Seminars - Wine Tasting with the Stars
This seminar and book came about because we coincidentally produce one of America’s oldest Astrological Calendars, and, in a very different direction, popular wine tour books about Napa and Sonoma. Due to our overlapping interests, for several editions we’ve included in the Planetary Calendar a section from BioDynamics, which suggests which days, based on the Moon Sign, are best for winetasting.
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After working with this system as astrologers, tour guides and wine lovers, we are using this book to refine that approach. As far as we have seen, every day is good for wine tasting. What changes with the Moon Sign are the parts of the experience that people enjoy the most! The calendar will be especially helpful for those in the tourism industry who pour wine for clients every day with the hope that they will enjoy the experience and take some home with them.
Three parts of the book are new material, the introduction, and Chapters two and seven. The rest come from three of our other books plus the Planetary Calendar Day Planner.
Chapter One, ‘The Astrology of Fine Wine’ and Chapter Three, ‘The Signs as Actions’, come from the calendar’s companion book, which offers a foundation astrology course plus some ‘extras,’ which includes chapter One. We use that as a central part of our ‘Tasting Wine with the Stars’ seminar. Chapter Four, ‘Ralph’s ABC’s of Wine Tasting’ and Chapter Five, Our Best Tasting Room Tips’ come from the ‘2021 Editions of ‘A Tour Guide’s Napa Valley’ and ‘Dream Tours of Napa & Sonoma’.
Those two Chapters are a compilation of what we’ve learned from attending thousands of tastings with our clients, hosted by the world’s greatest wine educators. You can find our books on the web at www.WineCountryInShorts.com. In Chapter Six are the calendar pages from the Day Planner version of the Planetary Calendar. That is where you will find the daily Moon positions and when it changes Sign.
The calendar pages include much more astrological data than you’ll need for wine tasting, but we don’t have time to create a simple Moon Sign calendar, so consider the extra data a bonus. The full Day Planner includes annotated forecasts, astrology charts, planetary ephemerides and instructions about how to use those other bits of information for planning. If you think that sounds interesting, you can find that at www.PlanetaryCalendar.com.
Here is a segment from the first chapter of the book:
Chapter One: The Astrology of Fine Wine
“Wine is sunlight held together by water” - Galileo Galilei
In 1811 the “Great Comet” was visible for over eight months, and the year’s wine was called a “Comet Vintage”. That year’s flawless Château d’Yquem enjoyed exceptional longevity, the Veuve Clicquot was heralded as the first ‘modern’ Champagne and while 1811 stands out, many of the ‘comet vintages’ are believed to be exceptional.
Our consulting spans both Astrology and wine tourism, places where the history of natural cycles rule, so we divide our time talking with clients about their Planets and the vineyards that produce the wines they like. A person’s wine preferences are often expressions of their Charts, accounting for differences in age, economic status, education, gender and physiology. Personal transits affect what appeals to their palates and the travel experiences people seek. Saturn Transits often inspire wine trips to Bordeaux, with all their formality and tradition. Jupiter Transits more often lead to bouncing among the California vineyards, with their hospitable, over-blown and entrepreneurial style.
Three factors shape wine preferences: personality, physiology and age. Astrologically, Personality is the Sun and Moon, Physiology is the Ascendant and Age is seen in the transits. Older men and Saturnian personalities like big, structured, aged Reds. Youngsters, before their Saturn Return at the age of twenty-eight, often like lighter, even sweeter wines that delight and excite the front of the palette. As people age the flavors that appeal to them are sensed farther back on the palate. After the Saturn Return, the savory flavors that are tasted on the mid-palette, that are rich in calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium become more appealing. At that critical juncture the body’s ability to assimilate these nutrients is reduced, so it becomes increasingly important that the body seek them out.
Herbalists have traditionally made correlations between plants and Planets. With grapes that’s easy, because they look like Celestial Bodies, round, colorful with distinctive personalities. Having our unique perspective, we looked for correlations between the major Planets and the grapes that dominate the ‘fine wine’ world.
Here is a helpful hint for wine lovers from Biodynamics, the oldest, ‘modern’ system of organic farming, that includes an Astrological system. Wine is more fragrant and the wine opens up faster during Fire and Air Moons, compared to Water and Earth Moons. That’s because the flavors volatize more easily under those Moons.
A major part of the sensory enjoyment of wine is through the nose, which can detect almost a billion scent notes, while the palate only gets five major flavors. We have noticed this ourselves and the Moon Sign is an important factor for when the great Biodynamic French wine houses schedule their industry tasting events.
The Celestial Bodies and Their Grapes
The Sun – Chardonnay. When that golden glass of Chardonnay is glowing in the café light you are seeing the embodiment of the Sun. The name in Persian means ‘The Gates of Heaven’, and as befits the Sun, Chard is America’s biggest selling premium white wine; climate tolerant, insect resistant, prolific and able to be made in many styles. Like all grapes, they start off green but as they attain ripeness, they become a translucent gold, with subtle sunspots floating beneath the surface. That vitality and adaptability is clearly Solar.
WineTastingWithTheStars.com - 707-235-2648 - AmicisWineryTours@gmail.com
tional guests and wine industry professionals since 2007. We speak English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese to varying degrees of fluency. However, no matter where our clients come from, we speak the language of wine.
Español: Como guías turísticos multilingües y autores regionales, hemos sido la compañía preferida de invitados internacionales y profesionales de la industria del vino desde 2007. Hablamos inglés, español, italiano, francés y portugués con diversos grados de fluidez. Sin embargo, sin importar de dónde vengan nuestros clientes, hablamos el idioma del vino. Para leer más en su idioma HAGA CLIC AQUÍ
Italiano: In qualità di guide turistiche multilingue e autori regionali, dal 2007 siamo l'azienda preferita dagli ospiti internazionali e dai professionisti dell'industria del vino. Parliamo inglese, spagnolo, italiano, francese e portoghese a vari livelli di fluidità. Tuttavia, non importa da dove provengano i nostri clienti, parliamo la lingua del vino. Per saperne di più nella tua lingua CLICCA QUI
Français: En tant que guides touristiques multilingues et auteurs régionaux, nous sommes l'entreprise préférée des invités internationaux et des professionnels de l'industrie du vin depuis 2007. Nous parlons couramment anglais, espagnol, italien, français et portugais. Cependant, peu importe d'où viennent nos clients, nous parlons la langue du vin. Pour en savoir plus dans votre langue, CLIQUEZ ICI
Português: Como guias turísticos multilíngues e autores regionais, temos sido a empresa preferida para hóspedes internacionais e profissionais da indústria do vinho desde 2007. Falamos inglês, espanhol, italiano, francês e português em vários graus de fluência. No entanto, não importa de onde venham os nossos clientes, falamos a língua do vinho. Para ler mais em seu idioma CLIQUE AQUI Ralph & Lahni DeAmicis
Three parts of the book are new material, the introduction, and Chapters two and seven. The rest come from three of our other books plus the Planetary Calendar Day Planner.
Chapter One, ‘The Astrology of Fine Wine’ and Chapter Three, ‘The Signs as Actions’, come from the calendar’s companion book, which offers a foundation astrology course plus some ‘extras,’ which includes chapter One. We use that as a central part of our ‘Tasting Wine with the Stars’ seminar. Chapter Four, ‘Ralph’s ABC’s of Wine Tasting’ and Chapter Five, Our Best Tasting Room Tips’ come from the ‘2021 Editions of ‘A Tour Guide’s Napa Valley’ and ‘Dream Tours of Napa & Sonoma’.
Those two Chapters are a compilation of what we’ve learned from attending thousands of tastings with our clients, hosted by the world’s greatest wine educators. You can find our books on the web at www.WineCountryInShorts.com. In Chapter Six are the calendar pages from the Day Planner version of the Planetary Calendar. That is where you will find the daily Moon positions and when it changes Sign.
The calendar pages include much more astrological data than you’ll need for wine tasting, but we don’t have time to create a simple Moon Sign calendar, so consider the extra data a bonus. The full Day Planner includes annotated forecasts, astrology charts, planetary ephemerides and instructions about how to use those other bits of information for planning. If you think that sounds interesting, you can find that at www.PlanetaryCalendar.com.
Here is a segment from the first chapter of the book:
Chapter One: The Astrology of Fine Wine
“Wine is sunlight held together by water” - Galileo Galilei
In 1811 the “Great Comet” was visible for over eight months, and the year’s wine was called a “Comet Vintage”. That year’s flawless Château d’Yquem enjoyed exceptional longevity, the Veuve Clicquot was heralded as the first ‘modern’ Champagne and while 1811 stands out, many of the ‘comet vintages’ are believed to be exceptional.
Our consulting spans both Astrology and wine tourism, places where the history of natural cycles rule, so we divide our time talking with clients about their Planets and the vineyards that produce the wines they like. A person’s wine preferences are often expressions of their Charts, accounting for differences in age, economic status, education, gender and physiology. Personal transits affect what appeals to their palates and the travel experiences people seek. Saturn Transits often inspire wine trips to Bordeaux, with all their formality and tradition. Jupiter Transits more often lead to bouncing among the California vineyards, with their hospitable, over-blown and entrepreneurial style.
Three factors shape wine preferences: personality, physiology and age. Astrologically, Personality is the Sun and Moon, Physiology is the Ascendant and Age is seen in the transits. Older men and Saturnian personalities like big, structured, aged Reds. Youngsters, before their Saturn Return at the age of twenty-eight, often like lighter, even sweeter wines that delight and excite the front of the palette. As people age the flavors that appeal to them are sensed farther back on the palate. After the Saturn Return, the savory flavors that are tasted on the mid-palette, that are rich in calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium become more appealing. At that critical juncture the body’s ability to assimilate these nutrients is reduced, so it becomes increasingly important that the body seek them out.
Herbalists have traditionally made correlations between plants and Planets. With grapes that’s easy, because they look like Celestial Bodies, round, colorful with distinctive personalities. Having our unique perspective, we looked for correlations between the major Planets and the grapes that dominate the ‘fine wine’ world.
Here is a helpful hint for wine lovers from Biodynamics, the oldest, ‘modern’ system of organic farming, that includes an Astrological system. Wine is more fragrant and the wine opens up faster during Fire and Air Moons, compared to Water and Earth Moons. That’s because the flavors volatize more easily under those Moons.
A major part of the sensory enjoyment of wine is through the nose, which can detect almost a billion scent notes, while the palate only gets five major flavors. We have noticed this ourselves and the Moon Sign is an important factor for when the great Biodynamic French wine houses schedule their industry tasting events.
The Celestial Bodies and Their Grapes
The Sun – Chardonnay. When that golden glass of Chardonnay is glowing in the café light you are seeing the embodiment of the Sun. The name in Persian means ‘The Gates of Heaven’, and as befits the Sun, Chard is America’s biggest selling premium white wine; climate tolerant, insect resistant, prolific and able to be made in many styles. Like all grapes, they start off green but as they attain ripeness, they become a translucent gold, with subtle sunspots floating beneath the surface. That vitality and adaptability is clearly Solar.
WineTastingWithTheStars.com - 707-235-2648 - AmicisWineryTours@gmail.com
tional guests and wine industry professionals since 2007. We speak English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese to varying degrees of fluency. However, no matter where our clients come from, we speak the language of wine.
Español: Como guías turísticos multilingües y autores regionales, hemos sido la compañía preferida de invitados internacionales y profesionales de la industria del vino desde 2007. Hablamos inglés, español, italiano, francés y portugués con diversos grados de fluidez. Sin embargo, sin importar de dónde vengan nuestros clientes, hablamos el idioma del vino. Para leer más en su idioma HAGA CLIC AQUÍ
Italiano: In qualità di guide turistiche multilingue e autori regionali, dal 2007 siamo l'azienda preferita dagli ospiti internazionali e dai professionisti dell'industria del vino. Parliamo inglese, spagnolo, italiano, francese e portoghese a vari livelli di fluidità. Tuttavia, non importa da dove provengano i nostri clienti, parliamo la lingua del vino. Per saperne di più nella tua lingua CLICCA QUI
Français: En tant que guides touristiques multilingues et auteurs régionaux, nous sommes l'entreprise préférée des invités internationaux et des professionnels de l'industrie du vin depuis 2007. Nous parlons couramment anglais, espagnol, italien, français et portugais. Cependant, peu importe d'où viennent nos clients, nous parlons la langue du vin. Pour en savoir plus dans votre langue, CLIQUEZ ICI
Português: Como guias turísticos multilíngues e autores regionais, temos sido a empresa preferida para hóspedes internacionais e profissionais da indústria do vinho desde 2007. Falamos inglês, espanhol, italiano, francês e português em vários graus de fluência. No entanto, não importa de onde venham os nossos clientes, falamos a língua do vinho. Para ler mais em seu idioma CLIQUE AQUI Ralph & Lahni DeAmicis