Monday, June 30, 2008

WSA Alumni on the Move

A quick congratulations to several WSA alums who recently stepped into new positions:

After several years at Soter Vineyards, Chris Poulos (AC 2007) was asked by North Berkeley Imports to come aboard as a sales representative covering the Pacific Northwest, midwest, and parts Northern California.  A huge territory to be sure, which means that Chris finds himself traveling quite a bit.  Chris says he loves the exposure to North Berkeley's stellar collection and the opportunity to introduce buyers to new wines.  Chris is also currently working towards his WSET Diploma in Wines and Spirits (DWS).  Good luck, Chris!

Current student Linda Conklin was recently promoted to Hospitality Manager at Columbia Winery.  In her new position, Linda coordinates all VIP visits and is also responsible for the winery's tasting room education program.  Linda says she the new position keeps her busy and requires significant traveling, but that she is enjoying the new challenges.  

Ryan Wilson (AC 2007) recently made a move from Bacchus Fine Wines to Mitchell Wines.  Although it's a challenge to work with an entirely new book, Ryan is excited by Mitchell's great selection and is relishing the chance to learn an entirely new selection of wines (plus he gets to work with WSA instructor Ewald Moseler, so that's got to be a plus as well!). 

And finally, on a recent trip to New Seasons, I was excited to see Kerry Godfrey (IC 2007) stocking wine bottles in his new position as Wine Manager.  Kerry says he's found the perfect job and loves spending his days helping customers select wine (although his body has not quite adapted to all the heavy lifting!).  The next time you're in the inner SE, stop in and see Kerry at the five corners New Seasons and put him to work!

Alright alums, keep us posted.  We want to know what you're up to and where you're working.  And for those of you who want to find out more about what our alums are up to, make sure to visit our graduates page.  

Sunday, June 8, 2008

WSA Alumni Launch Tasting Group

by Leo Daedalus

The no. 2 pencil dust hasn't even settled on our final exams, but the WSA spring '08 Advanced alumni have already revived their study group. After all that hard work, "I don't want to lose my momentum," explained Barnyard Action co-founder Bob Martin. The group takes its ignoble name from a late-night tasting note tossed off during the initial meeting.

It all began in the midst of the Advanced course, when several of us observed that while we were getting good at pulling out distinct aromas or flavors, we were often at a loss to put a name to them. We needed more experience making the connection between the contents of the glass and the contents of our memory.

Accordingly my wife, Anna, and I invited our classmates over for dinner. About half a dozen took the bait, each bringing a wine from a region we had previously studied. We arrayed the table with a generous smorgasbord of scent and taste referents: cherries, currant preserves, pears, hazelnuts, licorice, spices, chocolate, gooseberries, green peppers, and many other usual suspects. We even had a bowl of dirt and a leather bag.

As we went through our joint tasting, we compared our impressions of the wines with the spread before us. The process was not always conclusive — we were all certain we had found pear in one pour, but it bore no resemblance to the halved bartlett we were passing around on a saucer. Clearly we needed a table ten times bigger. Better yet, an entire grocery store.

Nevertheless, we learned a great deal. Those in our group who had never had black currants, for example, enjoyed a genuine Aha! moment when we got to the St-Emilion and passed the cassis preserves around. And no one could deny, when Anna found green olives in the Viognier, that the actual picholines corroborated the association.

More valuable even than the smorgasbord of food referents, however, was the simple experience of joint blind tasting and group discussion. Clearly, nothing would hone our skills better than regular tastings together, particularly given the common language we share in the systematic WSET tasting method. Thus was Barnyard Action reborn as an ongoing group.

The first post-class gathering was held at Bob and Krissy Martin's home, with an Italian theme. Seven of us convened, each bringing a secret Italian wine. These were bagged for blindness and numbered according to a basic ordering system, to ensure that we would not be following, say, a Ripasso with a Verdicchio. Additionally, we handed out tasting note sheets based on the WSET forms to keep us on track as the evening progressed.

We're committed to keeping Barnyard Action from devolving into just a fun social gathering. It's important that it continues as a rigorous program of joint learning. We're doing this because we love wines, and because the more we learn, the more we find we don't know. What might be a daunting project for an individual is a great voyage of shared discovery among a group of dedicated enthusiasts. And, of course, tremendous fun.

For more information, or to get in touch about participating, visit the Barnyard Action blog at barnyardaction.blogspot.com.