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| Day #1: Friday, May 21, 2010 • 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. |
| Ways to Rosé: Saignée, Blending, and Early Pressing – An exciting world of rosé wines beyond White Zin are being rediscovered among wine lovers. Learn the three different techniques to making your own great rosé wines at home including pressing red grapes early, drawing off your red must using the French technique called saignée, and blending finished reds and whites. |
SPEAKER
Chik Brenneman
Winery Manager & Winemaker
Department of Viticulture
and Enology, UC Davis
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Troubleshooting Your Wines – Sometimes, despite your best efforts, wines can take a bad turn. Off colors, bad odors, and stuck fermentations are just a few of the potential troubles winemakers can encounter during the journey from grape to glass. Learn how to identify and fix common mistakes made during your winemaking.
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SPEAKER
Daniel Pambianchi
General Manager
Maleta Estate Winery
Technical Editor
WineMaker magazine |
| First Year Care for your New Vineyard – The first year for any new vineyard is critical for the future success you will have as a grape grower. Learn from WineMaker magazine's "Backyard Vines" columnist and professional vineyard manager Wes Hagen how to properly care for newly planted vines when they are just starting to establish root systems and set the proper groundwork for good grape growing in the coming years. |
SPEAKER
Wes Hagen
Vineyard Manager
Clos Pepe Vineyard
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| WineMaker Lab: Testing for SO2 – Managing sulfite levels is critical to good winemaking. Here is your chance to get an up-close, step-by-step demonstration of the proper techniques to use when testing for SO2 in your wine. Bob Peak will walk you through all the procedures in a small audience setting so you will have a clear idea of how to run your own tests at home. (Note: this session will also be repeated in the same time slot on Saturday.) |
SPEAKER
Bob Peak
Partner
The Beverage People
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| Friday, May 21, 2010 • 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
| Adjust your Must for Better Wines – A balanced must is critical to making good wine and this seminar will show you how to both test and taste for this, as well as how to create options for individual wine styles. Getting the pH, Brix, tannins, and other structural elements in harmony before you begin the fermentation is absolutely critical to making great wine. |
SPEAKER
Shea Comfort
YeastWhisperer.com
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| Northwest Pinot Roundtable – The Pacific Northwest has become known for producing some of the best Pinot Noir in the world. Learn some of the winemaking techniques and keys used in the region to producing a great Pinot Noir from local professional winemakers. |
SPEAKERS
Jim Bernau Founder/Winegrower
Willamette Valley Vineyards
Rich Cushman
Winemaker
Viento Wines
Eleni Papadakis
Winemaker
Domaine Serene
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| Tips, Tricks, Tweaks, and Inside Peeks to Making Great Wine from Kits – Learn how to get even more out of your wine kit and ways to get creative when approaching making wine from your next kit. Tim Vandergrift, WineMaker magazine's "Wine Kits" columnist and Technical Services Manager at Winexpert, will open his bag of tricks and give you insider knowledge on how to make the best wine from kits. |
SPEAKER
Tim Vandergrift Technical Services Manager
Winexpert, Inc.
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| WineMaker Lab: Testing for Malolactic – Carrying out a malolactic fermentation is not difficult, but you need to know how to monitor the progress to be a successful winemaker. Here is your chance to get an up-close, step-by-step demonstration of paper chromatography to track MLF progress in your wine. Bob Peak will walk you through all the procedures in a small audience setting so you will have a clear idea of how to run your own tests at home. (Note: this session will also be repeated in the same time slot on Saturday.) |
SPEAKER
Bob Peak
Partner
The Beverage People
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| Friday, May 21, 2010 • 12:15 - 1:30 p.m. |
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LUNCH AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Jim Bernau, Founder/President, Willamette Valley Vineyards
Starting out as a home winemaker, Jim Bernau developed an interest in wine that eventually led to his planting of a Pinot Noir vineyard and launching his winery in 1983. Hear from one of the leaders of Oregon's wine industry about the passion and keys behind growing premium wine grapes and making great wine.
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SPEAKER
Jim Bernau
Founder/President
Willamette Valley Vineyards |
| Friday, May 21, 2010 • 1:45 - 2:45 p.m. |
| Keys to a Great Crush & Press – You've got the grapes and now you want to take full advantage of what they can offer. Chik Brenneman will show you the keys and techniques to getting the most out of your crush and press, what options to consider, and what the impact of your various decisions will have on your final wine. |
SPEAKER
Chik Brenneman
Winery Manager & Winemaker
Department of Viticulture
and Enology, UC Davis
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Sparkling Wine from Kits – Learn how to make your own sparkling wince at home using wine kits. Tim Vandergrift will walk you through the steps with the various ways to put some bubbles in your bottles using wine kits so you can celebrate in style with your own homemade sparkling wine.
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SPEAKER
Tim Vandergrift
Technical Services Manager
Winexpert, Inc. |
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Award Winning Tips Roundtable
A panel of past top winners from the WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition will share advice and tips on crafting outstanding wine at home. Here is a great opportunity to learn from fellow accomplished hobby winemakers about different techniques and steps to make your wine the best it can be. |
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| WineMaker Lab: Testing for Acid – Measuring acid levels in your wine is an important winemaking skill. Here is your chance to get an up-close, step-by-step demonstration of testing for acid levels. Bob Peak will walk you through all the procedures in a small audience setting so you will have a clear idea of how to to run your own tests at home. (Note: this session will also be repeated in the same time slot on Saturday.) |
SPEAKER
Bob Peak
Partner
The Beverage People
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| Friday, May 21, 2010 • 3:15 - 4:15 p.m. |
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WineMaker Workshop: Same Grape, Different Yeast Strain
There are dozens and dozens of different yeast strains for hobby winemakers to choose from when considering your next batch. But how much difference to these strains make when evaluating the final wine in the glass? Here is your opportunity to sample multiple wines side-by-side tht used the same starting grape base but were inoculated with different yeast strains.
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SPEAKER
Sigrid Gertsen-Briand
Technical Support Manager
Lallemand
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| Friday, May 21, 2010 • 4:45 - 5:45 p.m. |
| Pro Tricks for your Home Vineyard – Wes Hagen is a professional vineyard manager who spends every day walking through his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines. Over the years he's learned more than a few tricks to get the most of out of his wine grapes. Learn time-saving techniques and tricks to improve your own backyard vineyard from Wes. |
SPEAKER
Wes Hagen
Vineyard Manager
Close Pepe Vineyards
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| Keys to Better Cleaning and Sanitation – One of the keys to successful winemaking is good cleaning and sanitation. Learn how to scrub your way to better wine with wine supply shop owner Steve Bader. He'll walk through the steps and products you need to know in order to avoid preventable spoilage problems and off-flavors in your wine. |
SPEAKER
Steve Bader
Owner
Bader Beer & Wine Supply, Inc.
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| To Malo or Not? Keys to Making the Right Decision – Malolactic fermentation plays and important role in many wines. But how do you know whether you should even take your wine through malolactic and if you do, whether you should let the fermentation go all the way or just partially? Join Pat Henderson as he teaches you the key points to think about when considering malolactic and what the impacts of those decisions will be on your final wine. |
SPEAKER
Pat Henderson
Senior Winemaker
Kenwood Vineyards
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| WineMaker Lab: Testing for pH – Here is your chance to get an up-close, step-by-step demonstration of testing for pH. Bob Peak will walk you through all the procedures in a small audience setting so you will have a clear idea of h ow to run your own tests at home. (Note: this session will also be repeated in the same time slot on Saturday.) |
SPEAKER
Bob Peak
Partner
The Beverage People
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| Friday, May 21, 2010 • 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. |
WINEMAKER WINE SWAP & TASTING PARTY
Pack some of your favorite handmade wines for the conference because here’s a great chance to exchange wines (and ideas) with hobbyists from across North America. Bring a bottle of your own wine and take another wine away at our Wine Swap. Plus, regional winemaking clubs and local commercial wineries will be pouring wines to sample. Throw in a buffet highlighting regional foods and cheese and it is a great opportunity to get to know speakers and attendees and talk winemaking all evening. |
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| Day #2: Saturday, May 22, 2010 • 9:30 a.m - 10:30 a.m. |
| Preventing and Fixing a Stuck Fermentation – One of the most common problems hobby winemakers run into is a stuck fermentation. Find out how to prevent a stuck fermentation in the first place and if you do have one, what options you have to fix your problem. |
SPEAKER
Sigrid Gertsen-Briand
Technical Support Manager
Lallemand
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Wine Kit Q&A – Bring your most puzzling kit winemaking questions to this session featuring Winexpert's Tim Vandergrift and RJ Spagnol's Lisa Jones. Tim and Lisa will field wine kit questions for a full hour and help the audience troubleshoot common and not-so-common problems. |
SPEAKER
Tim Vandergrift Technical Services Manager
Winexpert, Inc.
Lisa Jones
Assistant Brand Manager
RJ Spagnols
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| Calibrating Your Winemaking Tools – Home winemakers take a variety of measurements as they make and condition their wine. From the sugar content of grapes to the specific gravity of fermenting wine to the volume in a tank, accurate information helps improve the quality of the finished product. However, if you haven't calibrated your measuring devices, all these measurements could be off. Tristan will show you the proper way to calibrate the most important winemaking tools. |
SPEAKER
Tristan Johnson
Manager
MoreWine!
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WineMaker Lab: Testing for SO2 – Managing sulfite levels is critical to good winemaking.
Here is your chance to get an up-close, step-by-step demonstration of
the proper techniques to use when testing for SO2 in your wine.
Bob Peak will walk you through all the procedures in a small audience
setting so you will have a clear idea of how to run your own tests at
home. (Note: this session is a repeat of the Friday seminar.)
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SPEAKER
Bob Peak
Partner
The Beverage People
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| Saturday, May 22, 2010 • 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
| Berry Fruit Winemaking – From blueberries to raspberries to blackberries and beyond, the world of berry fruits is ripe for hobby winemakers. Berry fruits rank as the most popular type of country wine for our magazine's readers. Learn the specific techniques to making great berry wines and the keys to to successful winemaking in time for this coming berry season. |
SPEAKER
Steve Bader
Owner
Bader Beer & Wine Supply, Inc.
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| Northwest Grape Growing – Peter Brehm owns a vineyard in the Columbia River Gorge just a few miles up the road from our conference location. In addition, he has decades of experience growing and buying grapes from a broad range of climates. In this seminar, Peter will discuss what works and what doesn't for growing wine grapes in the climates of the Pacific Northwest. If you are growing (or thinking of growing) your own grapes in the Northwest, you will gain valuable insights and tips to help your grapes. |
SPEAKER
Peter Brehm
President
Brehm Vineyards
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| Keys to Blending Wines – Many of the great wines of the world are blends, so don't limit yourself to making strictly varietals. Learn how to try various blends of your different wines in various percentages of each and how to keep your eye on the ultimate goal of creating balance. Local professional winemaker Jeff Waddell helps lead you through the art and science of blending. |
SPEAKER
Jeff Waddell
Owner/Winemaker
East Fork Cellars
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| WineMaker Lab: Testing for Malolactic – Carrying
out a malolactic fermentation is not difficult, but you need to know
how to monitor the progress to be a successful winemaker. Here is your chance to get an up-close, step-by-step demonstration of paper chromatography to track MLF progress in your wine.
Bob Peak will walk you through all the procedures in a small audience
setting so you will have a clear idea of how to run your own tests at
home. (Note: this session is a repeat of the Friday seminar.) |
SPEAKER
Bob Peak
Partner
The Beverage People
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| Saturday, May 22, 2010 • 12:15 - 1:30 p.m. |
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SATURDAY LUNCH AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Northwest Winemakers Q & A Live!
 Bring your best winemaking questions to today’s lunch! We have assembled a panel of local professional winemakers to field all winemaking questions from grape growing to winemaking and everything in between. Don’t miss this chance to get help solving your winemaking questions from: Rich Cushman of Viento Wines and Peter Brehm of Brehm Vineyards. Don’t be shy – ask away. |
| Saturday, May 22, 2010 • 1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. |
| Stabilize Wine Like the Pros – Wines are living things and as a winemaker you need to do what you can to make sure to protect it against both physical and microbiological changes. Specific processes to counter these changes include racking, fining, chill-proofing, and heat stabilization; processes to counter microbiological changes include adding preservatives and stabilizing agents and membrane filtration. Take some cues from the professional winemaking ranks with Daniel Pambianchi as he walks you through how to properly protect your wine from heat, cold, and much more. |
SPEAKER
Daniel Pambianchi
General Manager Maleta Estate Winery Technical Editor
WineMaker magazine
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Avoiding Common Kit Mistakes – Although wine kits are an easy and reliable way to make great wine yourself, there are certain common mistakes that many kit winemakers make at some point. Find out about these common problems and how to both fix and avoid these mistakes in your own winemaking with kits.
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SPEAKER
Lisa Jones
Assistant Brand Manager
RJ Spagnols
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| Caring for Stainless Steel Equipment – Make the most of your winemaking equipment investment by taking care of it properly for the years and harvests to come. Stainless steel is the preferred metal of choice for equipment, but it also benefits from specific ways of cleaning and care. Tristan Johnson of MoreWine! will walk you through the right way to clean and maintain your stainless steel wine equipment. |
SPEAKER
Tristan Johnson
Manager
MoreWine!
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| WineMaker Lab: Testing for Acid – Measuring acid levels in your wine is an important winemaking skill. Here is your chance to get an up-close, step-by-step demonstration of testing for acid levels.
Bob Peak will walk you through all the procedures in a small audience
setting so you will have a clear idea of how to to run your own tests
at home. (Note: this session is a repeat of the Friday seminar.) |
SPEAKER
Bob Peak
Partner
The Beverage People
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| Saturday, May 22, 2010 • 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. |
WineMaker Workshop: Evaluating Wine Like a Pro
As a winemaker, knowing how to evaluate wines will allow you to critique the ingredients and techniques used in producing and aging them. The ability to evaluate wine is a critical tool for any winemaker. Pat Henderson will walk you through a hands-on tasting to show you how to taste wine like a pro and improve this key winemaking skill. |
SPEAKER
Pat Henderson
Senior Winemaker
Kenwood Vineyards
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| Saturday, May 22, 2010 • 4:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. |
Improving Wines During Aging – How you handle your wine during its cellaring impacts the final wine. Sulfite levels, tannin management, oak integration, and mouthfeel/structure are all keys to keep an eye on during the entire aging process. Wine consultant Shea Comfort will show you that just because the wine is in the carboy, tank, or barrel doesn't mean your job as winemaker is done yet.
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SPEAKER
Shea Comfort
YeastWhisperer.com
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| Yeast Health and Nutrition – Keeping your yeast healthy and happy will result in better wine. Greg Doss will explain how to make sure your yeast has enough nutrients to ferment your must to produce all the flavors and alcohol you desire in your wine and avoid stuck or incomplete fermentations. Knowing the keys to yeast health and when and how to add yeast nutrients will help you make better wine. |
SPEAKER
Greg Doss
Quality Control Manager & Microbiologist
Wyeast Laboratories
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| Cold Soaking your Way to a Great Wine – Cold soak maceration, also known as pre-ferment maceration, is used to maximize phenolic extraction prior to the alcoholic fermentation. The cold soak helps boost color and other important attributes, but some grape varietals benefit from a cold soak more than others. Learn the keys to conducting a successful cold soak from local professional winemaker Norman Banks. |
SPEAKER
Norman Banks
Winemaker
Confluence Vineyards and Winery
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| WineMaker Lab: Testing for pH – Here is your chance to get an up-close, step-by-step demonstration of testing for pH.
Bob Peak will walk you through all the procedures in a small audience
setting so you will have a clear idea of h ow to run your own tests at
home. (Note: this session is a repeat of the Friday seminar.) |
SPEAKER
Bob Peak
Partner
The Beverage People
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| Saturday, May 22, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. |
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2010 WINEMAKER INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR WINE COMPETITION AWARDS DINNER
 Find out first who is a medalist in the world’s largest competition for amateur wines! Last year over 4,400 wines competed. What wines will be judged the best? The official results will be revealed for the very first time during this awards dinner.
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Conference 
