Archbishop Mitty High School - Excalibur Yearbook (San Jose, CA)

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88 rtlS'tlC Sue McGovem frightl aids in grape pressing for the Enology Club. ome things improve with age. Like fine wines, the Enology Club has matured over the years. With more participants, more grapes, easier harvest, better club meeting time, and widespread enthusiasm, the club marked its tenth anniversary, noted mod- erator Nick Bridger. The Enology Club has offered me a chance to enjoy and understand the com- plete process of wine making, from the vine to the bottle, expressed senior Cassandra Floyd. The grapes were harvested before their full ripeness because of the threat of Thus, grapes lacked full maturity and a i alumni spent October 4 at Stony Ric Vineyards in Pleasanton picking grapes. ter the harvest the grapes were sent throt a de-stemming machine, removing ste and crushing grapes. One hundred pour were crushed per person. Students tumed to school and the grapes were ev ly distributed and placed in large containr The next step was fermentation. Su and brewer's yeast were added to grapes to kill the wild yeast. Each day for week the students stirred the ingredie

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Organization is chaos Winston Smith is not the only one having a rough time in 1984. Here is George Orwell's untold tale about Smith's teenage son: Big Brother's domineering but fatherly face stared out of the huge wall posters at the students solemnly filing into the classrooms without a noise. Homeroom is not what it used to be, Justin Smith thought, as he carefully buttoned his government-issued, olive-green sweater. Upon hearing the brisk, militant steps of the teacher, J ustin's eyes quickly darted toward the front of the classroom. Thirty pairs of docile eyes followed the teacher as he moved toward the podium. Bulletin time, he announced crisply. The Club will be meeting today in the auditorium at thirteen o'clock. All stu- dents must attend. Be certain to bring records of all pastimes and acdvities since the last meetingf, He turned on the televi- sion set. Big Brother will now deliver an address to his young subjects and future citizens of Oceaniafl Citizens, Justin thought sarcastically. Even at school there was no freedom or choice avaliable. He pretended to be mesmerized by the stocky, bearded face on the screen. Thoughtcrime probably ran in the family, Justin laughed to himself, but he could not help feeling bitter towards the fascist system. Once, he had discovered a censored book about clubs and organizations at Mitty High School in a dusty, forgotten corner of the school library. There used to be something for everyone. Students pursued whatever in- terests they fancied and, because of this, felt unique and fulfilled. Justin looked at his worn, olive-green slacks. It was true, everyone belonged now but they belonged to a group that fostered ignorance. Talent was no longer something explored, but exploited. The Club fof course there was only onel conducted meetings and trips simply to drain out every last ounce of individuality. The click of the television switch aroused Justin. Code 14502-A of the Minitruth High Handbook suddenly popped into his mind. Justin mentally slapped himself. Such thoughts were ungood. He resignedly pushed himself off his chair and followed the other olive-green uniforms out of the classroom. - Li Miao I8

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ed grapes lbelowl were pumped into cans which began the process of Brent Honnoll fbottoml har- from the vine at Stony Ridge M .1 sv-arm yt T Brad Klaas, Tricia Zamora, and Brenda Broadus tbottoml collect the crushed grapes from the press, Nick Bridger fbelowl is concise in pouring the grapes into crates. Freshly picked grapes tleftl were unloaded before crushing. Qs f V and took hydrometer readings which mea- sured the sugar and alcohol content within the wine. After the fermentation process, the skins were separated from the Ufree run wine and brought to Bridger's home. The skins were pressed for extra juice. Bridger's own consists of a grape press and an and bottling cellar. From October to the students siphoned their wine to sediment, commonly expressed as It was a lot of hard work, but it paid off, stated senior Carolyn Brilla. In May, Bridger went to students' homes to bottle the wine. This process was completed by siphoning the wine into clean containers and corking the bottles. The final step was an aging pro- cess before the wine could be consumed when the students reached the age of twen- ty-one. Each student was able to make their own label for their wine. Wine making is a parent-student activi- tyf' commented Bridger. Because most of the wine making was done at home, stu- dents needed parental permission before joining. At the end of the process, awards were given out to the most enthusiastic grape picker, most enthusiastic sensory evaluator, and the vinegar award. Enology is not merely a study of wine and its production. lt is a lesson in cooperation and patience. When the final test of these two disciplines came, the students passed with flying colors. 'KBeing in Enology gave me a better understanding of wine making as an art, concluded senior Akiko Murphy. - Theresa Banchero - l89