Appreciation Event for The Vintners of Los Altos Hills

 

On Sunday afternoon April 8th 2018, an "Appreciation Event" was held to recognize the vintners who had contriibuted so successfully at our previous "Wines and Vines" public tasting event held at Town Hall the previous October.

For this event, besides the socialising and wine swapping activities, we invited the well-known Sommelier and Wine Consultant Ronaldo Goularte to give a talk to the invitees - a wonderfull education session which provided deeper background and knowledge about various aspects of both wine production and appreciation - together with some associated intricacies, lore, and traditions.

Some pictures taken at that occasion...

 

  This is the image used to produce a Giclée(Oil on canvas) rendition of the venue for the event. This is the Hitz Winery located in Los Altos Hills where
the event was very kindly hosted by Jerre Hitz - and who was presented with this "painting" as a token of out thanks.

 

3950   The main working floor of the winery has been converted into a classroom setting for the occasion

 

5500  As viewed from the balcony which can be seen in the previous picture

 

3959   The main members of the team who organised and set it up. Just to the right of the TV screen is Jerre Hitz, owner of the winery
and our host for this event. On the right is Ronaldo Goularte, our speaker for the afternoon.

 

5497   The lull before the storm....

 

5502   ... as the organising crew relaxes while waiting for the event to start.

 

5504   Behind the winery

 

5507   The first guests are arriving

 

4476   Jitze provides a brief intro, before handing it over to the main speaker

 

5510   Sommelier Ronaldo Goularte introduces the main session.

 

5512   ... and gets the ball rolling

 

5519   Differences between new world and old world oak and wines are discussed.

 

5521   Exploring the oak forests of France.

 

5525   Eventualy, we get down to the "tasting" part of the afternoon

 

5528   In front of each attendee are 4 glasses of wine (One white and three reds) as well as a spit bucket
(the red plastic cup) and a jug of water

 

5543   Eyes, nose, and mouth all have a role to play in savoring the wine

 

5529  

 

5541  

 

5548   The class offers comments on what they experienced

 

5532   Moving on the the reds...

 

5534   Before you taste it, use your eyes and your nose first to set the stage.

 

5536   The next red...

 

5540   Take it slowly and bring every sense to bear...

 

5542   And then prepare to translate your overall experience into words so you can tell the class

 

5555   The class builds a list of perceived aromas

 

5559  Another of the reds is examined and evaluated carefully

 

4488   After the tasting session, a token of appreciation is presented to the host for this meeting

 

5560   And we adjourn upstairs for some hors d'oeuvres to accompany our wines as the vintners get a chance to mix and meet their neighbors

 

4470   The organising crew has done us proud

 

4473   ... and we are assured that everything is low calorie...

 

5563  

 

5565  

 

5566  

 

5569   Chief Organizer Duffy poses in front of the "painting" with the Host Recipient Jerre

 

5567   As does Jitze - the perpetrator of the "painting" as well as this web-page.

 

 

And thus the event drew to a close. This was the most recent in a series of events that stretch back over the years. Similar collections of pictures were made at some of our previous events, they can be seen by following the following links -