AMERICAN WINE SOCIETY
A non-profit corporation

John Marshall Chapter


 

Good wine ruins the purse; bad wine ruins the stomach.


NOVEMBER MEETING

Sally Guthrie, from The Farm Store in The Plains, arranged for Jason Bise to present an intriguing topic: Organic and BioDynamic Wines. Jason is a wine professional representing The Country Vintner, a distribution company that sells nothing but the finest wines from around the world bar none (fellow chapter members Chris Pearmund and yours truly also distribute Country Vintner wines to retail outlets).

Jason succinctly explained that Organic and BioDynamic practices employ the use of organic materials in-lieu of agrochemicals in the vineyard to achieve a natural balance between the vines and their environment. The contention is that vineyard disease is the result of an imbalance between the vines and Mother Nature.  Bio-Dynamization goes beyond organics to account for the cosmic influence of the nine planets, the solar system, the twelve constellations, the sun, and the moon on the vines. And I'll leave it at that.

Jason poured the six organic / BioDynamic wines listed below.  Surprisingly we found that being organic, or BioDynamic, is not a detriment to a wines quality. But then again, what is quality? The wines were neither thin nor wimpy. To order any of these superior quality Country Vintner wines, check with Sally at the Farm Store in The Plains or Jerry Motter at the Whole Foods store in Reston.

Vignes du Maynes Macon Rouge $21
Huet Vouvray $22
Chateaux Couronneau Bordeaux $11
Bosquet St. Damien Cotes du Rhone Rouge $10
Bosquet St. Damian Cotes du Rhone Blanc $10
Abbaye de Valmagne Blanc $10

DECEMBER MEETING

Saturday, December 7th, is the Christmas Party! Ted and Catherine Goshorn have graciously offered to host our annual event again this year. It will be a joint party with the Northern Virginia chapter of Fairfax. The celebration is slated to flow from 6:30 p.m. till 10:30 p.m. A call goes out to bring a dish to share with others. Please let Mike Schlosser know what you will bring so that he can keep the hostess and host informed to make their planning easier. Please respond to mwschlosser@yahoo.com.

In keeping with the AWS philosophy of educating, our leader Mike has chosen a theme for the party to augment the festivities. Mike is choosing comparison wines for our enjoyment and edification. There will be French bubbles to compare to German bubbles; Loire Valley Sauvignon Blancs to compare with New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs; a Loire Valley Chinon (Cabernet Franc) to compare to Virginia's premiere red varietal Cabernet Franc; some organics to compare to non-organics; and Rick Stafford is supplying some outstanding South African wines as benchmarks for everything else. (Walt, Rick is bringing a Ruby Port).

There is a paltry $10 donation, at the door, to cover the wine tasting bonanza that will be awaiting your arrival. Home wine makers are encouraged to bring their bottlings and anyone wishing to contribute their personal favorite offering(s) of fermented grape juice will be welcomed.  Directions are as follows:

If you have any questions, please contact Mike Schlosser at 703-369-6416 or mwschlosser@yahoo.com.
 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

On January 12th, the SECOND Sunday in January, Bruce and Renie are presenting Wines of Maryland and New Joyzey.
On, February 2nd, Chris Braun is presenting German wines.

 

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

I used one of my favorite quotes in this my thirty-sixth edition, which completes my tenure of writing the newsletter, to exemplify the basic issue of our enjoyment of the elixirs of Bacchus, quality. Amongst the wine scholars the debate continually rages over a definition of what is quality. Michael Broadbent states it very simply; a quality wine is one without faults imparting some degree of excellence.

With an amazing plethora of winegrape varietals grown in a multitude of geographic areas around the world, and each area imparting its distinctive terroir into the taste, and each winemaker putting his/her individual thumbprint on the wine it's no wonder that quality is an elusive definition, a moving target, making in my opinion one single definition that applies to all wines superfluous.

It all ferments down to a personal definition of which wines you enjoy enough to repeatedly sip. AWS aids us in our search for "quality" wines through education and an opportunity to taste a variety of wines made in various styles exemplifying the differences available for our enjoyment. Personally I am enlisting help in my search for quality wines. Dear Santa, I would like just one bottle of the best wine every vineyard in the world produced. Oh, and I'd also like the time to judiciuosly sample each and every one of them.
 

See y'all at the party!

Smile . . .

Fletcher