Wineries in the Northern Hemisphere are readying for harvest. Harvest is a celebration of man's sweat-equity in the land, and not long ago in 1750, when refined sugar was a luxury, sweetness was derived from wine grapes, which can be twice as sweet as table grapes--both being available only from August - November. Thus, not only was fresh wine (remember historically foot-trodden grapes fermenting on natural yeasts to give you "wine" in less than 10 days) dripping down your chin but perhaps the only sweetness other than honey you may have tasted since the last harvest, a year ago!

Speaking of foot-trodden grapes, here are some happy stompers from the Chateau Elan Vineyard Fest on August 24th. By the way, for all of you "cork-guessers" at this event, you should know that no one guessed the exact amount, BUT 4 people were within 10 and did receive some smaller prizes: Kim Cater, LaDonna Hocker, Adam Woodman, and Todd Sanson.

	Saturday, September 10th, 8am - 6pm With less than 10 spots left, 36 people will travel by bus from Atlanta to Persimmon Creek Winery for a "hands-on" day with winemaker Sonny Hardman. Sonny grows Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Riesling among his grape varietals. Transportation, vineyard lunch, and tasting all included. More Info
	Mondays, September 12th - October 17th, 7pm - 9pm The Intermediate Level class begins for those who have either taken Introduction to Wine or score above 80% on a test we administer. This class delves deeper into Sparkling Wine and Fortifieds, and introduces secondary regions of Australia, NZ, South Africa, Germany, Austria. This is the LAST Intermediate course offered in 2005! More Info
	Tuesdays, September 13th - October 18th, 7pm - 9pm OR Thursdays, September 15th - October 20th, 7pm - 9pm Learn how to detect and identify tastes/smells in wine; learn the prominent wine regions of France, Italy, Spain & California; learn how to store/serve/buy wine--all the while tasting approximately 60 wines for learning AND pleasure. More Info
Continue to use promo code "AWS" to get $10 off tix	For those of you who purchased Wine South tickets using the promo code "AWS" before August 31st, we have four prizes awarded to four people: Peter Wilder won (4) tickets to Kevin Zraly's seminar along with (4) autographed books; Melissa Polly wins a Wine South Winemaker Dinner for (2); Heather Drake wins (2) tickets to the Friday night Wine South Kick-Off Party; and Kenneth Royston wins (2) tickets to the VIP Skybox along with (2) Wine South shirts and (2) signed & numbered posters. Finally, with all there is to see, do & taste at Wine South, please come by the Cotes du Rhone stage on Saturday where Atlanta Wine School will be conducting the consumer taste-test of Georgia wines vs. the world in the Georgia Wine Challenge. Picked up by USA Today, it promises to be fun & competitive!
	The Carmenere Adventure Christian Munoz, formerly of Vina Morande, is now with the Chilean marketing co. Andes Wines on what is probably the biggest promotional stunt ever in the wine world -- Christian is riding his motorcycle from Chile to New York City. No kidding. By now he should be in Mexico, and after he makes a clockwise swath around the US, with a potential stop in Atlanta on September 12th (we'll let you know), he'll finish in NYC.Photos & More Info
	Mendocino Bubbles Before you go off half-cocked thinking about Northern California sparklers, you need to know that a Mendocino is a native of Mendoza--as in Argentina. On his recent wine touring of Argentina, Nathan displayed disappointment at the wines in San Juan and "minor" areas, but his story on bubbles in the country's most famous wine region is refreshing and helps us all move beyond Malbec. Also, on his recent travels to there, Nathan garnered a picture (here) with "Mr. Micro-Oxygenation" Michel Rolland, a consultant advising wineries in no less than 17 countries. Visit Nathan's Story

The Dump Bucket

Truth or Hear-Say?

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that
for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.
Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar-based, this period was called the honey month which we know today as the honeymoon.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in merry old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."

It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.