September 26, 2016 Newsletter (Sep 28, 2016)

Exploring Colorado's Wineries with Paula Mitchell

If you love wine, this program was designed for you! And if you don't love wine, this program may very well have inspired you to plan some weekend getaways! You might get lucky and find a new wine to add to your wine cellar or you may find you do actually like wine!

Welcome Paula Mitchell who has authored Exploring Colorado Wineries. Paula has combined her interest in wine and her passion for Colorado into a guidebook that tells us where all the great wineries are in the state along with other things to see and do. Before writing the first edition of the book, Paula wanted learn more about her own state's wine industry. Since then, she has traveled all around Colorado, conducted 'wine exploring' presentations, attended numerous wine festivals and has earned her Level 2 Sommelier certification. Paula has just completed an updated and revised 2nd edition of the book.

Paula shared more of her story. She recalls the first wine she ever drank - she was 12 and her dad made some dandelion wine - Paula thought it was the worst thing she has ever tried! About 8 years ago, she really started her exploration of wine and most specifically, wine in Colorado. Paula explained that Colorado is a 'boutique winery state.' In 2002, there were just 35 wineries in Colorado. There are now 135!

A bit of wine history: as early as the 1860's, grapes were being grown in Colorado and wine was being made. Italian immigrants were moving into Colorado to work the coal mines and brought with them their rich wine history and experience. During the period of Prohibition, grapevines were literally ripped from the ground and orchards replaced them. The 1960's saw the 1st Colorado winery using grapes from California and in 1978 the Colorado Mountain Vineyards was established using Colorado grown grapes. The cabernet franc grape is considered the signature grape in Colorado. Paula shared that Colorado produces a great variety of wines, including fruit wines, late harvest wines and ice wines. The ice wines are produced when the grapes are allowed to freeze on the vine before harvesting. In addition to wines, Colorado is now producing some meads which are made with honey, yeast and water as well as ciders. The ciders are made with apples and brewed quickly like beer.

Trivia: The word 'honeymoon' is connected to mead - made from honey - and it was common for newlyweds to be given enough mead to get them through the first moon of marriage.

Paula also talked about Amphora's which are ancient Greek jars or vases used as a container for wine. An amphora changes the style and taste of the wine. Purgatory Wines in Parker is one of the few wineries using this method of storing wine.

Colorado is divided into 6 wine regions: Grand Valley, West Elks, Four Corners, Front Range, Pikes Peak and Mountain. If you know your state, you can probably guess what communities fall into each region! Paula broke them down a bit more for us and shared some of the wineries she feels are the highlights in each region.

Grand Valley: This is one of the greatest concentration of wineries in the state and there are 27 different wineries in this area. DeBeque Canyone Windery is a favorite with Paula as the owner knows more about wine than almost anyone she knows! Plum Creek Cellars is also notable as being the first winery to bottle the Cabernet Franc wines. St. Kathryn Cellars is known for their fruit wines. You'll find the Meadery of the Rockies in the Grand Valley making meads only. Colorado Cellars Winery has been in operation since 1978. The Colterris Winery includes an incredible country store, grows lots of peaches and has a very large corkscrew collections!

MEETING NOTES

CLUB MEETING NOTES:

President Denny Passatino opened the meeting with some history:

1934: The San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League sell Joe DiMaggio to the NY Yankees for $25,000 and 5 players.

1949: Bill Veeck sells the Cleveland Indians for $22 million one year after winning the World Series. Earlier that year, he famously buried the 1948 flag once it became obvious that the team could not repeat its championship. Things got worse for Mr. Veeck - his first wife divorced him. Since most of his money was tied up in the Indians, he was forced to sell the team to fund the divorce settlement.

1959: Jack Benny and Richard Nixon played their famed musical duet. Benny played violin and Nixon played piano.

1980: TV series 'Dallas' and 'Who Shot JR' episode aired and received a 53.3 rating in the US - 83 million viewers.

1995: The Beatles released new music - Free Bird. It was originally composed and recorded in 1977 as a home demo by John Lennon.

Thank you PP Terry Remigio for the invocation. Thank you to our greeters, PDG Talee and PP Lloyd.

Nice to see Bill Wiggins today! For those of you who do not know, Bill lead the Rose Bowl Parade a few years back. What an honor! And the year he turned 65, he rode his bicycle 18,000 miles!

Peaceful Schools was very successful. There's just one more - December 8th at 1pm at Century Elementary. Come observe if you have time. It's just an hour and will warm your heart!

Ronald McDonald House - great turnout from Smoky Hill Rotary. There are families that have been here over a year. Their dedication and commitment to create better lives for their children is powerful and humbling for us to witness. Haven't taken part? The next one is scheduled for January!

Talee reminded that we are collecting knit hats - new or used in clean and good condition over the next several weeks. These hats will go into the backpacks we'll be filling for our 180 program. We need approximately 30 hats and we can find homes for any extra hats. Please bring them in! We fill the backpacks on 11/28/2016. We learned that the 180 Outreach and Comitis have lost federal funding but are working to keep moving forward with support from groups such as Smoky Hill Rotary.

Rocky Mountain Youth Exchange is looking for host families. If you are interested in opening your heart and your home to an exchange student for a few months, please see Denny.

GOOD NEWS and THANK YOU to Susan Aubin who has worked diligently to get our website up and running again!

Bill Maclay shared - it's time for gift cards to be collected for the Gateway Domestic Violence program. Gift cards for Target, King Soopers, Safeway, Walmart, Walgrens, etc are much appreciated. $25 cards are great - any bigger poses a challenge for some families. We have just 3 weeks to collect. Goal is $500.

Our Board has approved an annual $2000 college scholarship for a graduating Senior at Rangeview High School.

Thanksgiving Trivia!

1. Abe Lincoln is the President that declared Thanksgiving a National holiday.

2. Lincoln's decision was heavily influenced by the tireless efforts of magazine editor Sarah Hale. Her other claim to fame is that she wrote the nursery rhyme, Mary Had a Little Lamb.

3. The Wampanoag tribe taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land and were invited to the first Thanksgiving meal.

4. Forks were not used to eat the first Thanksgiving meal.

5. Harry Truman was the first President to pardon a turkey.

6. Gimbel's Department Store held the first Thanksgiving Day Parade.

7. Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions played the first NFL game on Thanksgiving Day in 1934.

Smoky Hill Rotary club goal is to raise $500 for Polio Plus. Let's make this happen!