Easter & Passover Wines
The holidays practically overlap this year, and with all the family "togetherness," there is sure to be some wines uncorked. Jane provides some great wine suggestions, as well good know-how surrounding Kosher wine.

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Want to see the NEW courses in Spring 2009? Download a schedule.

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Introduction to Wine, Level I SOLD OUT
Monday, March 9th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)

Spiral-bound book & tasting guide, riveting interactive lectures, and six to twelve wines to taste per class. This course takes the wine curious and creates wine enthusiasts!

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Wines & Cheeses
Wednesday, March 25th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Artisanal cheeses are no less labors of love than their wine counterparts. Location of pastureland, seasonality of milks, and aging all weigh heavily on the final taste experience. Join us for 8 pairings of wine & cheese. >>>> More Info

For Beginners ONLY
Wednesday, April 1st (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Sure you can drink it, but can you pair it? Can you speak it? Come to terms with it in a special tasting that helps you express yourself in the world of wines. Don't be left standing there holding the bottle--get more confidence and find more pleasure in every sip.

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The Hess Collection Tasting
Thursday, April 2nd (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Presenter: Mark Weeber of Hess

Join the Hess Collection for a tasting of eight (8) highly-rated wines, including a BRAND NEW SINGLE VINEYARD Pinot Noir--we will be the FIRST in Georgia to taste this new wine. >>>> More Info

World of Reds--HIGH END EDITION
Tuesday, April 14th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: P. Kelly Wheeler

This is one of our first formats that we coined in 2004 and it just gets better and better. Eight (8) specially selected reds hailing from global destinations, ALL PRICED OVER $60/bottle retail. >>>> More Info

For Beginners ONLY
Tuesday, April 14th (LIT Kitchen in Midtown)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Sure you can drink it, but can you pair it? Can you speak it? Come to terms with it in a special tasting that helps you express yourself in the world of wines. Don't be left standing there holding the bottle--get more confidence and find more pleasure in every sip.

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Certified Specialist of Wine Training Program
Sunday, April 19th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Get the confidence that comes with having a "wine expert" credential. Includes 18 hours of training sessions, 250-page Study Guide, 250-page four-color binder of lecture slides, quizzes, and exam. OVER 100 enthusiasts have gained this credential through us since November 2007. >>>> More Info (Discounts for Trade Personnel)

Photo Captions Below: (LEFT) Persimmon Creek Vineyards (PCV) makes some additions. Joining new General Manager of the Vineyard, Kristian Holbrook (former cheesemaker at Blackberry Farm) is a flock of East Friesian sheep! This baby lamb will not only help keep vineyard grass/weeds to a minimum but will perhaps play a role in PCV cheeses? We'll see. (MIDDLE) Senior Instructor, Paul Kelly Wheeler, recently returned from two weeks in the Burgundy region of France . This was a "professional trip" hosted by importer Steve Pignatiello, owner of P. Comms, Ltd. Kelly was part of a group that included wine distributors, sales representatives, and restaurant owners. Each day the group would visit two wine producers, visit their cellars and taste their entire portfolio including barrel tastings of 2007 and 2008 vintages. The group was treated to special lunches and dinners featuring foods of the regions and wines from each producer’s special "library" collection. The importance of terroir was emphasized by each producer. Kelly walked in the various vineyards and was impressed how small changes in vineyard soil or slope could yield large differences in the wine's aroma, flavor, rating and price. (RIGHT) The final class of our Introduction to Wine, Level II is held in a restaurant. This group of 14 posed in the wine cellar at ENO--where we enjoyed our final class (and six course tasting menu) together.

• The Georgia Wine Highway Weekend is March 21st - 22nd, 2009
  This is a great way to see and experience the views and wonderful wines of Northeast Georgia. We offer great wines that are grown and produced here in Georgia, many of which have won local, regional, national and international awards. Visit the website for more details.
• Majority of California Wineries Expected to Sell-Out by 2018
  Throughout Napa, and to an extent all across the West Coast, the big topic of fence-post conversation is the coming wave of property-ownership changes. According to a recent U.S. study, the majority of established wineries in California, Oregon and Washington state - more than 1,000 - are expected to change hands by 2018. >> More
• Wine Consumption Linked to 56% Lower Chance of Esophageal Cancer
  Researchers found that subjects who consumed between seven and 14 glasses of wine weekly lowered their chances of developing the disorder by 56 percent. Those who drank beer showed no reduction of risk. >> More
• One of Many of Ben Franklin's Wise Sayings...
  In wine there is wisdom…in beer there is freedom…in water there is bacteria.
• New Harris Poll: 3 in 5 Americans Buy Wine
  This is an all-time high for American wine consumption! And what are we drinking? More Americans are consuming wines from Australia, Chile, Argentina and South Africa and less people are drinking French and Italian wines. However, nine out of ten American wine buyers and drinkers (90%) drink or buy wine from the United States, with almost the same number as in 2004 (91%). >> More

Jane's Monthly Dozen: Easter & Passover
by Jane Garvey

Easter, including Orthodox Easter, and Passover, pretty well overlap in 2009, with Passover starting on Thursday, April 9, and Good Friday the following day, April 10. Orthodox Easter weighs in on April 19. With friends in these communities, one could find reasons to share meals with colleagues and cohorts throughout the season. So we decided to suggest wines for all occasions.

For the most part, determining what to have for Easter dinner is a matter of choosing wines that work well with traditional meals, which typically include lamb, ham and roast chicken or duck. These will vary from family to family depending on culture and traditions. Orthodox Easter has some very specific traditions, including red-dyed eggs--do them with boiled onion skins for a lovely color and to avoid chemicals in typical dyes--lamb or kid, traditional Easter bread, and perhaps roasted lemon chicken.

If attending an Easter meal in an Orthodox household, almost any Greek wine you would care to bring to the event would fit some aspect of the menu. Greek wines have made their way onto store shelves, and are fairly easy to find. But it might be fun to bring a wine of Greek-American origin. Check out Lolonis (Mendocino, CA), a pioneer in organic viticulture. Or Tagaris in Washington State (see last month's column).

Or ride up the road before Easter and visit Westbend Winery in North Carolina near Lewisville, in the Yadkin River Valley AVA. Founded in 1972 by Jack Kroustalis, a North Carolina-born Greek American, the winery produces mostly vinifera.

With Passover, and indeed at any time if attending a meal in an observant Jewish household, choose a wine marked not just "Kosher," but also "Mevushal" if you don't share the Jewish religious tradition. Mevushal means boiled, a process that used to ruin the flavor of the wine. But today, Mevushal wines are flash pasteurized then the temperature is reduced quickly. But if a wine is Mevushal, it may be enjoyed at the meal with everyone partaking of its contribution to the repast. Some rabbis, being extra careful, tell their congregants that a wine is not really kosher if it's not Mevushal, but that is not the advice most dispense. When a wine is Mevushal, it will be stated on the back label.

"We believe that wine is one of the most powerful things socially that God gave us, says Rabbi Reuven Stein of the Atlanta Kashruth Commission. But obviously, as Noah learned, it was easy to commit sin with wine by drinking to excess. To avoid excess, one should only drink the finer wines with people of one's own community." "We use the non-Mevushal wines for rituals, but in a public setting, we use Mevushal wines, he adds. For weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs, wines must be Mevushal, he cautions, because the public is admitted to those events. And he further cautions that Mevushal wines do not improve with age because the process inhibits development in the bottle.

For Passover, wines also must be labeled Kosher for Passover, a condition that will be either stated on the label or indicated with the letter "P" next to the kosher designation. What's the difference? The designation Kosher for Passover means that the wine in that bottle was made to exclude any sub-elements associated with grain as well as several common preservatives, such as potassium sorbate. Most, but not all, wines from Israel are Kosher for Passover.

Kosher wines are produced under rabbinical supervision and must adhere to strict guidelines. Vegans may want to note that kosher wines could meet their requirements, as neither egg white nor gelatin is used to fine the wine. Instead, bentonite (a mineral abundant in Minnesota) is often used for fining.

All that technical detail aside, the one thing I want to point out is that it is NOT true that Kosher wines are, by definition, syrupy and sweet. Recently checking a store's shelves for this article, I found almost nothing but the syrupy sweet sort. That's a real disservice. Years ago at a tasting, I introduced a friend to a Kosher Sauvignon Blanc, and, after he'd tasted it, watching his face express shock when I told him that the wine he had just oooed and ahhed over was Kosher. Jewish immigrants to the New World had been accustomed to dry dinner wines at home, but didn't find those grapes available here, so made wine from what was available, namely Concord, and other native American varieties. But today, there's no need to continue with that sort of wine unless, of course, you prefer it. And if you do, go for it!