Vinewords

I recently had the chance to attend a Wine Law Masters Class at Berkeley School of Law that was taught by Richard Mendelson. Mendelson is arguably the foremost authority on wine law in the United States, and his class on the subject at Berkeley Law was a first in the United States. And as a winemaker himself, Mendelson possesses an intimate knowledge of the ins-and-outs of the wine world.

His class was quick and full of information, but extremely interesting. If you happen to be a student at Berkeley I highly recommend taking his class, which happens to include a tasting of the wines he produces on his vineyard.

I’m also in the process of reading his recently published book From Demon to Darling. It is a comprehensive history of wine law in the United States. I think you’ll be surprised right away at the deep connections this country, and the people that founded it, have to wine.

You can check out Mendelson Wines at www.mendelsonvineyard.com.

And you can get From Demon to Darling at Amazon.

Yesterday I was able to do something that I honestly thought I’d never get the chance to do after starting law school. I was picked to be on a jury. Crazy right? I’ve heard countless times how they never pick anyone with legal experience, but apparently in this case a law student was the lesser of two evils (it was a domestic violence case and quite a few of the other women there had personal experience with that).

At first I wasn’t too happy about being selected, but I tried to make the experience into a learning opportunity and I think I really did learn a lot. A few things I noticed:

• I was amazed at the lack of experience on the side of the defense team. I know everyone has to start somewhere, but one of them honestly looked like this was his first time speaking in public.
• The prosecutor dropped the ball big time. When you have the burden of proof, you should probably at least get in all of the evidence you can. Like maybe……the 911 tape!
• After being in law school I’m surprised at the lack of legal knowledge among laymen. One of the other jurors actually told me that he thought 70/30 was “beyond a reasonable doubt.” 30% unsure? Really? In a criminal trial??
• I also am of the opinion that we really need to make the process more comfortable for jurors. Sitting in uncomfortable chairs all day without anything to eat…….that leads to angry people making decisions that affect people’s lives. Not a good combination.

This is probably purely a law student thing (being excited at the chance to participate in a jury), but next time you get called to jury duty take some time to think about it. It’s really a privilege to be able to participate in a system like this. In most other countries you wouldn’t have a chance to have a say at all. And while I admit the judicial system has its problems, I think it’s about the best the system can be.

It has been a crazy summer for me! Internship, summer classes, ABA annual meeting, event planning, etc.  Let me give a quick recap.

Cricket Internship

I’ve been interning at Cricket Communications this summer with their Denver legal department. This is Cricket’s first year doing an intern program, but it’s been a really great experience. First, they’ve put together Lunch ‘n Learn sessions every week so that we could get to know different departments. Someone would come in and talk to us about their department and job while we ate. I found them to be really interesting and informative. Second, it has been wonderful to see the practical application of things I learned during my 1L year. Something like Contracts just doesn’t make sense until you work with the real thing. It’s been extremely helpful to me, and my legal writing skills have improved tenfold.

ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago

Earlier this summer I was appointed as the Lt. Governor of Regional Affairs for Colorado for the 15th Circuit of the ABA’s Law Student Division (long title huh?). And as a part of that I was asked to attend the annual meeting in Chicago. Well, of course I jumped at the chance to travel, as always. It was an absolutely fantastic trip. The entire process made me excited and assured that I was in the right profession. If you get a chance to go to any of the ABA meetings or to get involved with the Law Student Division, I highly recommend it. Between the career fair, resume review, and circuit meetings I came back with a wealth of knowledge and networking.

DU Law Partnership with Community Day

I have been working on putting together this event all summer. What it is is a day long volunteering event (really only a few hours) for incoming and continuing students at DU’s Law School. It’s a chance to give back to the community a little while getting to know your classmates. And I’ve come to learn that any chance to network is a good thing. The biggest project we’ve got going for this year’s event is the Urban Farm in Aurora, CO. A bunch of new students have expressed an interest in volunteering there, so I’m really hoping that they enjoy their time there. If you go to DU and want to get involved, please email me. The event will take place on August 29th, and breakfast and lunch will be provided for participants.

I recently visited Caveau Wine Bar for a Chardonnay tasting sponsored by Baroness Wines. Having never been there before, I jumped at the chance to try it out. And I have to say that I was very impressed.

During the tasting we were served cheese plates that were very tasty and filling. They included not only cheese, but crackers and olives as well. After the tasting I stayed and ordered a glass of Riesling off of the very extensive wine list, along with a sandwich from their menu. Before ordering I asked the server what he recommended and I was very impressed with his knowledge, so don’t be afraid to ask for suggestions.

The only issue I had was trying to find the restrooms which are in another part of the larger building the wine bar is within. It’s a little confusing the first time, so you might want to find it before you drink too much.

I also recommend trying Chime, the Baroness Chardonnay that was being tasted that night. Excellent Chardonnay.

The EU is expected to vote in June on whether or not to allow rose wine to be made by mixing red and white wines. Winemakers from France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland fear that such a move could lead to job losses and endanger their traditional rose, which is made by the more time-consuming method of leaving crushed red wine grapes to soak with their juice. New World winemakers in countries such as Australia and South Africa already make roses by mixing reds and whites.

The EU has attempted to resolve the standoff by proposing the title of “traditional rose” for wine created in the Old World style. France is leading the charge to block the change and has the backing of Greece and Italy, but also needs the backing of Germany and Spain to stand any chance of holding out.