The BEWBC Fundamentals of Wine Making class is starting soon!
Learn winemaking from among the Best
Pre-harvest classes to be held for 4 consecutive Saturdays starting August 6, 2011
Bellevue Office Building - contact Steve Foise for details
Fee $35 for classroom, materials, and expenses
Participants will learn the fundamentals of the winemaking process, from classroom theory to hands on experience, guided by expert winemakers. This four class program focuses on developing essential knowledge, skills, and confidence to produce quality wine from world class grapes.
You do not need to be a member of BEWBC to sign up for the class. However, as a member, you will have access to world class grapes, essential club winemaking equipment and winemaking expertise.
The Fundamentals of Winemaking class is offered only once a year. Seating is very limited. Reserve your seat now.
The class will be held in a downtown Bellevue office building with validated parking provided. The first class will start promptly at 8:30 am and run about 3 hours.
The curriculum is spread out over six classes. The first four classes will focus on wine theory to prepare you for the harvest. The course will focus on red wine making though we will reference fruit and white wine production.
In between the fourth and fifth classes you will be applying the theories taught in class and making wine from your grapes. The fifth class will be scheduled once everyone's wine has been made - which will be sometime between late November and early December. This class will focus on testing and evaluating your wines, sharing your experiences, and conducting any corrections required. The sixth and final class will be scheduled sometime in mid January once your wines are through fermenting. This class is designed to give us one final opportunity to evaluate the wine's progress, test it for stability, making any corrections, and prepare it for aging.
We would like to think that one of the benefits of attending the class is having access to quality grapes and, as a cohort, collectively follow the wine making process from crushing, through fermentation, to pressing, and finally preparing the wine for bottling. Please note that due to a very hard freeze last November which was followed by a wet, cool spring, the grape harvest will be smaller than average and will likely be harvested later than average. As with any agricultural product these are the unforeseen risks which impact a vintage.
If you have not already ordered grapes as a member of the club, we will have access to merlot ($1.00/lb) from the Wauluke slope, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from the Red Mountain area (each $1.50/ lb). Grape prices are estimates and include transportation costs delivered to where we crush.
For more information or to register, email Steve Foisie, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.