The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance's "Paso Robles Wine University" was a great success this year.   Courses were held September 9, 10, and 11th, 2005, at selected wineries and vineyards within the Paso Robles Wine Country.   The three-day course was designed to offer Wine Enthusiasts a hands-on interactive program exploring every aspect of wine production from terroir to taste.

Rabbit Ridge Winery hosted one of the courses on Saturday, September 10th.   This included a vineyard tour by Robert Pierce, Director of Vineyard Operations for Rabbit Ridge, a winery tour given by Erich Russell, founder and winemaker for Rabbit Ridge, and a Wine Tasting class given by Joanne Russell, President of Rabbit Ridge.

	Robert is giving the class information on the vineyard, trellis systems, row spacing, varietal choices, climate, etc.
	Robert is showing the class the sugar levels of the fruit just picked from the vine on the refractometer.
	Erich is showing the class the crush pad, and letting them touch, feel and taste the incoming fruit.
	Erich is explaining the process of the crush pad.
	During Joanne's Wine Tasting 101 class, Erich brought in a sample of the fruit that was just crushed for the class to enjoy.
	Joanne teaching the Wine Tasting 101 class.
	The students are playing a game to identify the special "Scents of Paso Robles."   This game was used to help the students learn to identify the special scents that are found specifically in Paso Robles fruit.
	Joanne teaching the class the 9 S's of tasting: to properly see, swirl, sniff, sip, swish, spit, savor, sigh, and store the wine.