Dr. Liz Thach, MW

Visiting the Black Sheep Winery of Hugh Hamilton in McClaren Vale, Australia

(Feb. 14, 2016) The entrance to Hugh Hamilton Wineryis stunning, with a curved gray wall at the beginning and then a long driveway lined with tall green cypress trees. Along the drive, there are four “sheep dips”, which are upside down speed bumps, each marked with a cute sign with a sheep.” At the far end of the driveway is a tall circular building set on a hilltop and surrounded by vineyards. An imposing flight of steps leads to the building, and sitting in the center of the staircase is a statue of a sheep. The whole effect is both [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:01:06-07:00February 24, 2016|

SSU Wine Sense Club Welcomes Korbel – The Oldest California Champagne Cellar Dating from 1882

(Contributed by Itze Monserrat Pena) The SSU WineSense Club kicked off the Spring 2016 semester with a delicious tasting of sparkling wine and port to celebrate the romantic month of February. Obviously Korbel Champagne Cellars was a “natural” choice to invite to campus for an educational and fun tasting. A Little Bit of Korbel History Korbel & Bros. Inc. has an interesting tale that dates back to 1862 where believe it or not, the three Korbel brothers: Francis, Anton and Joseph founded Korbel to make cigar boxes in San Francisco, California. It was an immediate success, which led them to [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:47:48-08:00February 24, 2016|

Mexican Wine, Beer or Tequila: The Amazing Resilience of Mexico’s Wine Industry

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-05T18:49:47-08:00February 1, 2016|

Keller Estate and Muscardini Cellars Join SSU in Ugly Holiday Sweater Wine Tasting

Contributed by Sophia Fish - SSU Wine Sense Club ended the semester with a bang, hosting Keller Estate and Muscardini Cellars for an Ugly Holiday Sweater Wine Club meeting! Ugly Holiday Sweater Wine Tasting at SSU About Keller Estate - A 25-Year Love Affair The development of Keller Estate has been a 25-year love affair of Arturo and Deborah Keller. The two first fell in love with the estate while driving through Sonoma County. They soon decided to make it the site for a world-class vineyard, as well as their home. The La Cruz vineyard took [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:48:09-08:00December 10, 2015|

A Glimpse into the Life of Bordeaux Buff Dewey Markham

Dewey Markham Contributed by Itze Pena-Andrade - This past Thursday, the WineSense club was very fortunate in that Dewey Markham Jr., an author and wine scholar, lead the club through a wine tasting of fine Bordeaux wines. It was an enriching and educational experience! Dewey Markham’s Wine Journey Dewey was born and raised in New York City where he attended and graduated from New York University, with a Bachelor's degree in English and a Master's degree in Cinema. During his late twenties, Dewey's professional direction turned to cuisine. After having worked as a cook for some time, he [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:48:31-08:00November 23, 2015|

A Tasting With Boutique Wineries Three Sticks and Hamel Family Vineyards

Contributed by Sophia Fish – The SSU Wine Sense Club was honored to host two unique boutique wineries this week – Three Sticks and Hamel Family Vineyards, both located in Sonoma Valley. Even better was the fact that both wineries have hired SSU wine business students. Katie Boyer now works at Three Sticks Winery and our Wine Sense President, Rachel Minor, works as an intern at Hamel Family Wines. Overview of Three Sticks Winery Three Sticks is a winery that succeeds with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. Bill Price purchased Durell Vineyard in 1998, and went on to found [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:48:52-08:00November 10, 2015|

Enriching Wine Tasting with La Crema and Murphy Goode Wineries

Halloween Wine Tasting Cheers to our fourth WineSense Club meeting of the Fall 2015 semester! We were very excited to welcome back alumni Kate Hansen from La Crema and Emily Creaven from Murphy-Goode to come speak with us about what their wineries offer. A Little Bit of History on La Crema and Murphy-Goode Wineries La Crema Vinera meaning the “Best of the Vine,” founded in 1979, is a family owned and operated winery that focuses exclusively on the exploration of premier West Coast cool-climate appellations. When La Crema was first founded, the Russian River Valley had yet to [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:49:30-08:00November 2, 2015|

Raving about Rare Cat Wines at SSU WineSense Meeting

Contributed by Sophia Fish - The name of Rare Cat Winery was inspired by an ancient Carthaginian coin dating back to 320 BC, with a beautiful picture of a majestic lion on one side and the Goddess Tanit on the other side. Since the goal of the winery was to make “exquisite wines, something truly beautiful and a little hard to come by: in short something of a ‘rare cat’” this was a perfect symbol and name. Rare Cat Wines – The love of wine began in Bordeaux Sharon Harris is the owner and director of winemaking, and her passion [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:50:39-08:00October 27, 2015|

Passing Around Passaggio Wines at SSU WineSense Meeting

Contributed by Sophia Fish - Four generations ago Cindy Cosco’s family ventured from Italy to America. In 2004 Cindy, who spent 15 years developing a career in law enforcement, left to pursue her passion and create a new generation of wines. She then started Passaggio Wines, which in Italian translates to ‘passage’ or ‘pass from’. Cindy has three labels, one of which is her goodwill bottling, a small label is called Unmarked Wines. The name comes from her career in law enforcement, aspiring to be a detective and drive an unmarked car. She put these aspirations aside to pursue her [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:51:02-08:00October 19, 2015|

SSU Wine Grads Start SommSelect and Conduct Wine Tasting at Alma Mater

Contributed by Itze Pena-Andrade - Cheers to our second WineSense Club meeting of the Fall 2015 semester! We were very excited to welcome back Brandon Carneiro and Tyler Wedeking from SommSelect to come speak with us about what SommSelect is and offers. A little bit of History Ian Cauble and Brandon Carneiro, the co-founders of SommSelect, first met at Sonoma State University in 1999 where they quickly became friends during their time as undergrads. Ian majored in international business and Spanish; Brandon studied economics. Years later, they reconnected in Las Vegas where Brandon was working as a fine wine salesperson [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:51:34-08:00October 12, 2015|

Kicking Off with Kenwood Winery – First Fall 2015 Tasting of SSU Wine Sense Club

SSU Winesense Kenwood Winery Tasting Contributed by Sophia Fish - Cheers to a great first Wine Sense Club meeting for Fall 2015! We were very excited to welcome Maxwell Burns and our very own VP of Operations Matt Lopez from Kenwood Vineyards to come speak with us about their fabulous winery. Kenwood Vineyards – Historic & Sustainable Cellar Kenwood Vineyards was established in 1970 formerly the Pagani Brothers Winery, a historic cellar dating back to 1906. Kenwood Vineyards is devoted to producing premium wines truly representative of Sonoma County’s world class vineyards. Kenwood Vineyards is committed to making the [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:51:57-08:00September 23, 2015|

SSU WineSense Announces New Executive Board and Fall 2015 Tasting Schedule

2015/2016 Executive Board for SSU Wine Sense Club The Sonoma State University (SSU) WineSense Club proudly announces the members of the 2015/2016 Executive Board. In addition, they have developed a very exciting line-up of wineries and organizations who will be visiting campus to conduct educational wine tastings throughout the semester. 2015/2016 Executive Board for SSU Wine Sense President: Rachel Minor Vice President: Taylor Hood Treasurer: Justin Stushek VP of Marketing: Jingmei Su VP of Operations & Culinary Experiences: Matt Lopez Director of Membership: Christian Gutierrez Director of Campus Outreach: Sophia Fish Director of Campus Marketing: Jamie Huerta Director [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:52:42-08:00September 11, 2015|

Who Knew Southern Indiana Wine Country Was So Beautiful? – A Visit to Huber Winery

Vineyard at Huber Winery, Indiana (Tues., July 28, 2015)Who knew Southern Indiana was so beautiful? I had flown from San Francisco to Indianapolis and rented an SUV to drive two hours south on Highway 64 to the Uplands AVA of Indiana. My destination was Huber Winery, the largest and oldest winery in Indiana. Situated only a few miles from the Kentucky border, this part of Indiana is graced with gentle rolling hills, green valleys filled with orchards, rows of corn and vineyards. As soon as I turned on State Road 60, I saw charming farmhouses surrounded by large emerald lawns [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:22:32-07:00August 12, 2015|

Wine from Vietnam: Pervasive Yet Eclipsed by Beer

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-05T19:42:45-08:00July 29, 2015|

Tasting Sparkling Honey Wine at Heidrun Meadery, Point Reyes, California

Visiting Heidrun Winery (Contributed by Erica Schreckenghaust) On a beautiful sunny day a small group of Wine Sense Members visited Heidrun Meadery in Point Reyes. We were on a quest to taste “the wine of the Norse gods” – wine made from honey. Mead was the only beverage that the Norwegian god Odin would drink, and it had to be from Heidrun, a special goat that would produce mead in her udder. About Heidrun Meadery Heidrun Meadery is one of the few, if not the only, meaderies, who make their mead in the Methode Champenoise style, which creates [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T21:54:39-08:00June 29, 2015|

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