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Sonoma Grapemasters Micro-Crush 2008
Owl Ridge's hands-on winemaking program better than watching it on TV
Owl Ridge Wine Services is broadly expanding its facilities and winegrower connections to welcome a new batch of winemakers to the 2008 Sonoma Grapemasters
micro-crush winemaking program.
Based on the success of the 2007 inaugural program, which put individuals with a passion to make wine in the heart of one of the country's most famous winegrowing regions --
Sonoma County's Russian River Valley -- Sonoma Grapemasters is reaching out to offer its services to wine buffs from all over.
"We were delighted to see how enthused our 2007 participants were to get their
hands dirty," says Program Director Stephen Yafa, "We put them in the middle of the action, and they went for it—picking grapes, crushing, the whole works."
Sonoma Grapemasters give wine lovers a chance to
make their own wine, their own way, from vine to bottle, and to do so at the highest professional level at a working winery in Wine Country. That's what separates it from competing micro-crush programs located in
industrial urban warehouses, and from touristy sessions at wineries which allow participants to play at blending wine for only an hour or two.
"With Sonoma Grapemasters you are out in the vineyards and on
the sorting line, just as if you had a boutique winery of your own. There's one major difference, though," says Yafa. "You're not spending a fortune to follow your dream."
Financial executive and Sonoma
Grapemasters participant Clay Stephens agrees. "I have several friends who make wine at home, but there's the problem of buying and storing all the equipment, and getting all the chemistry just right. "
Computer instructor and participant Steve Brown notes, "At Owl Ridge you work at a first-class winery with everything you need right there. And our wives aren't mad because we took over the garage!"
Sonoma
Grapemasters participants — an individual or small group of family or friends — are paired with a consulting winemaker with exceptional credentials and years of experience making super-premium wine. Together, they
will produce a barrel (25 cases) or more of their own fine wine, and at a fraction of the retail price.
The experience starts with a strategy session to choose the type and style of wine to be made: a heady
Cabernet, luscious Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or another variety. Sonoma Grapemasters sources premium grapes from selected regional growers.
Sonoma Grapemasters offers every participant the choice to be actively
involved at all stages of their winemaking adventure. Some program members choose to come out to Wine Country during harvest and crush. All clients get regular email updates on the progress of their wines in tank
and barrel, and confer with their winemaker in all vital decisions.
A program of Owl Ridge Wine Services, Sonoma Grapemasters operates out of a working winery in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, CA.
That's where proprietor John Tracy and winemaker Joe Otos make wine for their own sought-after labels, Owl Ridge Wines and Willowbrook Cellars, and where Stephen Yafa makes his Segue Cellars Russian River Pinot
Noir. Owl Ridge is also the custom-crush home to some two dozen boutique and cult wineries and their winemakers, whose wines consistently earn 90+ scores from top reviewers.
For more information about Sonoma Grapemasters, contact Program Director Steve Yafa at 415-389-1183, visit www.sonomagrapemasters.com, or email syafa@ sonomagrapemasters.com.
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Last updated on April 30, 2008