% ABV, Winemaker, Michael McCay (McCay Cellars)

Wegat Vineyard, 14.5% ABV, Winemaker, Chad Joseph (Maley Brothers)

Soucie Vineyard, 15% ABV, Winemaker, Layne Montgomery (m2 Wines)

Schmiedt Ranch, 15.9% ABV, Winemaker, Tim Holdener (Macchia Wines)

I was very surprised by the light color of the first couple of wines. When I think of Zinfandel, especially Zins from a warmer climate, I think of deep, dark extractive reds. Honestly I think of $8-$10 fruit bombs on the grocery store shelves. When I first started drinking wine over a decade ago, I was VERY much into this style of wine. The deeper and fruitier, the better. I have since grown to appreciate more individuality in wines. I enjoy the outliers and the wines that taste “different”. In fact, when presented with a wine choice (be it at a wine shop or at a restaurant), I always strive to enjoy something new. Whether it’s trying a grape I’ve never had, or wine from a region I’ve never tasted. See a post HERE where I discuss this topic.

With wine “brands”, the goal is to maintain brand continuity. Consumers want to know that when they pick up a bottle of X wine (insert popular wine brand that can be found for about $8 at every grocery store and big box retailer), they want to know that it’s going to taste as they expect it to taste. There needs to be a consistency in that wine bottle after bottle. What about vintage variation? Climatic shifts? Michael McCay of McCay Cellars says his goal “is to make a wine with a sense of presence that expresses the character and trueness of the vineyard.” And with that comes all the variances that the earth gives us. It’s a beautiful thing and keeps things interesting...at least in my glass.  And now for my tasting notes:

Stampede Vineyard, 13.9% ABV, Ryan Sherman (Fields Family Wines)
This was the lightest of the bunch. Lots of bright red fruit on the nose and palate. I really enjoyed the food-friendly acidity. It took me to Italy and made me crave a simple pizza with crushed San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.

Marian’s Vineyard, 14.5% ABV, Stuart Spencer (St. Amant Winery)
This wine was delightful. It struck me as the most balanced of the bunch with not one aroma/flavor standing out. I didn’t feel that that this wine was trying to show me anything more than the pure fruit it came from. Beautiful in its simplicity.

TruLux Vineyard, 14.5% ABV, Michael McCay (McCay Cellars)
My notes say “an absolutely pleasing palate. Nice Acid. Give me food.” Word.

Wegat Vineyard, 14.5% ABV, Chad Joseph (Maley Brothers)
Really lovely red fruit on this wine with a nice, clean medium finish.

Soucie Vineyard, 15% ABV, Layne Montgomery (m2 Wines)
Red and black fruit. Pepper and a slight taste of cocoa on the palate. This wine has the most complex palate of the three.

Schmiedt Ranch, 15.9% ABV, Tim Holdener (Macchia Wines)
This is a lovely wine with very well integrated flavors. It calls for red meat and/or grilled foods.

Chad Joseph in the Lodi Native Wegat Vineyard

Overall, I am surprised at the wide array of styles presented here, which was exactly what the Lodi Native project set out to do.  The wines have differing levels of complexity, which made this exercise be quite an interesting comparison. I can report that Lodi Native does debunk the myth that Lodi is only capable of producing big, jammy Zins. Randy Caparoso, founder of the Lodi Native project wanted to draw attention to the fact that “special terroir related distinctions on a sensory level do exist among these growths the same way that they exist in top vineyards in Bordeaux, Burgundy, Germany, etc.”  He also wanted to prove that Lodi is a place with special vineyards, not just a big sea of vines with zero identity.

I feel that the fruit/terroir shine with these wines. The overall thread that ran through these wines is balance. As Lodi Native strived to convey, that was the work of nature, and not necessarily the work of the winemakers. Caparoso states that heritage/old-vine vineyards are in danger of being pulled out in most every wine region in the world. Old vines tend to have lower yields and low yield vines make very little economic sense. Similarly, they require more manual labor than newer vineyards for pruning, maintaining, and harvesting. Just about every one of the Lodi Native winemakers mentioned to me the pressure to use old vine vineyards for other uses (i.e. newer vines, different varietals, office buildings, warehouses, or urban sprawl).

What’s up next for Lodi Native?  The project is growing. Bob Colarossi of Estate Crush just joined. In fact, they are up to 12 winemakers participating. This project is not for everyone. Randy told me that the Lodi Native winemakers spend more time on these wines (which represent 2-3% of their production) than on any of their other wines. This project is helping them grow as winemakers and giving them knowledge that they can take to their other wines. Stuart Spencer of St. Amant told me that he is utilizing some of the Lodi Native principles (native yeast, no additives, and not using new oak) with his other winemaking projects. Tim Holdener, of Macchia Wines admits that he was the biggest “opponent” of the Lodi Native protocols. He felt the project would limit his winemaking abilities. Tim reminds me that “we had to truly trust that these vineyards would be able to stand on their own. And it worked!” Tim now uses at least a portion of these protocols in most of his winemaking.

I’d like to give a shout out to other fellow bloggers who have written pieces on Lodi Native. It’s always interesting and enlightening to get different perspectives…..that’s what keeps things interesting, right? So please have a look and help to support the wine blogging community!


Makers Table

The Drunken Cyclist

Vinography

Hawk Wakawaka

According to Chad Joseph of Maley Brothers Vineyards, Lodi Native was born out of an idea that wine producers could collaborate to show the true identity, terroir, of Lodi. In my humble opinion they are succeeding.

Marian's Vineyard, Zinfandel, Planted in 1901

Lodi Native

Old Vine Zin, Wegat Vineyard, Credit: Randy Caparoso

Next week I will head up to my second Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC16) in Lodi, California. Last years conference was a whirlwind. I had started my blog and WSET Diploma classes not a month earlier. There was A LOT going on at one time, but I can say that my time at WBC15 in Finger Lakes, NY was eye-opening and inspiring!

Ok, back to Lodi! In 2015 Wine Enthusiast named Lodi the “Wine Region of the Year”. See article HERE. The goal of this annual award is to “recognize not only excellence in wine quality, but also innovation and excitement coupled with the courage to take risks and the skill to succeed”. What an honor for Lodi! I’m chomping at the bit to get up there in a few days and explore!

Now, let’s get ready for the Wine Bloggers Conference by exploring a unique project called Lodi Native. The goal of Lodi Native is to make minimalist (aka low-intervention) terroir driven Zinfandels in the Lodi and Mokelumne River sub-AVAs. Bottom line: to make simple, clean wines with a focus on the fruit that the earth provides.

So...how do you make low-intervention wines? 
Well, you start with some rules. Ground rules for the Lodi Native winemakers include (these are simplified a bit than the full list, which can be found HERE):

1.  Native yeast fermentation (native fermentations start spontaneously by ambient yeasts and can produce a wine with a wider range of flavors and characteristics; this is in contrast to inoculated fermentations that are initiated by the winemakers which can produce more stable and predictable wines)

2.  No malo (malolactic fermentation is a when harsh malic acid is converted to softer lactic acid, adding flavor and complexity to the wine)

3.  No acid adjustment (in warmer climates wines can be acidified because the acid levels in warm-climate grapes can be a bit low; acidification is considered a “correction” for grapes that were picked too ripe)

4.  No new oak (new oak can impart flavors such as vanilla, coconut, and spice. Neutral oak or stainless steel tanks impart little to no additional “flavors”)

5.  Pre-1962 Old Vines are preferred (the industry consensus is that older vines make better wines)

6.  No de-alcoholizing (in warmer climates the alcohol levels in a wine can reach higher levels than in cooler climates)

7.  No tannin additions (commercial tannins are made by extracting tannins from wood and then adding them to wine. This is in contrast to naturally occurring tannins that can be found in the skins, seeds, and stems of grapes)

8.  No filtering/fining (filtering and fining can be done for aesthetic purposes to ensure the wine does not end up hazy or cloudy)

Who came up with this Lodi Native idea?
One man: Randy Caparoso. Randy is a full-time wine journalist who blogs HERE and who also consults with restaurants. He is an Editor-at-Large for the SOMM Journal and blogs for LodiWine.com. In Randy’s own words, the objective was to highlight heritage vineyards. According to him, it is the vineyards themselves that are the real “natives”.

Randy Caparoso

What is Lodi Wine about?
Grapes have been growing in Lodi since the 1850s with old-vine Zinfandel as king. Lodi used to be known predominantly for selling grapes to winemakers in other regions, including: Napa, Sonoma, and the Central Valley. When consumers would see “Lodi” on the label, they would perceive the wine to be a big jammy fruit bomb. Consequently, Lodi (and the Central Valley) came to be know as a place where industrial wines are made: wines with a lot of intervention and tinkering. Within the last 10-15 years, Lodi has started to be known as a “destination” for wine. There are over 70 small boutique wineries in Lodi. Many of them are family-owned and have been making wine for generations. The vineyards have warm and welcoming tasting rooms onsite and tourism overall to Lodi has increased. This has incentivized the winegrowers to hold onto more of their grapes to be made into wine under their own label.

This blog post is just an amuse bouche...we are not delving into the wines just yet. In my next post I will share the wines with you and introduce you to the 6 winemakers who made this Lodi Native project come to life.

Winemakers (from left): Layne Montgomery; Stuart Spencer; Ryan Sherman; Michael McCay; Tim Holdener; Chad Joseph

Layne Montgomery of M2 Wines
Stuart Spencer of St. Amant Winery
Ryan Sherman of Fields Family Wines
Michael McCay of McCay Cellars
Tim Holdener of Macchia Wines
Chad Joseph of Maley Brothers Vineyards

Where do you get these wines?
These wines are available exclusively as a 6-pack from the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center. Each 6-pack retails for $180.

Another One Bites the Dust

I am extremely happy to report that I received results from the Unit 1 Coursework Assignment and I passed! Not only did I pass, but everyone in my class passed, which is unprecedented!

The Coursework Assignment is a research paper that is half of the Unit 1 (The Business of Wine and Spirits) exam. We are given a few months to conduct research and complete the assignment. The CWA must be between 2,500-3,000 words. Our CWA topic was: wine brands. The prompt for discussion was whether or not wine brands are good for the consumer and/or producer. We had to conduct research on the topic, provide examples, and give our opinion and reasons to support it. In the last exam rotation in 2015, 84% of Diploma students passed the CWA. In the last 6 years, the average pass rate was 88%. While the overall pass rate has been high, it is quite a complement to our class and to our instructor that we had a 100% pass rate.

What’s next for SOMMspirations?

I am still anxiously awaiting my Unit 6 Fortified exam results. Those should be here around the middle/end of August. Moving forward, I still have the one big boy left: Unit 3 (Still Wines of the World). Those classes don’t begin until the end of October (exam is June 2017). I am going to continue my mini-sabbatical until mid-August or so, then start prep for Unit 3. In preparation for Unit 3, I am going to spend some time reviewing Unit 2: Viticulture/Vinification. This is essentially the science of grape growing and the science of making wine. Unit 2 forms the backbone of the entire Diploma certification. I want to re-familiarize myself with all the viti/vini that I learned so that it is at my fingertips once we start our classes, which are broken down by region.

In September we will start our tasting groups outside of class, as well as form study groups to tackle the reading/studying as a group. It is a pretty incredible amount of information to study for Unit 3, so I believe as a class, we are going to divide and conquer and “teach” each other our sections in study groups. That way when we meet up in our formal classes, we will be more prepared with questions and clarifications, versus coming to class to learn the information there. Better to come prepared and expose yourself to the materials one more time.

The other item coming up for me is the Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi, California in August. I’ve got quite a bit of prep work to get ready: blog posts to plan, itinerary to lay out, contact with local winemakers, sample tastings to schedule, etc. Not to mention all of the follow up work that comes out of the conference!

No rest for the weary!

Make a Wine Entrance

How can you make an entrance when arriving at a party? A stunning new outfit? Arriving late enough so that everyone swings around to see who just walked in? Waltzing in with your ex on your arm? Those are a few options. But this wouldn’t be a wine blog if I was suggesting one of those things!

I’d like to suggest that arriving with a stellar bottle of wine is the surest way to make an entrance at a party. I’m not talking about an entrance that will get people talking or an entrance that will feed your ego. I am talking about an entrance that will show thoughtfulness towards the host. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to nail it when you bring a bottle of wine to a friends house.

1.  Think about the host. At the end of the day you should bring something your host likes. If you know that the host hates white wine, for god’s sake, don’t bring a bottle of white wine. Maybe you just have a general idea of what they like (i.e. they love red, and hate white). Maybe you know a bit more (i.e. they are big fans of pinot noir or they frequently visit Sonoma wine country). Use whatever information you have about that person to help guide your choice.

2.  Steer away from “vanity labels”. I must admit that this is a bit controversial to suggest. Vanity labels are what I call wines that impress people when they see them (i.e. a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne with the indistinguishable orange/yellow label in Pantone 137C or a fancy schmancy bottle of Napa Cab that costs you an arm and a leg). Why, you say, wouldn’t you want to bring a bottle of impressive wine? Answer: because anyone can do that. Not a lot of thought goes into grabbing that expensive bottle of Champagne in which most of the cost of the bottle goes to paying for the marketing budget of the brand. Not a lot of thought needs to go into buying that Wine Spectator 99-Point rated bottle that sits on the end-cap at BevMo.

3.  Patronize your local wine shop. Employees at wine shops are gold mines. Give them a budget and an idea of what you’re looking for, and they’re sure to have some good suggestions.

4.  Be sure that white, rose, or sparkling wines are chilled! There is nothing worse than presenting the host with a lovely bottle of wine that is not ready to be served. Throw that bottle in the fridge or freezer while you are getting ready! There are some great (and inexpensive) products to keep you bottles cold in transit.  You can try a corksicle, an ice bag, or a wrap around cooler.

5.  Greet the host warmly, thank them for the invitation into their home, and be sure to tell them why you selected this bottle of wine (i.e. I know you LOVE pinot OR I know you and your hubby honeymooned in Tuscany so here’s a lovely Tuscan red OR your family is from Greece, so I found an assyrtiko at my favorite wine shop).

I hope this post will help you make a wine entrance at your next dinner party! These are easy and subtle suggestions, but they go a long way. It is my hope that you enjoy this blog and crack open a bottle of wine with friends and family…..and frequently. The meaning of life is to live it. And how better to live it than by drinking good wine with the people you love. Until next time!

Orlando

It has been an interesting and full couple of weeks. For one, I took my WSET Fortified Wine exam on Tuesday June 14th. It was a doozy (aren’t they all?). And yet again we wait 8 weeks for these results.

The day I was to attend the BubblyFest LA PopUp was Sunday June 12. I awoke at 7am as I got to bed quite early the night before. When I woke up, I had multiple alerts on my phone from news outlets reporting that 20 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando. To say this was shocking to read as soon as I opened my eyes is an understatement. It almost felt like a dream, or more accurately, a nightmare. Did that really happen? Were people butchered while out drinking and dancing? As many people thought “that could have been me”, within an hour or so, more alerts started coming and the headline was revised to state that 50 people were dead at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando. I felt disbelief upon reading this. I work in the LGBT community (as the Events & Tours Manager for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles) and LGBT people make up an important and integral fabric of the people in my life. This didn’t feel like something that happened to “them”, this felt like something that happened to “us”. How could somebody do this? How could SO many innocent lives be lost. The numbers were staggering as my head and heart had trouble processing it all that day. My heart ached for the people who lost their lives. People who were fully self-expressed, dancing, and spending an evening out with friends. It was (and still is) just too much to absorb. I am still processing through my emotions about the tragic incident in Orlando. May we all appreciate each day a bit more and learn to live our lives without those 49 lives who were taken too soon.

The afternoon of the 12th I was honored to attend the BubblyFest LA PopUp at LA Mother with a press pass. I almost did not go. I “needed” to study for my exam, but mostly I needed to mourn. I spent most of that day crying, repeatedly watching the news, reading articles, emailing with friends, etc. I felt a bit lost that day, but I knew I owed it to myself to carry on. Carry on with life and with my passions. I studied as best as I could, and I chose to attend the BubblyFest LA PopUp event. And I am glad I did. It was nice to connect with people, albeit strangers. I felt myself look people in the eye a bit stronger, smile a bit longer, and to ultimately be present. Present to life, to each other, and even to wine. Wine is something that I love. It is a living breathing thing that Mother Earth so generously gives to us. For one hour on that Sunday I let go and enjoyed wine. Really simple. I went from table to table and sipped and enjoyed wines. Some of my highlights were from: Palmina Winery, J Vineyards & Winery, Hagafen Cellars, and Gruet Winery.

Tasting from Mia Rosa upon arrival 

I am happy to report that I have also been granted a press pass for the main event, BubblyFest by the Sea in Avila Beach, CA in October. BubblyFest is the only festival dedicated to Sparkling Wine in the United States. It is sure to be a tremendous event and I am honored to report on it. Stay tuned for posts leading up to the main event.

WSET Diploma Update

Believe it or not, I am almost halfway done with my WEST studies.  I started in July of 2015 and really had no idea what I was getting into and what to expect.  Fast forward and I have taken 4 exams and completed a research paper.  Only 2 exams remain before I finish my WSET studies!

Here is a breakdown of where I stand:

Unit 1: The Business of Wine and Spirits
     Case Study PASSED
     Research Paper AWAITING RESULTS

Unit 2: Viticulture & Vinification PASSED

Unit 3: Still Wines of the World SESSIONS BEGIN IN OCTOBER; EXAM JUNE 2017

Unit 4: Spirits PASSED

Unit 5: Sparkling Wines PASSED

Unit 6: Fortified Wines EXAM JUNE 14TH

I am happy to report that I have passed all of the Diploma exams that I have taken this far.  Considering that I do not work in the wine biz and do not have access to wine on a daily basis, I am extremely proud!  When I walked into class last July and we all shared a little about ourselves, most of my 18 cohorts shared that they work in the business.  I felt like an underdog and was a bit intimidated.  I was pretty sure I'd have to study a lot more and spend more time on things than my classmates.  Whether I am doing that or not, something is working!

My time now is spent preparing for the Fortified Wines exam on June 14th.  With fortified wines we study Sherry (from Spain), Port (from Portugal), Madeira (from the island of the same name), and a few other fortifieds including: vin doux naturel from a few regions in France and Australia's Rutherglen Muscat.

I will report back once I sit my fortified exam on Tuesday June 14th.  Until then.......