Category Archives: Meetings & Events

Both the audio only and audio+video recordings of SHW’s January 20, 2021 meeting featuring guest speaker Alison Crowe can be accessed on the link below.  The recording is also on the SHW website under Members Resources tab.  Click on Speaker Resources.

Alison Crowe Discussion 20210120 – Google Drive

For the February 2021 meeting we will be doing white and rosé wine evaluations.  You will be tasting each wine in the safety of your own home.

Who can participate?

The meeting is open to all current 2021 paid members.

Who are the wine evaluators?

• Kurt Burris, Wine marketing representative
• Craig Haarmeyer, owner and winemaker at Haarmeyer Wine Cellars in West Sacramento

How will this work?

• You will need to request to participate so we can reserve your samples (quantities are limited).
• The wines will be separated into “individual” or “couples” size bottles. These will be divided up prior to the meeting, and you will be notified of when/where to pick them up.
• Each wine will be color coded with a sticker on the bottle. In the meeting, we will let you know which color to pour into your glass.
• You will be able to evaluate the wine at the same time as everyone else.

How to get your wine evaluated (we have room for two more):

Send an email to Donna Bettencourt at donnab1045@gmail.com no later than January 31 to arrange to drop off your wine (she will let you know where to drop off your wine and form).  We will need two 750ml bottles and the standard wine evaluation information form filled out and dropped off with the wine.  The form can be found here. 

Instructions for meeting participants:

Please register to reserve your wine samples at White and Rose Wine Evaluations, by January 31, quantities are limited.  We will have the following pickup sites – Robert Wharton (Roseville/Rocklin), Donna Bettencourt (mid-town), and Kevin Lemay (Folsom).

On the Monday, preceding the meeting, we will notify you that your samples are ready to be picked up as well as the address and times they are available.

During the meeting:

We will taste and evaluate the samples one by one just like we do in our ‘normal’ in-person meetings. The evaluators will be on the Zoom meeting and they will give their evaluations of the wine.

Let’s combine something new and old, and participate in our first ever virtual wine tasting evaluation!

If you have any questions please email Kevin Lemay at kklemay@comcast.net.

See you at the meeting!

SHW’s first meeting in the new year brings Alison Crowe to the Zoom screen.  Not only is she the popular Wine Wizard of WineMaker magazine, Alison is also the winemaker for Garnet Vineyards and Director of Winemaking for Plata Wine Partners, Alison makes awesome pinot noir.

Request your meeting Zoom invitation from Donna Bettencourt at donnab1045@gmail.com.

We’ll submit your questions to Alison ahead of the meeting.  Email ginyangtaehlin@yahoo.com with your issue or inquiry. 

Start off the new year by going into your winery and giving your wine some love!  Wait, what?  Your wine’s not tasting so good?  It’s smelling a little off?  Have some white fluffy stuff floating on top?  

The January 20 SHW meeting (Zoom starts at 7 pm) is your chance to access professional advice to get your wines, your cellar, and your vineyards back to where it should be. 

Alison Crowe returns as the guest speaker for the meeting.  In addition to offering home wine makers solutions in the cellar and vineyard as WineMaker magazine’s Wine Wizard, Alison makes award winning wines for Garnet Vineyards and is the Director of Winemaking at Plata Wine Partners. 

Please submit your wine making and home vineyard questions between now and the meeting to Gin Yang at ginyangstaehlin@yahoo.com. 

To receive a Zoom invitation to the meeting, please email Donna Bettencourt at donnab1045@gmail.com.

We are looking for members to join the 2021 Education Committee!  This is a great opportunity for new and veteran home winemakers to provide creative ideas for the club’s monthly meetings. Share your concepts for fun and educational activities, such as the Chardonnay and Cider making groups.  

We’re planning evening committee meetings and you can participate in the comfort of your home via Zoom. If you show up on the screen with wine, dinner, jammies – we won’t judge! 

Please email Will at WiningWill@protonmail.com if you’d like to join us. 

SHW members have asked for the ability to make Membership Application and dues payments on-line from the SHW website. That feature is now available!

You can fill out Membership Applications and make dues payments on-line or by printed hard copy and check.  Access for these options is on the new Memberships page (under the Members Resources menu item).

Three ways to remit your dues:

• * Paying by PayPal or Credit Card On-line
• Submitting an Application and a check for dues by USPS
• Paying by check or cash at a SHW meeting (unfortunately not an option at this time)

 *  PLEASE NOTE:  you do not have to have a PayPal account to make your on-line payment. You will have the option to pay by credit or debit card, or your PayPal account.  Also, no financial information will be stored on the website. 

Paying by PayPal or Credit Card Online

Submit an on-line Membership Application form and pay your dues by PayPal or Credit Card by clicking here.

Application and Dues by Mail, or in Person

The 2021 SHW Membership Application Form can be downloaded by clicking here. It is a fillable PDF form and may be completed, printed and mailed back with a check to SHW’s Treasurer at the address below:

SHW Treasurer Wreatha Duverney  

10725 Sunrise Ridge Circle

Auburn CA 95603

or, bring the completed form and dues check to the next SHW meeting (hopefully soon).  The mailing address is also on the bottom of the membership form. 

Questions about membership?  Contact the Membership Chair Gin Yang at membership@sachomewine.com or 916 217-0294.  

Happy New Year!

SHW is starting off 2021 with a bang! Napa winemaker Alison Crowe who is The Wine Wizard in WineMaker magazine is our guest speaker for the January 20 meeting.

We’re asking members to submit their wine making and related questions ahead of the January 20 meeting to make the most of this special Zoom meeting with The Wizard. Please send your questions to Gin Yang via email to ginyangstaehlin@yahoo.com or text to 916 217-0294.

Watch for a blog notice to receive the meeting’s Zoom invitation.

Also watch your in-box for an email from member Jim Garrett (info@sachomewine.com) who will be sharing details on the upgrades and enhancements that are being rolled out on the SHW website this weekend.

The Club’s website is scheduled to be down this weekend January 1-2, 2021 for upgrades and maintenance. 

Jim Garrett at info@sachomewine.com will send each one of you an email this week which gives more details.  Please watch for this communiqué. 

The upgrade converts the website into a secure website so that the new website address will become https://www.sachomewine.com – existing bookmarks may no longer work. Secondly, the upgrade provides the ability for secure on-line payments (via PayPal) for membership dues, Jubilee wine entries, and other items.

Join your fellow SHW home winemakers in our first ever virtual wine evaluation all from the comfort of your home!  The evaluation will be similar to our traditional wine evaluations, but members will have access to wine kits with samples of all the wines to be evaluated, a copy of the winemaker notes, and access to the zoom session with our expert wine evaluators.  We will have 3-4 drop off-sites for your wine bottles to be evaluated to be dropped off, and likewise, 2-3 sites (Roseville, Sacramento, Folsom) for pick-up sites for the wine kits.

In order for At Large Executive Board Member, Kevin Lemay, to pull off this event, he needs some information by the end of December.  So, please send your response to the following two questions to Chief Judge Donna at donnab1045@gmail.com by December 31, 2020:

Will you be submitting a 2020 white or rosé wine for evaluation?  If so, please state the varietal.  We are limited to the number of wines that can be evaluated in the time we have, so one wine per member at this time – 2 bottles as usual required.

Will you be participating in the evaluation program on February 17, 2021?  If so, will it be one member tasting or two members from the same household?  We will be packaging the wine into either one or two ounce bottles.

Look for an official blast in January to submit your wines for evaluation, wine drop off and pick up sites, and registration information.

2020 could have been more fun, yes?  Why not spend an hour or so chillin’ out with familiar SHW faces and your fave bottle of wine?  Let’s get silly!  We’ll team up on wine wine trivia and “guess that movie clip” and enjoy wine.

Contact Donna Bettencourt at donnab1045@gmail.com to get your Zoom invitation.  Meeting starts at 7 pm on Wednesday night, December 16.

Happy Holidays!