Aspiring Vintners - Wonderful Winemaking Program for All

By Michael Reiss, Editor, foodandwineaccess.com

"Aspiring Vintners" stay at the Historic Hope-Merrill House.

Photo by Michael Reiss

Have you ever considered what goes into making wine? Some lucky folks have a chance to find the answer during the "Aspiring Vintners" program, which occurs in the Sonoma Valley's historic Hope-Merrill and Hope-Boswell Houses. These bed and breakfast inns are located in Geyeserville and offers a program where the guests can actually pick their own grapes and then press them into grape juice-- the first steps in the magical transformation of grapes into wine.

Guests are treated to gourmet country-style meals and sleep "among the vines" in a meticulously restored Victorian historical house. Each room has it own "theme." We stayed in the "Bachelor-Button Room." This room has wallpaper with prints of Bachelor-Button flowers, also picked up in the bedspread and down comforter. On the wall are Renoir reproductions and a Maxwell Parish print, 18th century looking silhouettes cutouts and comfortable 19th century period furniture. Other guests rooms include the "Peacock Room," the "Victorian Room, " etc.

What was a great surprise was the excellent food served. Meals were served family style. Guests passed huge, flower-decorated platters of food down the Victorian family table or sat outside and lunched "among the flowers" or under a vine arbor. At one breakfast we received homemade English style bread-pudding (served with blue berry compote and whipped cream) and richly flavorful coffee or if you preferred, English tea.

Guests are treated to a sumptuous country breakfast.

Photo by Michael Reiss

What was a particular delight was the "Aspiring Vintners" residential expert and winemaker, Graham Parnell. English by birth, and articulating with refined speech, Graham explained the fine points of wine vinification while inspiring us to load bucket after bucket of just-picked grapes into the bin.

There is nothing like being in the vineyard cutting off clumps of grapes. It allows a first hand view of what wine making is all about hard work! We learned so much being in the field, being so close to the harvesting process. Obvious to the experienced grape farmer or wine maker but new to us was the fact that grapes under a leafy canopy were not as sweet and ripe as the grapes completely exposed to direct sun light.

 

Picking Grapes was Great Fun!

Photo by Michael Reiss

Our guide through all this picking and pressing was Graham Parnell, who besides being a wine maker and advisor for a number of local vintners is also a Professor of Enology at Santa Rosa College nearby. Graham explained how to use a hand spectrometer to test the sugar content in the grapes--called "brix. " The grapes needed to be an acceptable sugar level to be picked.

 

 

Master Wine Maker Graham Parnell was there to help.

Photo by Michael Reiss

After picking we poured the large bins of grapes into a de-stemmer. Then, with an old-time screw-press two folks at a time squeezed or "pressed" the grapes to produce wonderful fragrant grape juice. The grape juice ended up in large plastic vats with yeast added to await our return in Spring, after fermentation for the blending and bottling.

Rather than use elaborate and expensive machines the "Aspiring Vintners" program uses the old-fashioned method of a simple mechanical de-stemmer and an old-fashioned wooden screw press, manually intensive, but nevertheless yielding gallons of grape juice. Indeed, we were "back to the basics." The experience of being in the field puts one in contact with nature, in this case the rhythm of harvest time, when the grapes become ripe and ready to pick

So, exhausted, splattered with grape juice, and filled with respect and appreciation of nature's process, guests settled back to relax in the large swimming pool or take a rest on the chaise lounge. Spring would be soon enough, a time to return...to blend, bottle, and ultimately, to drink that wonderful wine.

 

Please read on for details:

For a picture gallery of the event, please click here: Picture Gallery

 

What It Is:

"The Aspiring Vintners Wine Making Program" is a program for anybody who would like to experience the challenge and excitement of picking, de-stemming, pressing the grapes, then returning and blending, labeling, and bottling the wine.

The program includes FOUR NIGHTS LODGING in a luxury historic inn setting for TWO PERSONS, ALL MEALS: which includes sumptuous breakfasts each morning; two wine/food receptions; two gourmet picnics; four alfresco dinner, AND two private winery tours or wine tastings.

IN ADDITION, take away TWO CASES of your own wine!

Cost:

This program could easily cost $2,400.

Mention "Food and Wine Access’s" Internet special and the cost is $1,200 PER COUPLE! (Two Persons)

Dates:

Session 1: Sun-Mon, September 8-10, 2002 and Sun-Tu, May 5-7, 2002 (Program ends at Noon on Tuesday)

Session 2: Wed-Fri, September 11-13, 2002 and Sun-Mon, May 11-13, 2002 (Program ends at Noon on Friday)

 

Contact Information:

Call: 1-800-825-4233

You can also e-mail at: moreinfo@hope-inns.com