Vancouver Amateur Winemakers Association is a club of wine lovers and home winemakers who strive to create wines they can be proud of. The purpose of our club is to bring together in a friendly atmosphere people interested in the art of amateur winemaking to engage in related discussions, lectures, demonstrations and social events.
The last meeting before the summer break was held on Thursday May 15 at Richmond Caring Place. We will reconvene for our regular meetings in September, as usual.
The 2025 edition of the Scott Labs Winemaking Handbook is now available.
A comprehensive set of winemaking calculators (Excel) from Daniel Pambianchi's site.
Technical articles, for dealing with smoke taint in grapes. Content provided by Alan Marks from Scott Labs Canada:
A new, comprehensive book on home winemaking, with up-to-date information on materials and modern techniques, was released in summer 2021.
To keep everyone safe, our current policy for all groups events is that all attendees are expected to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and free of all potential symptoms.
The 2024 VAWA competition (50th!) was held on Saturday June 22nd, before our summer garden party.
As we have hosted the Provincial competition this year, there was no 2025 VAWA competition. Several members entered the Provincial competition instead. Thank you for your entries and congratulations to all medal winners!
Announcements and results:
Our members are encouraged to continue entering wines into BC competitions, for feedback and to support other winemaking clubs.
We are a member driven organization which organizes the following events:
Details of the formal organization of the club can be found in the VAWA Constitution and Bylaws.
New members are always welcome and accepted regardless of their level of winemaking experience. The VAWA annual membership fee is $35 for individuals or $50 for couples. In addition, for new members, there is a one-time charge of $10 for creating your name badge. Please print out the Membership Application , fill it in and bring it to a regular meeting together with your cheque/cash for the appropriate amount. For other arrangements, contact the club Treasurer.
Our Association usually holds meetings at 8 pm on the third Thursday of each month at Richmond Caring Place, located at 7000 Minoru Blvd, Richmond, BC V6Y 3Z5. The meeting dates and location are being announced via email and posted on this page. No meetings are held in the months of July and August.
The typical meeting agenda is outlined below. Details of the Feature Presentation and Mini Competition are available from the monthly email newsletter , typically issued in the week preceeding the meeting.
| Business & Announcements | 8:00 pm — 8:15 pm | The regular meeting is brought to order and any outstanding business matters are addressed. Hosted by VAWA's current President. |
|---|---|---|
| Feature Presentation | 8:15 pm — 9:30 pm | Speakers, from the club or industry, offer insights and advice on various aspects of winemaking. |
| Mini Competition | after presentation | An optional informal blind judging of members' wines. |
| Social Gathering | 9:30 pm — 10:00 pm | Snacks are served and mini competition entries are made available to taste. |
Anyone interested in finding out more about us is welcome to attend a meeting as a guest. There is a door fee of approximately $10 for members and $15 for guests related to the cost of the evening's program.
| President: | John Read |
|---|---|
| Past President: | Larry McIntyre |
| Secretary: | Viswanathan Kalathil |
| Treasurer: | Sony Kurian |
| Steward: | Cheryl Gravkin |
| Members at Large: | David Wong |
| Mike Grindler | |
| Ron Toffolo |
Do you have additional questions about our club and its activities? Want to confirm a scheduled meeting? Please email us at vawa.information@gmail.com.