Home winemakers share their wines for a good cause.
Photo by jack Bertram
There is a certain charm about weekend events in Sonoma. On Oct. 13 the Valley of the Moon Dilettante Enological Society (VOMDES) held their second annual Home Winemakers Celebration on the back patio of the Swiss Hotel. The celebration is held as a fundraiser for the Sonoma Valley High School Boosters Club and is a means for home winemakers to show off their wines. Last year the event raised over $15,000 and this year is looking even better.
The home winemakers each donated three bottles of the wine they were pouring as a silent auction item. Home winemakers are not allowed to sell their wines. (That’s the law!) The 18th and 21st Amendments allow each individual or family to make a limited amount for personal consumption, but they cannot sell it. But if a taster liked the wine, they could bid on it, and if successful, it would be theirs and they would be making a nice donation to the Boosters Club.
A group of 33 local home winemakers, including me, shared our wines with those who attended. I brought a 2005 Cabernet, which got fairly good reviews. Doug Ghiselin, secretary of VOMDES, brought his “Gold Medal” Chardonnay, which got the largest donation. Doug says the key to his wines is “good fruit.” Doug grows his own cabernet and obtains other varietals from local growers by helping them in their vineyards.
Bobbie and Pat Collins poured their 2003 Syrah, 2004 Carignane and 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel. The zinfandel was quite good and was blended with 10 percent petite sirah and 5 percent syrah. In past years, Bobbie has been quite involved in the home winemaking competition held annually here in Sonoma.
Silvano Payne poured his 2004 Siesta Ranch Cabernet, which won a gold medal at the Sonoma County Fair. I asked him what he considered an important element in his winemaking. “One,” he said, “is topping.” As the wine ages in the barrel, evaporation takes place. Periodically, additional wine must be added to the barrel to replace what was lost through evaporation. Silvano takes a bottle from a previous year’s collection – i.e., “the good stuff” – and uses it to top off the barrel. “The mistake some people make,” Silvano went on to say “is to top off with something that isn’t that great, just to use it up…doesn’t make sense. They are just being penny wise and pound foolish.”
Michael Cooper brought his 2006 Pinot Noir Rosé. It received a gold medal and “Best of Class” at the Home Winemakers Celebration wine judging. It was quite good. I asked Cooper why he chose to make a rosé. It seems that he had an abundance of grapes last year and thought he would try it.
Roberto D’Addona, a mechanical engineer from New York City, was quite surprised that these “homemade wines” were so good. D’Addona is originally from Italy and, having lived in New York for 13 years, still wasn’t quite sure California wines were on the same par as those from Europe. As an amateur photographer, he wanted to take some pictures of the wine country and experience some California wines for himself, instead of at a wine bar in New York City. He was quite pleased with our wines and was surprised when he was told he couldn’t buy any of the wines we were serving. He kept asking, “What would it take me to get a bottle?” I encouraged him to be the highest bidder on the auction sheet.
While pressing grapes last weekend with Dan Roseland, he shared with me that he had learned a new word. “Dilettante,” he said, “means an amateur having fun with what he is doing.” Making wine, sharing with others, raising funds for a good cause and having fun in the process – I like that.
Jack Bertram is a Sonoma resident and brings a unique perspective to home winemaking. He is the President of the Valley of the Moon Dilettante Society www.vomdes.org.
