Oct 11
13
Wagner Wine Seminar Review – Food and Wine 2011
Today we have a wonderful guest post from Kristen Kirk (@DVCMom on Twitter) featuring her review of the Wagner Wine Seminar from the opening weekend of the 2011 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.
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My husband and I have enjoyed many wine tastings during our travels, always searching for something new and enjoyable to drink. This year, while attending the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival we decided to attend a tasting hosted by the Wagner Family of Wines.
Hosted at the Festival Center, the Wagner Tasting was a low cost seminar that made it accessible to a wide range of wine lovers at $12 per person. We arrived at the location early as the Disney team was setting up the long audience tables with wine glasses, water and crackers.
We were offered three sips of Pinot Noirs from three different California appellations that the Wagner family has vineyards in. As showcased in the movie Sideways Pinot Noir can have a broad range of flavors to offer and picks up a good amount of flavor from the terrior. The Wagner family tasting allowed us to make a side-by-side comparison of how true that is.
The Wagner brand being highlighted at the seminar Belle Glos, named “to honor his grandmother, Lorna Belle Glos Wagner, a co-founder of Caymus Vineyards.” We tasted each of the wines from the Belle Glos label including: Taylor Lane, Clark & Telephone, and Las Alturas. All deep dark reds, it was a wine tasting just made for my husband.
We were treated to a video from the wine maker that demonstrated some of the more unique growing practices that the Wagner family employs such as the unique “Italian trellis system that carries the vine shoots across a nearly horizontal canopy.” I had heard of this system and the popularity in it’s user community of using grazing sheep for weed control. It was excellent to see pictures of this cutting edge growing method in place. “The trellis acts as a solar panel for maximum ripening and permits dappled sunlight throughout the day and excellent air circulation to the fruit.” Not only does the trellis system help the grapes grow in better conditions and allow for eco-friendly manner, but also it’s ergonomically better for the vineyard workers
Overall the seminar was fun and informative, to spite the fact it seemed a little disorganized at the beginning. I think we’ll be signing up for more tastings in the future!
Visit the Wagner Family Online at http://wagnerfamilyofwine.com
Contributed by: Kristen Kirk. Kristen is a Mother, Wife, Foodie, Wine Geek, Coffee Snob, Homeschooler, Jazz Lover, and total Disney Fanatic. She is the founder and managing editor of The DVC Mom’s Traveler you can also follow her on Twitter @DVCMom.
