HUBBARD CENTER BRINGS WINE OF THE MIDDLE EAST TO APPALACHIAN
By Allison Casey
Lifestyles Reporter

ASU The Appalachian Online, NC
Sept 25 2007

A participant in the Wine of the Middle East Workshop enjoys a glass
of Turkish Wine. Shanel Boston

No wines from France, Italy or California were found as the Hubbard
Center hosted a wine workshop and lecture Friday.

Instead, the "Wines of the Middle East" workshop featured wines like
Ksar and Yarden from Morocco and Israel.

Faculty members tasted wines from Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Cyprus
and Morocco.

"We try to expose faculty to wines that are not so familiar.

Everyone’s consumed enough California wine to know what that tastes
like," chemistry professor and wine lecturer Dr. Grant N. Holder
said. "It’s not every day you get to taste a wine from Morocco."

Wine tasters go through a three-step process for determining the
wine quality.

An assortment of wine, figs, and olives were offered during the Wines
of the Middle East workshop. Shanel Boston

First, wine is visually checked for clarity, bubbles, and an overall
clean appearance and ranked from zero to three.

Then, the wine is smelled and ranked on a scale of zero to six.

Finally, the wine is tasted and ranked on a scale of zero to eight.

"There’s a very strong correlation between what you like and who you
are," Holder said.

"You’re not supposed to like the reds or supposed to like the whites."

The early wine industry started in Armenia and played an important
role in Middle Eastern society.

Since many water sources could not be trusted, wine was used to purify
the water.

Most people drank about a gallon of wine a day, he said.

"What does that tell you? That the wine of today is not the same wine
they drank then," Holder said.

In 1955, two-thirds of the wine traded internationally came from
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

"The Middle East is perfect for growing grapes," he said. "There’s
300 days of sunshine and the rains come just at the right time."

There are five wine regions in Israel alone: Galilee, Shomran, Samson,
Judean Hills and Negeu.

"Some of the most high quality wines come out of Israel," Holder said.

The wine workshops are held in part to foster the growth of the North
Carolina wine industry, Holder said.

Wines frequently come out of the Western parts of continents because
the climate is ideal for grape growing, Holder said.

"Red [wine] is difficult to do in North Carolina, partly because of
the soil and the age of the industry," he said.

The Hubbard Center hosts frequent workshops for faculty members ranging
from group work and orientation to how to use classroom clickers,
Hubbard Center graduate assistant Christina B. Tadlock said.

Planning for the wine workshop started last semester with Appalachian’s
growing wine program.

After a similar wine tasting program had great success last year, the
center decided to do the same program with a different wine region,
she said.

The workshops are closed to students.

Holder will present another workshop Nov. 8 titled "Wine and Chocolate"
to be held in the Hubbard Center room 1028 of the Old Belk Library
Classroom Building.

Registration is $35.

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