Wines must be submitted by March 31 | Events on Verde Campus April 23
Yavapai Community College in Clarkdale, Arizona is hosting the 4th Annual Emerging Winemakers Competition & Symposium. Wines from emerging (home) winemakers should be submitted by March 31st. Great on-line and in-person lectures on wild yeast fermentation, cork technologies and wine profiles will be held at the College on Saturday, April 23, 2022.
The event will run from 9:30 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. MST (PDT) and will be held in person at the College and streamed live online.
The event has been organized by the Grand Crew, a Yavapai College Viticulture and Enology student/alumni organization. The event will feature educational seminars during the Symposium, an awards ceremony and a roundtable discussion with the competition’s seven judges.
“We’re looking forward to being both in-person and online this year to celebrate our state’s emerging winemakers,” said the Competition Organizer Bill Anderson. “This is a great opportunity to learn from industry leaders and winemakers.”
An “emerging” winemaker is anyone at least twenty-one (21) years of age whose wine is not available commercially. Wine submissions are being accepted for the competition until March 31, 2022. For entry forms and submission details, visit www.emergingwinemakers.com.
The Symposium agenda is:
9:30 — 10 a.m.: Check-in
10 – 10:15 a.m.: Introductions + Tribute to Mitch Levy
10:15 – 11 a.m.: Keynote Speaker: James Callahan of Rune Wines
Title: “Controlled Chaos: Wild Yeast in Winemaking”
11 – 11:15 a.m.: Break
11:15 – 12 p.m.: Speaker II: Michael Stump of Lafitte Cork & Capsule: Title: “Cork Technologies”
12 – 12:45 p.m.: Lunch
12:45 – 1:30 p.m.: Speaker III: Randy Caparoso, Editor-at-Large, The SOMM Journal: Title: “”Redefining the Definition of Balance”
1:30 – 1:45 p.m.: Break
1:45 – 2:15 p.m.: Awards Ceremony
2:15 – 3 p.m.: Roundtable Discussions
3:00 – 3:15 p.m.: Farewell + Announcement of next year’s event
Tickets for the Symposium costs $35 per person for either online or in-person attendance and is open to the public. Those attending in-person will receive lunch and a glass of wine from the Southwest Wine Center, the teaching winery of Yavapai College.
For tickets and more information on the event, the full rules of the wine competition and entry forms, visit www.emergingwinemakers.com.
With classes beginning August 16 at Yavapai Community College, enrollment in the Viticulture/wine making program on the Verde Valley Campus in Clarkdale is showing a great deal of early student interest. Enrollment in almost all of the classes is nearing capacity, if not already full.
[THIS STORY TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM COMMUNITY COLLEGE PRESS RELEASE DEC 12] Add two more Yavapai College student-crafted wines to the list of prestigious award winners.
Public radio KNAU highlighted the Verde Campus Viticulture and Enology program during a broadcast on July 11. The two minute program on Earth Notes summarized a student’s learning experience at the Southwest Wine Center.
Clarkdale resident Kerry Olson expressed concern with Yavapai Community College raising taxes and providing “less services” in a letter to editor of the Verde Independent June 28, 2018 (online). She also asked about how the revenue from the sale of wine was being used.
The failure of the Foundation to make this contribution, which has millions in its reserves, was discovered by Representative Deb McCasland who raised the issue during the Board meeting. (See Unexpended Plant Fund Report, p. 19 of 84 p report, which is contained in the agenda for the August 9, 2016 meeting.)