Member News: Blue Sky Winemaker Dinner

April 12, 2008 – 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Save the date for an opportunity to enjoy award-winning Illinois wines and 4-star quality food at Blue Sky Vineyard. Learn the basics of wine tasting and the rules of wine and food pairing. Meet our winemaker Karen Hand, "Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Associations" - Vintner of the Year 2006, and enjoy a delicious, catered 5-course meal.

After the class join our winemaker for a tour of our cellar. Each person that attends the course will receive a 10% off coupon good towards a purchase made that day at the vineyard.

Read what some of our guests said about our first "Wine & Food" course:

"I enjoyed this very much. This was my first wine class. I would like to repeat it someday, just to refresh. Thank You!" - Wine Drinker for 7 years

"This class was very well presented and easy to understand and best of all, a lot of fun. Great wine, great food, and great information!" - Deb Browning

"Great workshop! Very informative. - A nice way to spend an afternoon! - Wine Drinker for 20 years

Caterer and Menu Information Will Be Available March 5, 2008

For More Information Contact:

Blue Sky Vineyard

3150 S. Rocky Comfort Rd. Makanda, IL 62958
Phone: 618-995-9463 Fax: 618-995-9763

Senate Bill 2121 Submitted

PHOTO: The picture above is of Lynfred Winery owner, Fred Koehler, breaking a bottle to recognize the opening of the winery in 1979. 29 years ago, when Lynfred first opened, Mr. Koehler was only allowed to produce 2000 gallons of wine per year. Today Lynfred produces about 80,000 gallons per year, and are about to hit the state’s limit of 100,000 gallons.


The IWA has been planning how to fight HB0429’s passing in 2007. The way for us to begin 2008 is by submitting a counter bill. Senator Carole Pankau, with the approval of IWA has submitted Senate Bill 2121 for review.

The Senate Bill would allow 2nd Class Winemakers (Illinois winemakers producing over 25,000 gallons) to purchase a self-distribution license. Current legislation (HB0429) takes away that right from the larger wineries in the state, which in turn, would raise the price of wine to consumers.

Chicagoist writer, Chuck Sudo, mentioned the new bill today in his article ‘More Wine Bills Working Their Way Through Springfield’.

The executives of IWA will be meeting in Springfield on Wednesday and we’ll have more updates later this week. If you have any questions in the meanwhile please email us at wineinfo@lynfredwinery.com

1st Quarter Meeting Summary

Thanks to IWA members, our First Quarter 2008 General Membership Meeting was a great success. We have three great challenges ahead of us:

. to influence Illinois legislators to pass laws governing winemakers that protect our right to growand prosper while preserving reasonable access andcosts for consumers, and

. to introduce consumers to Illinois wines and wineries through various cooperative promotional programs, and

. to improve the quality and reputation of Illinois wines by establishing quality standards according tothe tenets of the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI).

The Second Quarter General Membership Meeting will beheld in May on a date and in a location to be determined. We will hear the reports of the Marketing and Legislative Action Committees and the BTI StudyTeam at that time.

Meeting Thursday, February 7

Attention IWA Members:

This Thursday, April 7, 2008 will be the first-quarter meeting of the IWA for 2008. The meeting will be held at Lynfred Winery in Roselle and will start at 11:30 am. Here’s the agenda:


11:30 AM Buffet Lunch
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Call to Order (Fred Koehler)

Report of Executive Director (Tom Stone)
Progress Report
Current Member List

Treasurer’s Report (Fred Koehler, Acting Treasurer)

Legislative Update (Fred Koehler)
Impact of Illinois HB429 (scheduled for enactment July 1, 2008)
IWA Activities to Combat Passage of HB429
Legislators Representing IWA in Springfield

Marketing Plan Ideas
“Friends of Illinois Wineries” Discount Card
Frequently Asked Questions about Discount Card Program
IWA Wine Quality Standards
Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) (How BTI Tests Wines)
Other Ideas

Selection of Committee Chairs
Budget Committee (Treasurer)
Marketing Committee
Legislative Committee
By-Laws Committee

Review / Discuss IWA Web Site (Links and Blogspot)

Other Business

Adjournment

Please RSVP by calling Tom Stone at 773.549.4071

Be Informed

The passing of House Bill 0429 in 2007 has left the Illinois Winemakers’ Alliance with a battle on their hands. Our battle will begin with first informing our consumers of what HB0429 will do. Here is the letter we will be sending out to our mailing lists:


Dear Illinois Wine Consumer,

I am writing to you in regards to current wine legislation that will affect Illinois wine consumers. Recently House Bill 0429 was signed by Governor Blagojevich and will become law July 1, 2008. The media has portrayed this bill as beneficial to all Illinois wine consumers and Illinois wineries, while it actually strips the rights of the consumer and stunts the growth of the Illinois wine industry.

We want to inform you of how the bill will affect you as a consumer:

HB0429 Ignores you, the Illinois wine consumer
HB0429 Strips your rights as Illinois citizens to buy wine from out-of-state retailers
HB0429 Increases the cost of wine to you, the consumer
HB0429 Stops the function of the free market
HB0429 Is an Illegal restraint of trade and commerce
HB0429 Prevents industry competition
HB0429 Limits fair access of Illinois wines to the retail market
HB0429 Creates an Imbalance of distribution among state wineries
.
While the private interest of the commercial entities in the industry is artificially protected from the challenges of dealing with the changes in the market place, there is no noticeable advancement of the public welfare.

We will be contacting Illinois Senators and Representatives to review the Illinois Alcoholic Beverage Laws and Regulations. The Federal Trade Commission, the federal agency in charge of consumer protection and anti-trust enforcement, will be looking into wine distribution in various states.

We urge you, the Illinois Wine Consumer, to contact your state representative and senator. Further information can be found at www.illinoiswinemakersalliance.com as well as links to contact your local and state representatives.

Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at 630.529.9463 or at wineinfo@lynfredwinery.com. In the meantime we, as Illinois Winemakers, will be planning our next move.

Sincerely,

Fred Koehler
President
IWA

Scott Lawlor
Vice President
IWA

Tom Stone
Executive Director
IWA

This letter will be followed by similar letters to our state representatives, senators and the members of the press. We urge you to share this letter with fellow wine lovers anyway you can, email, blog, anything! Help us fight the fight!

Back with a Force

After a long holiday season we are back to blog! The holidays are a busy time for wineries and wine retailers and I apologize for the lack of blogs but now we’re back in force.

The Illinois Winemakers’ Alliance is still fighting the effects of HB 0429 in Illinois and today the newspapers and media outlets are abuzz with the revelation of wholesaler’s political donations.

The SWRA has released monetary donation charts of the wholesaler’s political contributions and Wines & Vines printed the article today. The Sun Times and The Chicagoist also picked up on outrageous donations. Take a moment to read for yourselves and you’ll realize how hard it is for the Illinois Wineries to fight these battles, the wholesaler’s just have the money.

Stay tuned for upcoming political action by the IWA.

Tokyo Celebrates Nouveau in Style

Today marks the release of Nouveau wine around the world. At midnight on the third Thursday of November, the sounds of corks popping can be heard from all around as wine drinkers celebrate Nouveau!

Nouveau wine has been a French tradition for centuries. It is the first wine out of each year’s harvest to be released. French tradition does not allow the wine to be released until midnight on that third Thursday.

Through the years Nouveau parties have become more and more original and unique, but I have to say, after reading today’s article on Fox News about Tokyo’s bash, I think they’ve taken the cake. . .

While the Japanese may be toasting this season's release of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine with the traditional "kanpai!" or "dry glass," keeping their glasses dry would prove to be difficult as they bathed in a sea of the red wine at a new spa, the U.K.'s Telegraph reports.

• Click here to view photos.

Revelers on Thursday donned swimsuits and, wine glasses in hand, descended into the red water of the Beaujolais Nouveau spa, part of the Hakone Yunessun spa, where guests are able to bathe and swim in the wine while drinking it.

Japan is the biggest export market for the Beaujolais Nouveau, consuming about 11.5 million bottles, or nearly a quarter of the entire vintage.

"To us Beaujolais nouveau means France, it allows us to experience a little bit of French culture," Nippon News Network journalist Akiko Yajima said earlier this week.