G.M. “Pooch” Pucilowski, a nationally renowned wine educator and chief judge of the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition, will host California State University, Fresno’s 10th Annual Winemaster Weekend March 4-6 at Tenaya Lodge near Yosemite National Park.

Clark Smith, a senior enologist for his family’s wine production consulting firm Vinovation in Sebastopol and a winemaker for WineSmith, will speak about how music and lighting can enhance wine appreciation.

An early bird discount is available until Feb. 15 through Tenaya Lodge: www.tenayalodge.com/winemastersweekend.aspx.

Curran Wines enologists Bruno D’Alfonso and Kris Curran, an alumnus, will conduct the Red Wine Blending Workshop and Competition.

Presented by the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology’s Department of Viticulture and Enology and the Tenaya Lodge, the wine and food-lover event features workshops, dinners, award-winning wines and a wineblending competition. Fresno State faculty and students will be present to showcase university farm products.

Students from various academic programs in the Jordan College are involved in all aspects of the event – from wine tasting and samplings of student-produced food from the university’s 1,100-acre campus farm, to culinary support.

“The combination of fine wine craftsmanship in the presence of the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada has been a special union,” said Dr. James A. Kennedy, chair of the viticulture and enology department. “Our 10th Winemasters Weekend promises to be the most special of all.”

 

This year’s milestone event brings a renewed vigor with the involvement of Pucilowski and Smith, said Kenneth Fugelsang, Fresno State’s winemaster and enology professor. “Having an internationally recognized authority of wine and wine education like Pooch adds another dimension to an already special event,” added Fugelsang.

Pucilowski is president/owner of the University of Wine (previously Wine Educators, Ltd.) and presents lectures and seminars to wholesalers /distributors, restaurateurs, retailers and winery personnel throughout the United States, Canada and the Virgin Islands. He is a certified wine educator, prolific writer and speaker, with more than 30 years of expertise.

Pucilowski is past-president of the Society of Wine Educators, an international organization. In addition to 26 years as chief judge and consultant to the State Fair competition, one of the largest and most respected tastings of California wines, Pucilowski has been a judge at some of the nation’s most prestigious wine competitions.

Smith also teaches adjunct in Fresno State’s viticulture and enology program. “Wine resonates with its environment in ways we’re just beginning to understand,” says Smith of his experiments in environmental enhancement through music and lighting. “It’s an area where the novice can really experiment just as easily as the sensory scientist.”

He will share demonstrations he presented for the music press at Chicago’s Lollapalooza Festival. His findings were also reported in the San Francisco Chronicle and featured on National Public Radio.

For more information, contact 559.278.4867.

(Copy by University Communications news intern Christy Patron)

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