I hadn't realized that this newsgroup still existed. My ISP abruptly pulle d the plug many years ago, and I thought, "well that's that.". I had met a number of people from this group in person and even more in a virtual sens e and was sorry to see them go. They all knew me as Tom S. I contacted Mi ke Tommasi through LinkedIn yesterday and he replied promptly that this new sgroup still existed. It was a little tricky to find, but here it is and s o am I.
I have been a winemaker since 1982 - both professionally and as an amateur
- mostly and most recently the latter. I retired 2+ years ago from my day- to-day aerospace career and am now free to pursue my hobbies and interests. I've gone back to college and plan to seek a degree in enology.
I still make barrel fermented Chardonnay (my favorite!) as well as the occa sional red. I'm getting a barrel of 2014 Pinot Noir ready to bottle, which will be followed shortly thereafter by my 2015 Chardonnay. Both are, if I may say so, delicious. I recently bottled a 2015 off-dry Riesling that I made on a whim. That was only a little more than four cases. It's a perfe ct summertime Spatlese style wine that everyone who has tasted it really li kes.
I don't do this for the money. It's simply in my blood and a part of me an d who I am - just as Bridge, Square Dance, fast cars and good food are.
I doubt that I will have the time to be as frequent a contributor here as I was in the past, but I'll pop in from time to time as time permits. Salud os!