A total of 108 members and guests attended the November Mini-Tasting held at six host sites. The blind tasting consisted of five flights of two wines each with wines from Napa, Alexander Valley, and Paso Robles. The top three favorite wines of the six host sites were:

In addition, attendees brought a delicious dish to share and then voted on a Chef of the Evening. The results of the Chef of the Evening at each host site were:

• Hosts Barbara and Dave White: Joyce Coker for Wild Mushroom Lasagna
• Hosts Greg and Cathy Risling: Elaine Watrous for Zuppa Tuscana
• Hosts Virginia and Karl Kawai: Jim Burk for Braised Beef in Wine Sauce & Shirley McManus for Potato Cheese Casserole
• Hosts Tina and BJ Fornadley: Tina Fornadley for Beef Lasagna with Pesto
• Hosts Marcia and James Vaughan: Barbara Schneider for Overnight Glazed Short Ribs
• Hosts Bob and Janae Unruh: Lynelle Hustrulid for Better Than Sex Dessert

Congratulations to all the winners, and a big  thank you to all the Hosts!

– Bill Redding & George Cravens, Directors

A total of 168 members and guests attended the July Gold Medal Mini-Tasting held at nine host sites. The evening began with a Gold medal winning wine from Gloria Ferrer, Blanc de Noir, Carneros.

A blind tasting followed with six flights of two wines each. The superb selection of wines chosen by Chris Cunningham had tough competition with many sites reporting “ties” for the top wines.

The three favorite wines of the nine host sites are listed below:

• First Place: Ballantine, 2015 Zinfandel, Napa Valley at $30
• Second Place: J. Lohr, 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Hilltop, Paso Robles at $35
• Third Place: 2015 Eberle, Barbera, Kokopelli, Steinbeck, Partridge Vineyards, Paso Robles at $32

In addition, attendees brought a delicious dish to share and then voted on a Chef of the Evening. The results of the Chef of the Evening at each host site are:

• Host Chris Cunningham: Mike and Deborah Webber, Chile Relleno
• Hosts Pat and Frank Solis: Tom Richey, Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends
• Host Jolen Zeroski: Sheila Tedesco, Chocolate Fruit Cup with Sherbert
• Hosts BJ and Tina Fornadley: Judy Koeblitz, Chicken Devine
• Hosts Marcia and James Vaughan: Simone Dygert, Boeuf Bourguignon
• Hosts Stephen and Nancy Edwards: Nancy Harman, Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Hosts Sam Puzzo and Carol Frank: Carol Frank, Smoked St. Louis Ribs
• Hosts Stacey and Wendy Taylor: Bill Forsch and Noel DeSota, Nicoise Salad
• Hosts Craig and Ronna Rowe: Kathy Krieger, Blackberry Crisp

Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to the Hosts! A special thank you goes to Chris Cunningham for his selection of the Gold Medal wines.

For additional information on more award winning wines, visit  winecompetition.com.

Please send your recipes to Bill Redding at Bill@ocws.org as a possible recipe in a future newsletter article.

– Bill Redding, Director

On April 22, OCWS members and guests attended the April Mini-Tasting at four host sites. The blind tasting consisted of five flights of two wines each with wines from Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, Santa Rita Hills, Dry Creek, Amador County, Australia’s Eden Valley and Barossa Valley. The tasting, in addition to Syrah, included two Petite Sirahs and two Shiraz from Australia. The top five favorite wines from the host sites were:

In addition, attendees brought a delicious dish to share and then voted on a Chef of the Evening. The results of the Chef of the Evening at each host site were:

• Hosts Pat and Frank Solis — Eric Kalnes — Tri Tip
• Hosts Bob and Judy Koeblitz — Carolyn and Phil Wallace — Asparagus Wraps
• Host Linda Bauermeister — Linda Bauermeister — Lasagna
• Hosts Kern Vogel & Linda Martin — Bill Forsch & Noel DeSota — Billy’s Crying Tiger Rip with Cilantro Shrimp and Rice Noodles

Congratulations to all of the winners and a big “thank you” to the hosts! Please send your recipes to Bill Redding at Bill@ocws.org for posting on the OCWS website.

– Bill Redding, Director