Certifications

The Century Club an organization founded in London, with a logical, educational aspect on wine tasting - you become a member by documenting 100 wine grape varietals you have tasted. The Century Club certification is free - however, Mr. De Long sells charts, maps and tasting reservations for the annual tasting/meetings in London and NYC. There are also American Chapters of this organization.

I don't know the details of forming a Century Club tasting group - I know they are relatively new. Here is the link to their website: Wine Century Club. The old Chevalier du Taste Vin and Les Amis du Vin were French "clubs" - I think they may now exist only in France. There are also guilds and courts - Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers headquartered in London - certification organizations that are based on very rigid testing and writing a thesis related to Wine [MW] ... or the alcohol service business [MS] and are very expensive and prestigious - there are only 20 MW's since 1990 in the USA, only three people in the world who are certified both MW and MS. Doug Frost is the only one in the USA.

American organizations have started widely varied certification programs - for knowledge of wines of the world, qualified wine judges and the organizers expect to make money. I am skeptical that certification will mean much in the future - except that it may be easier to get a job / promotion in the wine business, as Leslie Young has recently been promoted to manager of the CO-OP Wine Shop. To my knowledge, she is the only one working there with certification credentials.

Rabbits and wine

Getting close to the day the Easter Bunny arrives. How is it that Easter eggs are delivered by a rabbit? Well, here is the tale I've heard told ...Easter often coincides with the 10 days of Passover, a Jewish holiday celebrating the passage of enslaved Jews from Egypt into Palestine, led by Moses who performed a miracle parting the Red Sea, allowing them to walk right across land where there once was water. A special dinner called a Seder is shared amongst family and congregants, with four glasses of kosher wine per adult swallowed quickly at different occasions during the feast, after raising the glass with a toast "La Chaim" = To Life!.
The first course consists of symbolic foodstuffs, Parsley, salt water, bitter fruits and nuts, a lamb shank bone, a honeyed mash of apples and hard-boiled eggs.
Years ago a congregation was making plans for the Seder. All invitees were to share in bringing something. Rabbi Thoshinski volunteered to bring the hard-boiled eggs. He left a note: "Rabbi T bringing the eggs."
As Christians evolved holiday rituals from Jewish as well as Pagan holiday celebrations, the message was interpreted as Rabbit bringing the eggs. To color the holiday as a spring celebration, Easter eggs were dyed lovely floral colors.
Now you know ...
Why there is a Leaping Lapin in front of a Bordeaux vineyard is perhaps just as a creative artistic creation as my colored pencil drawing of Rabbits making Wine.
Cheers

Oldest

As I age, the more I appreciate acknowledgement of the oldest of anything.

I recently read that the oldest winery in North America is Casa Madero in the state of Coahuila in Mexico, founded in 1597. Mexican wineries have been winning medals in European competitions for at least a century. The one winery I have visited is Santo Tomas in Baja. One of the many winemakers at Santo Tomas was Dimitri Tchellichief, son of Dorothy and BV vintner Andrae. The present winemaker is Laura Zamora, who has been publishing food pairing suggestions on some of the labels. Always helpful for consumers trying a wine for the first time.

There are also wineries located in the states of Aquascalientes, Zacatecas and Queretaro.

A popular family Restaurante Nicos in Mexico City, Districto Federal, includes many wines of Mexico on their wine list. Chef Lugo is an advocate of pairing his culinary creations with wines of his nation as well as tequila and artisanal beers.

http://www.winemag.com/Wine-Enthusiast-Magazine/March-2011/Mixing-it-Up-With-Chef-Lugo/

The Wine Century Club

A couple of years ago I qualified for membership in the Wine Century Club by completing my application listing 100 wine grape varieties I had tasted. At the time,

this seemed like a lot and the idea of getting to 200 seemed unimaginable, so I just relaxed, framed my certificate and hung it on the wall in the wine cellar. I also purchased the DeLong Grape Varieties deluxe wall chart package. [~ $30]The chart resembles the periodic table of elements. We also purchased one for grandson, Chris and our friend, Cristi from the Buzz, who was studying to be a certified Sommelier. She has hers beautifully framed and hanging in the Buzz coffee/wine Café. There are now quite a number of regional century club tasting groups, meeting to widen the education of members and increase the number of varietals tasted. Here is a link to the Wine Century Club where you can apply for membership.

Wine and Food Memberships

Geneology is slowing me down, so I decided to record my wine history as actively involved in world of Wine and Food for nearly 40 years:
San Francisco, California Friends of Wine, 1973 membership # 200 - it became the California Wine Institute.
Napa Valley Wine Library Association, Journeyman Diploma
1974 UC Davis various short workshop courses for winemakers
1975 - 1977 Basque Hotel Every Thursday Night Tasting Group San Francisco
1972-1979 Taster and contributing critic, Mark [Sante Fe Cafe] Miller's Marketbasket wine and food periodical
1975 Ravenswood Winery First Assistant to Joel E. Peterson, the Winemaker
1976 - 1979 Draper-Esquin tasting group
1972 - 1979 Women's Wine Group [organizer]
1979-1981 Wine and Health course for RN's - European Tour - Oxford, Champagne, Bordeaux
1981 J'faire les Vendage en Meursault,
1982 I made wine from friend's vineyard in PA - Marechal Foch and Seyval Blanc.

Since moving to Idaho, I have vinified dandelions, rose petals, huckleberries, cherries, elderberries, Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot and a 'backyard bubbly' from unknown grape varietals in yard since buying this 1905 home in 1986.
Idaho Grapegrowers and Wine Producers Org. - attended meetings at St. Chapelle in 1984.
Idaho Chapter of Les Amis du Vin 1983 - 1990 Brooks Tisch, organizer.
Johnny Carino's Wine Club, 1998 - 99.
Treasure Valley Wine Society 2004 - present.
The Wine Century Club, 2007
Buzz Wine Club - monthly and quarterly wine tasting dinners since 2009.
Boise Wine Club monthly tasting meets newly formed 2010 - 2011

Various Winery Wine Clubs:
Joseph Swan, Ravenswood, Ridge, Indian Creek, Davis Creek, Cold Springs, Fraser, Bedrock, Brown-Haight, Hell's Canyon, Syringa and Vale.

Other related education and experience:
Cheeses of the World - certified in San Francisco 1977. Worked part time in a Cheese Store in Marin County, CA.
1978 Certification from Comite National Des Vins de France.

Wine Regions visited:
California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Virginia, Maryland, NY Fingerlakes, Missourri, Ohio, Mosel, Rhine, Necker, Nahe, Austria, Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Jura, Loire, Rhone, Provence, Frontenac, NE.Spain, N.Italy - Piedmont, Friuli, Tuscany, Sienna Wine Museum.

Wine and Food Festivals attended:
Heirloom Tomato Fest, Sun Valley Idaho Wine and Food Festival, Gilroy Garlic Festival.


 Interests: - ongoing Home Winemaker, Foodie, History of Wine and Food, Organic Chemistry, Home Brewer, Ida-Quaffers, Anthropology of Wine and Food, maintain with my husband a Foodie and a Wine Blog, Amateur Restaurant Critic list of reviewed restaurants on our WebPage - www.rockinrs.com ... Ongoing research of regional wine and authentic food pairing for optimal balance and pleasure. Wine steward for judging- 2005, Judge for Idaho Wine Festival & Competition-2006, Past Chair of Judges for Idaho Wine Competition 2007, 2008, 2009. I had to write it all down before my memory leaves me and there are days I just wave!

Geneology of Perrin / Perrine

The surname of PERRIN was a baptismal name - the son of Peter, the name was from the Old French Pierre, a name brought to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. Apparently, family surnames were generally not in use until after 1200 except among royalty. It does seem odd that first names are the only way I [we] remember the identity of various royalty in history and the present: Henry the 8th, Catherine of Aragon, Louis XIV, King George and Queen Elizabeth. Do we use or even know their family surnames? Not as commonly as other titles such as the Duke of York, Prince of Wales and the same holds true for elected Papal personages, in that only a first name is commonly used: ie, Pope John.
As I have been trying to trace back Perrine family geneology and hoping to connect with the Chateauneuf du Pape wine producers Perrin et Fils, the fact that there were so many sons of Pierre or Peter all over Europe raises the probability of only being able to trace a family lineage through DNA comparisons and eliminations. At the very least, this has been challenging and mind expanding. Who needs drugs? Perhaps a little wine sets my imagination free to roam.
Cheers

Perrin/Perrine

The Perrine Bridge presently crossing Snake River between TwinFalls and the hiway to Shoshone, Hailey, Ketchum, Galena Summit to Stanley is a replacement for the original cantiliever suspension bridge first erected in the 1920's. This is the bridge that people free jump off on the East side - parachuting and landing on the south bank of Snake River. Popular with daredevils from all over the world, most succeed without injury. There is a bridge across the river down in the canyon. Originally, built as a toll bridge replacing a "ferry or raft" method for crossing Snake River, it now holds the water cysterns transporting drinking water to Twin Falls from Blue Lakes.
IB Perrine designed the center of Twin Falls on a diagonal plat, to take advantage of sunshine with no cardinal facing buildings. The original center city Perrine Hotel was often a destination for political candidates, with a grand balcony used for campaign speeches. William Jennings Bryant, 2X presidential candidate, loved to visit Idaho and the Blue Lakes Ranch.
Thomas Edison and Luther Burbank were good friends to IB Perrine. He had the first electric light bulbs installed in the canyon house. The first Red and Golden delicious apples were grafted onto Blue Lakes apple trees. My aunt just found a document that invited IB Perrine to consult with orchardists in France, but he declined. At the peak of his fame and wealth, he would attend the Opera in Salt Lake City with his wife and my grandmother. They had a family box and the 'ladies' had to have the latest couiture dresses made by a French dressmaker in SLC.
IB dabbled in investments in others gold mines and the stock market. He lost everything in the crash of 1929. The Blue Lakes Country Club leased the land from him until he had to sell it to them to live on. IB died the same year I was born, HG [ GiGi] died in Boise when I was 4.
more to follow ...