02/08/09

The Saanich Sommeliers

This is a private club for those interested in making wine and beer at home.  While some members use wine concentrates and kits, the majority of our members make wine from fresh or frozen grapes and juices in their own homes.  This is not a club for those who make their wines in "U-brew" stores.

The club was originally founded in 1974 with a membership of 6 couples.  We have gone from strength to strength and now have a membership of over 50 persons.  The club aims to spread knowledge about wine and beer making and to provide a forum where members can learn from one another.  Many members make wine together and/or have small tasting groups to increase their knowledge and familiarity with wines from around the world.  Several members are active in the B.C. Guild of Wine Judges and the club is a member of the BC Amateur Winemakers Association (BCAWA), which is an umbrella group to many of the amateur wine-making clubs in BC.  BCAWA, in turn, is a member of the Amateur Winemakers of Canada (AWC).

The club meets each month (generally on the second Tuesday), usually in the home of one of the members.  After a short social time, there is usually a brief business meeting and this is followed by the program for the month.  The program can be a talk on a technical aspect of wine or beer-making, a talk on a wine-making area in the world, a competition or a tasting of some wines from an area, of a specific grape or of a style  - e.g. desert wines.  At the end of the program there is usually a social period where members can sample each other's wines and discuss wine-making successes and problems.   Largely social meetings are held during the summer and in January

Over the years the club has acquired a large inventory of wine-making equipment which is owned by the club rather than individuals within the club.  The principal items are a motorized crusher/destemmer, 2 bladder presses, a basket press and a floor corker.  The club co-ordinates the purchase of grapes/juice so that we are able to make bulk purchases of supplies from the Okanagan and the USA.

Each year (in January) the club organizes a competition where anyone from a club affiliated with the BCAWA can enter wines in many categories for judging and the award of medals.  Our members also enter competitions organized by other clubs and the provincial competition which is held each year with one of the BCAWA affiliated clubs as host.  The top wines from the provincial competition are then eligible to be entered in the National (AWC) competition which rotates amongst the active provinces.

The current Executive of the club can be contacted here

Anyone interested in joining should contact the club secretary.