July 2024

President’s Message

By Carolyn Christian

Summers in the OCWS mean one thing: the OC Fair is in full swing where hundreds of volunteers work tirelessly to host The Courtyard during the 23-day run.  August marks the midway point of this incredible undertaking. It is a time to reflect on the organization and the dedication of its current members and to look toward the future with the biggest recruitment time for our organization.

Wine Courtyard

A big thank you to Fred Heinecke, Fran Gitsham and all of those who help make The Courtyard at the OC Fair happen. A special shoutout to Les Hodowanec for overseeing the setup crew. If you are one of the hundreds of volunteers, we thank you in advance for your dedication to the organization. If you are not volunteering this year, we encourage you to support the organization and the wineries by purchasing wine and attending the many activities in the Courtyard.

Featured Winery Program

Several years ago, Liz and Lloyd Corbett developed the Featured Winery Program in The Courtyard. The program has grown in popularity and features award-winning wineries from the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Proceeds from this program go directly to the OCWS Scholarship Fund. Much appreciation to the Corbetts and their team for hosting this program.

Wine Seminars

The Courtyard would not be complete without the seminars held each weekend of the fair at 1 and 3 p.m. As in past years, Sara Yeoman and Ed Reyes head a team of seminar presenters who present amazing food and wine pairings and expand attendees’ wine knowledge. They definitely deserve a round of applause!

Annual Business Meeting

The Annual Business Meeting will be held on Sept. 6 via Zoom. The OCWS board has found that this format works well for this annual review of the organization’s finances and activities. We are aware that many of you miss the days of the in-person Annual Business Meeting, and we are adding a new event in September to replace the social aspect of past business meetings.

Volunteer Recognition Reception

This September 29th, OCWS will be hosting its first Volunteer Recognition Reception. This event will replace the previous volunteer recognition portion of the Annual Business Meeting and will include food and wine to enjoy as we recognize our many volunteers who have dedicated so many hours throughout the year.  Invitations to those who will be receiving a volunteer award will be sent at the beginning of September.

Membership Special

This is a reminder that we have a great membership special that provides a $20/person credit for new memberships during the fair. This includes memberships purchased through the website through the end of August.  Maybe you have a friend or two who needs a gift membership. Now is the time to purchase it!

OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition

Although the competition is over, committee members are hard at work delivering medals to wineries who won the top awards of Best of Class and Double Gold Medals. You will see photos and posts on Facebook and Instagram throughout the next month or so as they make their way around the state.  Please like, share, and comment on the posts to show your support for the winning wineries.

Marketing and Social Media

The Marketing Committee and its Social Media team have stepped up their game this year, adding several new Social Media campaigns. In addition to the OC Fair and medal delivery posting from the past, you will also notice campaigns promoting wineries by county and other related posts. Please engage with the posts to help promote our award-winning wineries. Feel free to post your travels to wineries on your own social media pages and tag us @ocwinesociety and the wineries.  The wineries love to see our people out enjoying their wines!

Thank You All!

We are so lucky to have over 1,000 members who help run this organization and I am truly honored to serve as president. Please join me in thanking all the volunteers who make this organization what it is today. I hope to see you in August at the OC Fair so we can raise a glass to this amazing organization!  Cheers to you all!

July 26, 2024
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President's Message
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CHEF OF THE EVENING

Seafood Paella on the Grill

1 lb. Kielbasa sausage

Salt and pepper

1 lb. jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 per pound), peeled and deveined

1 lb. scallops

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

7 garlic cloves, minced

1 3/4 teaspoons smoked paprika

3 tablespoons tomato paste

4 cups chicken broth

1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice

2/3 cup dry sherry

Pinch saffron threads (optional)

1 onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers, chopped fine

3 cups Spanish Bomba or Valencia rice

1 lb. littleneck clams, scrubbed

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

6 – 8 whole shrimp with heads

6 – 8 stalks asparagus, grilled

Lemon wedges

PREPARATIONS

Clean shrimp of any dark intestinal tract. Toss shrimp with 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon garlic, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in bowl until evenly coated. Set aside.

Repeat seasonings with scallops and set aside.

Grill asparagus and set aside.

For the whole shrimp, remove the legs and antennae.

IN SEPARATE SAUCEPAN

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add remaining garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic sticks to bottom of saucepan and begins to brown, about 1 minute.

Add tomato paste and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until dark brown bits form on bottom of saucepan, about 1 minute.

Add chicken broth, clam juice, sherry and saffron. Increase heat to high and bring to boil. Remove saucepan from heat and set aside.

FOR GAS GRILL (or stovetop burner)

Turn gas burners to high and heat until hot.

Place paella pan on grill (turning burners to medium-high) and add a tablespoon of oil. When hot, add Kielbasa and sauté to render some of the fat. Remove Kielbasa and set aside.

Add 1/4 cup oil, and when it starts to shimmer, add onion, red peppers and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion begins to soften, 4 to 7 minutes.

Add rice (turning burners to medium) and stir until grains are well coated with oil.

Pour broth mixture over rice. Smooth rice into an even layer, making sure nothing sticks to sides of pan. Scatter Kielbasa around the pan.

When liquid reaches gentle simmer, place shrimp in center of pan in single layer.

Arrange clams in center of pan, evenly distributing with shrimp and pushing hinge sides of clams into rice slightly so they stand up.

Place whole shrimp decoratively in pan.

Cook covered, moving and rotating pan to maintain gentle simmer across entire surface of pan, until rice is almost cooked through, 12 to 18 minutes. (adjust heat to maintain simmer.)

Sprinkle peas and arrange asparagus evenly over paella, cover grill and cook until liquid is fully absorbed and rice on bottom of pan sizzles, 5 to 8 minutes.

Continue to cook, uncovered, checking bottom of pan frequently with metal spoon, until uniform golden-brown crust forms, 8 to 15 minutes longer. (Rotate and slide pan around grill as necessary to ensure even crust formation.)

Remove pan from grill, cover with aluminum foil, and let stand for 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

July 26, 2024
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Recipes
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Support Future of Winemakers

Each year, the OCWS donates thousands of dollars to eight California educational institutions that have enology, viticulture, wine marketing and culinary arts programs. To date, we have donated over $828,000 over the last several decades.

Scholarship funds come from various sources. Since we are in the midst of the OC Fair, I wanted to highlight how our volunteer work in The Courtyard helps the scholarship fund. First, any tips received at The Courtyard counter go directly to the OCWS Scholarship Fund. Additionally, the proceeds from the Featured Winery Program also go to the Scholarship Fund.

The Featured Winery Program was started several years ago by Liz and Lloyd Corbett and has taken off over the past few years, with representatives from numerous award-winning wineries enthusiastically sharing their wines for this worthy cause. In 2023, the program brought in approximately $16,000 for the Scholarship Fund.

In addition to funds from The Courtyard at the OC Fair, we also accept individual donations for the scholarship fund. There is still time to donate to the OCWS Scholarship Fund for 2024, and there are two ways to donate:

Donate Today

  1. Mail a check – Make your check out to OCWS and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS O. Box 11059  Costa Mesa, CA 92627  Attn: Scholarship Fund  A donation letter will be sent to you.
  2. Donate Online – Log on to your account at ocws.org, and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/ or click here. You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

— By Damian J. Christian

July 26, 2024
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Scholarship News
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WINE WISDOM:

“The Fault, Dear Brutus, is not in our stars…”

Although William Shakespeare is not known as an oenophile, he was more prophetic than he imagined in his somewhat famous line from Julius Caesar. Yes, the fault is not in our stars.

The fault can be in our wine as many learned last month during the excellent Fault Workshop put on by OCWS members Don and Mary Ann Mayer. However, the fault can also be in our terroir.

Two articles, one by Natasha Geiling in Smithsonian Magazine (August 2014) titled “Why Earthquakes Make Napa Wine Taste So Good,” and the other by Elin McCoy in Decanter China magazine (July 2017) titled “Seismic shifts: Wines on fault lines,” delve into the effects of our shifting California soils on the vineyards we visit and the wines we drink.

But shifting soils and quaking barrel rooms are not unique to our home state, and neither is planting vineyards and building wineries on fault lines. You can find this in Oregon, and farther afield the same is true in Eastern France, New Zealand, Australia and Italy.

Is there a perceived benefit that overrides the associated risks? Yes, it’s the soil’s diversity—soil composed of limestone, sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks and pieces of ancient sea floor millions of years old that has resulted from the formation of fault zones and the faults’ subsequent activity.

This mixture of soils is believed to add to a wine’s aroma and taste complexity.  No scientific data corroborates this belief but some winemakers contend that some of the world’s best vineyards are planted near fault zones.

  • Which California wine region, shaped by two monumental geological events, 40 million and 30 million years ago, has soil diversity of over 100 variations (equal to one half of the world’s soil orders)? These soil variations enable the growth of a wide diversity of grape varietals.
    1. Napa
    2. Mendocino
    3. Sonoma
  • How many distinct American Viticultural Areas (AVA) each unique due to its soil and climate does Napa Valley have?
    1. 12
    2. 14
    3. 16
  • In which Rhone Valley region did the Nimes fault push up limestone slabs, which are rare in the Rhone Valley, to high elevations making terraces where the best Grenache wines come from?
    1. Rasteau
    2. Vacqueyras
    3. Gigondas
  • In which Southern Oregon AVA is the Abacela Winery’s The Fault Line Vineyard (named for the fault that runs through it)? This vineyard has rocks that are 20 million years old on one side of the fault and rocks that are over 200 million years old on the other side.
    1. Rogue Valley
    2. Umpqua Valley
    3. Applegate Valley
  • What eastern French wine region lays between two major parallel faults and is crisscrossed by many smaller faults providing a broad soil diversity in a compact area, which may be the reason for the region’s 51 Grand Crus including the well-know Rangen de Thann Grand Cru Vineyard?
    1. Alsace
    2. Jura
    3. Savoie

So don’t get the shakes peering at fault lines, it’s not a tragedy. And remember, it’s no fault of your own if you just find a wine you like and enjoy it. Cheers!

—CL Keedy, Wine Education Committee

Scroll down for answers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers: 1-a; 2-c; 3-c; 4-b; 5-a

 

July 26, 2024
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Wine Education
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