Resources / Resource Links | Grapes And Juices | Selected Suppliers | Responsibility

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The Amateur Winemakers of Ontario is pleased to present an annotated list of resources. The list is intended primarily as an aid to winemakers in Ontario. Entries have been viewed and evaluated by members of the AWO with an eye to presenting the most useful information sources for winemakers.

There are many, many, other pages of information on winemaking on the Internet. We think these are among the best. If you know of others, or if you produce winemaking information, let us know. We want to continue to update and refine these resources.

Please also let us know if any of these links disappoints, or is broken.

GENERAL WINEMAKING

Nat Decants Free Wine Newsletter: Wine picks, articles and humor from Natalie MacLean, recently named the World’s Best Drink Writer at the World Food Media Awards in Australia. There are no ads and all e-mail addresses are kept confidential. To sign up, visit www.nataliemaclean.com

An active newsgroup on winemaking (sometimes repetitious, and vulnerable to spamming) can be accessed at news:rec.crafts.winemaking. Spend time reading the posts before participating, and “mask” your email address to avoid unsolicited email.

The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document, posted twice an month to the < rec.crafts.winemaking > newsgroup, contains a good primer on winemaking, and is the collected wisdom of the people who participate in the list. The most recent FAQ is also available at http://www.pobox.com/~malak/rcw.faq.

Don Buchan, who maintains the < rec.crafts.winemaking > FAQ and is ever-present on the newsgroup, has compiled a large list of wine and winemaking links, which can be viewed at http://www.pobox.com/~malak/resource.html.

Wine Kitz provides on-line step-by-step instructions for making wine from concentrate kits. The information may be easier to follow than the written directions included with the beverage kits themselves: http://www.winekitz.com

Klaus Petermann is a cooper; he’s a tradesman with over 40 years experience in the art of handcrafting and maintaining wine barrels for both professional and home-based winemakers. Klaus specializes in reconditioning used barrels.
http://www.geocities.com/klaus_the_cooper/index.htm

OTHER CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS

The Amateur Winemakers of Canada (AWC) is the national coordinating body for amateur winemakers in Canada. The AWC organizes the annual Canadian competition. http://www.makewine.com/awc

British Columbia Amateur Winemakers’ Association A sister organization to the Amateur Winemakers of Ontario, and member of the Amateur Winemakers of Canada. http://members.home.net/bcawa/

o BCAWA member the Vancouver Amateur Winemaker’s Association (VAWA) has a very well organized and information-rich site. VAWA is a “group of wine lovers who strive to create wines they can be proud of. Only by sharing the knowledge and techniques of all members can each individual develop complete control over their own style of winemaking.” http://www.bcwine.com/vawa/

o The Kamloops Winemakers Association The website gives contact information, and lists meetings and events. http://www.netshop.net/kwa/

The American Wine Society (AWS) is an American national non-profit consumer organization that “promotes appreciation of wine through education.” The American Wine Society has about 5000 members in local chapters throughout the USA. There is a chapter in Ontario, in the Toronto area. The AWS website is under construction (98/01/29). http://www.vicon.net/~aws

The Home Wine & Beer Trade Association (HWBTA), is primarily a US-based trade association that claims a total membership of 434 retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. The site has been under development for some time: it promises to provide practical winemaking information sometime soon.

VITICULTURE & OENOLOGY

The mother of all wine knowledge sites: University of California at Davis Department of Viticulture and Oenology. Extensive technical and practical information on winemaking and grape growing. Plan on several visits. http://wineserver.ucdavis.edu/

Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, Brock University, St. Catharines ON. The newly established institute offers a four-year degree program in viticulture and oenology. The website contains mainly course descriptions, but in future may provide access to practical and industry information specific to Ontario and Canada. http://www.brocku.ca/ccovi/

SEARCH

You can use these “kit” search links to query Yahoo for more information, obtaining either web links and news on “winemaking.” You might also try using “wine making” as two words. The search will produce pages and pages of links, some of which will be interesting and useful … if you find any particularly good ones, please recommend them to us at AWO so that we can update these resources.