April 2016 Volume 3 Number 2
In This Edition
From The President – Message from Glo
Let’s Go Places - Outside Events- Lynne Petersen
Kiva Events – Gina Sears
Gambino Winery, Sicily- Dave Brandman
Home Social - Nancy Hancock
Trilogy Travel To Italy- Roger and Lynne Petersen
Save the Dates - Dates of upcoming Wine Club Events
Contacting the Wine Club & Board Members
From the President
Submitted By: Glo Migal
In This Edition
From The President – Message from Glo
Let’s Go Places - Outside Events- Lynne Petersen
Kiva Events – Gina Sears
Gambino Winery, Sicily- Dave Brandman
Home Social - Nancy Hancock
Trilogy Travel To Italy- Roger and Lynne Petersen
Save the Dates - Dates of upcoming Wine Club Events
Contacting the Wine Club & Board Members
From the President
Submitted By: Glo Migal
As president of the Trilogy Wine Club, I want to welcome our 2016 new wine club members and our returning wine club members. It is hard to believe we were just saying goodbye to our outgoing wine board members and welcoming our new wine board members. Serving with me on the 2016 wine board are: Janet Locklar - Vice President, Norm Pitts – Treasurer, Maribeth Chappell – Secretary, Dave Brandman – IT/Social Media, Nancy Hancock – Home Socials, Kathy Hunsaker – Membership, Lynne Petersen – Dining Out Events, Gina Sears – Kiva Events.
I must say we have not slowed down with our wine club monthly activities. Each wine club committee chair plans, carries through and follows-up for each event. If you have had an opportunity to attend a 2016 wine club event and have enjoyed the experience, please take a moment and thank the chair
Our events to date have been well attended and we owe that partly to our snow birds that are here as well as our full time residents. To the snowbirds and to those full time residents I want to say thank you for supporting our events. For the full time residents we will be having various wine club events throughout the summer months for you to attend.
Some of the wine club committees will be looking to put a bit of a new twist to some of the monthly events. Be sure to follow the committee reports and stay tuned for the upcoming events. You won’t want to miss the activities!
Glo
Let’s Go Places - Outside Events
Submitted by: Lynne Petersen
I must say we have not slowed down with our wine club monthly activities. Each wine club committee chair plans, carries through and follows-up for each event. If you have had an opportunity to attend a 2016 wine club event and have enjoyed the experience, please take a moment and thank the chair
Our events to date have been well attended and we owe that partly to our snow birds that are here as well as our full time residents. To the snowbirds and to those full time residents I want to say thank you for supporting our events. For the full time residents we will be having various wine club events throughout the summer months for you to attend.
Some of the wine club committees will be looking to put a bit of a new twist to some of the monthly events. Be sure to follow the committee reports and stay tuned for the upcoming events. You won’t want to miss the activities!
Glo
Let’s Go Places - Outside Events
Submitted by: Lynne Petersen
Outside events started out the New Year with a brand new restaurant in Old Glendale, the Desert Rose Steak House. If I had it all to do again, I would never, and I mean never book a brand new restaurant again. Not that the restaurant was not wonderful! They kept changing their opening date so we were never sure if we would have a venue or not! It all worked out and forty seven members joined on the 25th of January for a wonderful three course meal. They offered us 50% off wine with some wonderful wine choices. If you did not join us be sure to try the restaurant out they have the steakhouse, a pub with more casual food and even a Scotch and cigar room.
February took us back to Off the Cuff again this year where the owner Dave Chang produced another wonderful fusion menu from his two restaurants Cuff and Zang. Thirty three members enjoyed a four course meal that included two sakes and four wines paired with the various courses.
We did not have an event in March as we had to change the Kiva Wine tasting date and people seemed so busy with families in and out for Easter and Spring Break.
April will take us to Scottsdale to an Italian restaurant, Spiga Cucina Italiana where we will have a lovely three course meal with a choice of five main items. Each course will be paired with a glass of wine. We will offer a bus on this trip.
May, will be a California adventure for many of us. We will spend three nights in northern Sonoma County at Healdsburg where we will visit such well known wineries such as Silver Oak, Coppola, Seghesio and several more over the two days.
For June we are currently talking to Saigon Kitchen in Surprise and hopefully many of you full timers will join us.
If you have a favorite restaurant that will hold 35-55 people, please let me know as I am happy to talk to them about an event for our group.
Until next time, cheers
Kiva Events
Submitted by: Gina Sears
February took us back to Off the Cuff again this year where the owner Dave Chang produced another wonderful fusion menu from his two restaurants Cuff and Zang. Thirty three members enjoyed a four course meal that included two sakes and four wines paired with the various courses.
We did not have an event in March as we had to change the Kiva Wine tasting date and people seemed so busy with families in and out for Easter and Spring Break.
April will take us to Scottsdale to an Italian restaurant, Spiga Cucina Italiana where we will have a lovely three course meal with a choice of five main items. Each course will be paired with a glass of wine. We will offer a bus on this trip.
May, will be a California adventure for many of us. We will spend three nights in northern Sonoma County at Healdsburg where we will visit such well known wineries such as Silver Oak, Coppola, Seghesio and several more over the two days.
For June we are currently talking to Saigon Kitchen in Surprise and hopefully many of you full timers will join us.
If you have a favorite restaurant that will hold 35-55 people, please let me know as I am happy to talk to them about an event for our group.
Until next time, cheers
Kiva Events
Submitted by: Gina Sears
Our Kiva Events are always held in the Tewa Ballroom. These events are very well attended and enjoyed by many members and non-members alike.
Our Kiva Events are normally a tasting of six different wines from a selected region, country, or state(s). These events are intended to be educational and they give you an opportunity to sample wines before purchasing them. At the conclusion of each tasting you are given the opportunity to order the wines at a fair rate. The wines that are ordered are typically ready for pick up the following Thursday morning and an email is sent to verify the time of pick-up.
The April 24th tasting will be our first “high-end” event for 2016. At this time we have not selected the wines or the food. A notice regarding this will be sent our several days prior to the tasting so that you will have time to purchase tickets at the Customer Service Desk at the Kiva Club. This is one of the most popular events the Wine Club offers, so check your email for the announcement.
Please check the Wine Club Calendar for more events scheduled throughout the year.
Enough about news, let’s get a little education on how to know if your wine is “corked”. Corked or tainted wine occurs when tiny microorganisms eat on the cork, which is a natural substance. Corked wine gives off a smell that is similar to a dank moldy basement, wet newspaper or a wet dog. When you sip the wine, a corked wine taste will be flat and dull, exhibiting no fruit characteristics. Some even say that corked wine tastes like astringent.
Some scientists at UC Davis claim to have discovered a way to extract the TCA from the wine. This process consists of letting the wine soak in a pitcher with a wad of plastic wrap for about 15 minutes and then pouring the wine into a new vessel, leaving the plastic wrap behind. The researchers claim that the TCA bonds to the plastic wrap and removes the cork taint. We say why bother with this trick; life’s too short to drink bad wine and you should simply return the bottle. Any wine store that won’t accept a return on a corked bottle is a wine shop you should not patronize!
Information taken from vinepair.com
Gambino Winery, Sicily
Submitted by Dave Brandman
Our Kiva Events are normally a tasting of six different wines from a selected region, country, or state(s). These events are intended to be educational and they give you an opportunity to sample wines before purchasing them. At the conclusion of each tasting you are given the opportunity to order the wines at a fair rate. The wines that are ordered are typically ready for pick up the following Thursday morning and an email is sent to verify the time of pick-up.
The April 24th tasting will be our first “high-end” event for 2016. At this time we have not selected the wines or the food. A notice regarding this will be sent our several days prior to the tasting so that you will have time to purchase tickets at the Customer Service Desk at the Kiva Club. This is one of the most popular events the Wine Club offers, so check your email for the announcement.
Please check the Wine Club Calendar for more events scheduled throughout the year.
Enough about news, let’s get a little education on how to know if your wine is “corked”. Corked or tainted wine occurs when tiny microorganisms eat on the cork, which is a natural substance. Corked wine gives off a smell that is similar to a dank moldy basement, wet newspaper or a wet dog. When you sip the wine, a corked wine taste will be flat and dull, exhibiting no fruit characteristics. Some even say that corked wine tastes like astringent.
Some scientists at UC Davis claim to have discovered a way to extract the TCA from the wine. This process consists of letting the wine soak in a pitcher with a wad of plastic wrap for about 15 minutes and then pouring the wine into a new vessel, leaving the plastic wrap behind. The researchers claim that the TCA bonds to the plastic wrap and removes the cork taint. We say why bother with this trick; life’s too short to drink bad wine and you should simply return the bottle. Any wine store that won’t accept a return on a corked bottle is a wine shop you should not patronize!
Information taken from vinepair.com
Gambino Winery, Sicily
Submitted by Dave Brandman
In October 2015, My wife, Lori, and I along with Nancy Hancock and Tom Bergantino took a Windstar Cruise from Rome. The cruise went to various stops in Sicily, Malta and Sorrento. It was a marvelous 8 days on the Windsurf.
Our first stop was to Catania, Sicily. There we took a private tour of the area that included the Gambino Winery on the Eastern slopes of Mt. Etna. The Gambino winery is in a cool setting, several thousand feet up the slopes and has beautiful views of Mt. Aetna and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Gambino wines were varied and very good. They certainly owe a lot of their character and goodness to the dry climate and to the volcanic soil. The winery is totally organic.
Our host at the Gambino Winery made a point of saying you could drink their wines without worrying about getting a headache. As some of you know, drink a little too much vino, and as certainly as night follows day, a headache is in the offing. According to Gambino, the reason you won’t get a headache from their wines, especially their red wines, is they do not add sulfites to their wine. Our tasting experience at the Gambino Winery included a white, a rose, a Nero d'Avola and a Cabernet blend. Sadly, we did not get to sample sufficient quantities of their wine to prove the point, but definitively, none of us did suffer from a headache after sampling several of their delicious wines.
Gambino Wines are primarily sold in Italy. When exported to Europe and the US, the winery does add sulfites to the wine to help stabilize the wine and combat oxidation.
It should be noted that the theory that it is the addition of sulfites to wine that causes headaches is suspect. Sulfites to some extent will occur naturally in wine from the fermentation process, but they are typically added post fermentation. Dried fruits and lunch meat contain more sulfites than wine. Research has shown though that except for approximately 1% of the population who are sensitive to sulfites, sulfites, which are common in many other foods, do not cause headaches.
So, what is causing that headache? Hard to say. Tannins are another suspect agent, especially since people drinking red wine seem more susceptible to the headaches than those drinking whites. Another compelling theory is, sad to say, the alcohol. Consume too much of it, and headaches are part of the price you are likely to pay.
Our first stop was to Catania, Sicily. There we took a private tour of the area that included the Gambino Winery on the Eastern slopes of Mt. Etna. The Gambino winery is in a cool setting, several thousand feet up the slopes and has beautiful views of Mt. Aetna and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Gambino wines were varied and very good. They certainly owe a lot of their character and goodness to the dry climate and to the volcanic soil. The winery is totally organic.
Our host at the Gambino Winery made a point of saying you could drink their wines without worrying about getting a headache. As some of you know, drink a little too much vino, and as certainly as night follows day, a headache is in the offing. According to Gambino, the reason you won’t get a headache from their wines, especially their red wines, is they do not add sulfites to their wine. Our tasting experience at the Gambino Winery included a white, a rose, a Nero d'Avola and a Cabernet blend. Sadly, we did not get to sample sufficient quantities of their wine to prove the point, but definitively, none of us did suffer from a headache after sampling several of their delicious wines.
Gambino Wines are primarily sold in Italy. When exported to Europe and the US, the winery does add sulfites to the wine to help stabilize the wine and combat oxidation.
It should be noted that the theory that it is the addition of sulfites to wine that causes headaches is suspect. Sulfites to some extent will occur naturally in wine from the fermentation process, but they are typically added post fermentation. Dried fruits and lunch meat contain more sulfites than wine. Research has shown though that except for approximately 1% of the population who are sensitive to sulfites, sulfites, which are common in many other foods, do not cause headaches.
So, what is causing that headache? Hard to say. Tannins are another suspect agent, especially since people drinking red wine seem more susceptible to the headaches than those drinking whites. Another compelling theory is, sad to say, the alcohol. Consume too much of it, and headaches are part of the price you are likely to pay.
Home Social
Submitted by: Nancy Hancock
I am excited to begin the year as your new Home Social Chair and I look forward to continuing the popular monthly home socials. Last quarter we had 3 very successful and well-attended home socials; the entire Board thanks the hosts who opened up their homes to fellow members.
I have instituted some behind-the-scene changes by using a more computerized method of assigning guests to homes each month. In addition, I have created spreadsheets to track members’ hosting history as well as event attendance. (It is so important that you check yourselves off on the sign-in sheet at every event!)
My biggest challenge has been filling the home social calendar with host homes. When we have an adequate supply of homes every month, every member who chooses to attend may do so. I am gratified that so many members have stepped up to volunteer as hosts; the hosting calendar is now filled with homes for 2016! In the next quarter I will be looking for host commitments for 2017.
As a reminder of just how easy it is to host a home social, here is all you need to provide:
- Adequate table or counter space for food and wine. Most hosts have found it works well to have the wine outdoors and the food indoors on a dining room table or long countertop.
- Two large containers half full of ice for the white wine. During the hottest summer months, it’s also recommended to have a bucket with some ice for the red wine.
- Two or three wine bottle openers. Your wine table does not need to be staffed during the entire event, but you might want someone to assist you in opening bottles during the first 20 minutes of the event.
- Paper plates, napkins and plastic forks for the appetizer table.
- Two or three large trash containers placed in strategic locations, including one outdoors.
The success of home socials is entirely dependent upon you – the members who volunteer to host every month. Fairness dictates that all who attend home socials periodically act as host. With this in mind, I have been reaching out to those who have not hosted in the past 3 years and urging them to volunteer for the month of their choice. If would like to fulfill your hosting obligation, please contact me either by phone or by email.
Nancy Hancock
TWChomesocial@trilogywineclub.com
623-215-7041
Trilogy Travels To Italy
Submitted By; Roger and Lynne Petersen
I have instituted some behind-the-scene changes by using a more computerized method of assigning guests to homes each month. In addition, I have created spreadsheets to track members’ hosting history as well as event attendance. (It is so important that you check yourselves off on the sign-in sheet at every event!)
My biggest challenge has been filling the home social calendar with host homes. When we have an adequate supply of homes every month, every member who chooses to attend may do so. I am gratified that so many members have stepped up to volunteer as hosts; the hosting calendar is now filled with homes for 2016! In the next quarter I will be looking for host commitments for 2017.
As a reminder of just how easy it is to host a home social, here is all you need to provide:
- Adequate table or counter space for food and wine. Most hosts have found it works well to have the wine outdoors and the food indoors on a dining room table or long countertop.
- Two large containers half full of ice for the white wine. During the hottest summer months, it’s also recommended to have a bucket with some ice for the red wine.
- Two or three wine bottle openers. Your wine table does not need to be staffed during the entire event, but you might want someone to assist you in opening bottles during the first 20 minutes of the event.
- Paper plates, napkins and plastic forks for the appetizer table.
- Two or three large trash containers placed in strategic locations, including one outdoors.
The success of home socials is entirely dependent upon you – the members who volunteer to host every month. Fairness dictates that all who attend home socials periodically act as host. With this in mind, I have been reaching out to those who have not hosted in the past 3 years and urging them to volunteer for the month of their choice. If would like to fulfill your hosting obligation, please contact me either by phone or by email.
Nancy Hancock
TWChomesocial@trilogywineclub.com
623-215-7041
Trilogy Travels To Italy
Submitted By; Roger and Lynne Petersen
For many years Italy has been on top of our bucket list. Four years ago we were lucky enough to sell a home to a couple born in Italy and after immediately becoming BFF’s we were constantly talking about taking a trip so they could show us their country. We decided to take a cruise stopping mostly at Italian ports. This was not easy to find. After two years of looking our favorite cruise line, Celebrity came out with a 10 day cruise of mostly Italy with two stops in France. We all wanted to spend some time in the Tuscan countryside and started looking at our options. Our priorities were food, wine, people and seeing the countryside. As we planned and mentioned the trip to other Trilogy friends, we were asked, “do you think we could join you.” So what started out a as a trip for four ended up with ten for the Tuscany portion and sixteen for the cruise…..
In September 2015 Roger and I flew into Rome a day early just to make sure we were over jetlag when we started. As we would meet the balance of the ten the next morning we chose a wonderful hotel ten minutes from the airport in the town of Fiumicino. The Hotel Tiber is located at the end of a canal, from our room you felt like you were at sea. This is the area where the fishing boats come in every afternoon with their fresh catch. All along the canal are wonderful Seafood restaurants, so many and so little time. Six of us enjoyed an incredible seafood meal that evening. We were glad we were staying one night at the hotel at the end our trip so we could try another restaurant.
Next morning we are off to the airport to meet the balance of our group and get our two mini vans. Thank goodness for the Garmin (most of the time) and three Italian speaking members among us. We began our adventure through the beautiful country side to our first hotel, Castello di Gargonza near Arezzo. Castello di Gargonza is nestled among the forested mountains, a 13th century walled hamlet complete with fairy tale castle tower. The former peasant houses are self-catering apartments complete with kitchenettes. Their restaurant is excellent and the property is very popular for international weddings.
Day three of our adventure was the wine day. We were picked up in two Mercedes vans by the delightful owners of Holiday Planners. Our first winery, Santa Vittoria produces around 35,000 bottles per year with 8 different labels blending Tuscan traditional and unusual ancient varieties such as Sangiovese, Pugnitello and Foglia Tonda. We watched them carefully arrange freshly picked clusters on drying racks to make the Vin Santo dessert wines. These grapes are picked in September and allowed to dry in warm, well ventilated rooms that allow the moisture to evaporate. Depending on the wine they make, the grapes are allowed to dry a few weeks or up until March. The grapes are crushed and then the fermentation process is started. The juice is then put in small oak barrels and is aged at least 3 years but can be aged up to 10 years. The winery is about 250 years old and they still use some of the old equipment and methods today. We tasted several different wines as well as Grappa and wonderful olive oils produced on the property.
The next winery, Santa Giulia has been in the Terzuoli family since 1950. Gianluca Terzuoli hosted us along with his mother who cooked lunch for us. We enjoyed their Brunello Di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino and IGT Rosso Santa Giulia wines along with homemade pasta and sauce that Momma made and then cheeses and wonderful meats that Gianluca cures himself. The meal was followed by dessert and grappa. The location of this winery is stunning and the owners so charming you do not want to leave.
Our final winery for the day was Villa Sant’ Anna, which is located in the small town of Abbadia di Montepulciano in the state of Siena between Umbria and Tuscany. The property has been owned for about 200 years by the family of Simona Ruggeri Fabroni. Simona along with her two daughters run this all women team carrying on the family traditions of making excellent wines. Simona led us through a wonderful tasting of their Chianti Colli Senesi, Rosso di Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and their Vino Nobile Montepulciano Poldo which is aged thirty-four months in small and medium oak barrels in their underground cellars. After bottling the wine is kept about another two years in air conditioned rooms. All of these wines are made from primarily Sangiovese grapes.
The following day we had a relaxing tour through the countryside to the towns of San Gimigniano and Siena. The next day we tested our skills of train travel from Arezzo to Florence where we spent the day sightseeing via the Hop On Hop Off bus which I highly recommend.
Our final day in this area and one of the highlights of the trip was a half day cooking class at Corso Di Cucina Toscana in the town of Lucignano, 10 miles from our hotel. Our instructor Chef Susanna Del Cipolla did not speak English so everything was translated by her General Manager and our Italian speaking members of the group. It was a hand’s on class so as you can imagine we had a ball. We made Pappa Al Pomodoro (Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup), Gnocchi with Mushroom Sauce, Stuffed Rabbit, Scamarita (Pork Neck) and Panna Cotta with fresh berry sauce. When we finished we had to eat everything we made along with drinking some wonderful wines.
This is the day we moved from central Tuscany to southern Tuscany to the area of Maremma region minutes from the ocean. This is also the day the Garmin got us lost….but we did see a lot of beautiful countryside while taking two extra hours to find our destination. The farm stay at Podere del Priorato is not really a working farm but the classification of the property. In Tuscany you cannot build new buildings in the countryside so old farm houses are gutted and modernized. Again, we found delightful accommodations run by a family. The breakfasts were incredible with at least a dozen different pastries each morning at the buffet.
The next day we headed north along the coast to the hills of Bolgheri to Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Winery one of the great Super-Tuscan estates. In the past few years this coastal area has become one of the most ultra-exclusive wine producing regions of Italy. The winery is located close to Sassicaia, another legendary Tuscan estate. The two familys are related. We had a wonderful tour of the property, the winery and met the wine maker who is Australian. The estates signature wine, Ornellaia Bolgheri DOC Superiore, a Cabernet-Merlot blend is a collector’s favorite and is usually sold out before it is even made. You can find some of the less expensive Ornellaia wines at Total Wines. On the way back to our accommodations we stopped at one of the many seaside towns and had a delightful lunch sitting outside enjoying the smell of the sea and watching the local scene pass us by. This is what we came for, the food, the wine, the countryside and meeting the locals.
Our last day in Tuscany was the only day of rain so we decided to rest and then go into the closest little town to do laundry and pick up a picnic lunch. Oh what laughs we women had trying to understand how many coins we need to wash and dry our clothes. Two of the men went off to the local grocery stores and purchased meats, cheeses and breads along with a cake as it was one couples 40th wedding anniversary. The owners of the farm stay set up a beautiful table for our indoor picnic lunch where we all brought a bottle of wine we had picked up in our travels and had a wonderful relaxing afternoon. That evening we continued to celebrate at a small local restaurant that was recommended to us. More fun, the owners did not speak English so thank goodness we had our own translators.
The next morning we headed to Civitavecchia, the port just outside Rome where we would meet up with three more Trilogy couples and continue our Italian adventure for ten days by sea….that’s another story!
Feedback From Our Members
The Trilogy Wine Club welcomes your feedback on events. Feel free to send your comments to Janet Locklar at TWCPUBLICITY@trilogywineclub.com janetlocklar@aol.com
Save the Dates:
April Events
- Saturday, April 9th, 6:00PM – 8:00PM – Home Social
- Outside Event- April 18th, Spiga Cucina Italiana, 6:00pm
- Sunday, April 24th, 4:00PM – 6:00PM - Kiva Club Wine Tasting
- Saturday, May 14, 6:00PM – 8:00PM – Home Social
- No Outside Event, Trip To Sonoma
- Sunday, May 22nd, 4:00PM - 6:00PM - Kiva Wine Tasting
June Events
- Saturday, June 11th, 6:00PM – 8:00PM – Home Social
- Outside Event-Saigon Kitchen Date TBD
- Sunday, June 26th, 6:00PM – 8:00PM - Kiva Club Tasting
Contacting the Wine Club & Board Members
Officers of the Board:
Glo Migal, President – 513-227-5268
TWCPRESIDENT@trilogywineclub.com gjmigal@cox.net
Janet Locklar, Vice President – 949-636-4090
TWCPUBLICITY@trilogywineclub.com janetlocklar@aol.com
Norm Pitts, Treasurer – 602-574-2552
TWCTREASURER@trilogywineclub.com normpitts@cox.net
Maribeth Chappell, Secretary – 602-320-8516
TWCSECRETARY@trilogywineclub.com steamboatmarit@msn.com
Home Socials: Nancy Hancock – 623-215-7041
TWCHOMESOCIAL@trilogywineclub.com oldpgmr@aol.com
IT – Social Media: Dave Brandman – 928-533-7960
Dave@brandman.org
Outside Events: Lynne Petersen – 602-625-3891
TWCOUTSIDEEVENT@trilogywineclub.com azhomesforsale@cox.net
Kiva Club Events: Gina Sears – 623-512-7900
TWCKIVAEVENTS@trilogywineclub.com gsears@zona.net
Membership: Kathy Hunsaker – 623-594-8456
TWCMEMBERSHIP@trilogywineclub.com dkhunsaker68@msn.com
Publicity: Janet Locklar – 949-636-4090
TWCPUBLICITY@trilogywineclub.com janetlocklar@aol.com
Visit Our Website: www.TrilogyWineClub.com
If you have questions for the Trilogy Wine Club, please send them to: TWCPRESIDENT@trilogywineclub.com.