ANNAPOLIS VALLEY VINTNERS

Annapolis Valley Vintners was formed in 2004 when a few people who had previously belonged to other winemaking clubs decided that the time was right for a local club.

We are based in the Eastern end of Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, near the Minas Basin. Our meetings are in Wolfville but members come from up and down the valley with some from the Halifax area, which is about 90 km (55 miles) away.  We, along with another club in the Halifax area make up the Amateur Winemakers of Nova Scotia, which is a member of the Amateur Winemakers of Canada.

The Annapolis Valley has a long history as a quality fruit and vegetable producing area and has become the prime centre for grape growing and winemaking in Nova Scotia.  Of the 20 wineries in the province, nine are in the immediate area of Wolfville.  Most wineries have their own vineyards but there are also many contract growers, including some of our members.

Most members of Annapolis Valley Vintners (about 52 at the moment) have winemaking experience from 3 to about 35 years, and are involved in all types of winemaking – fresh grapes, kits, other fruit, mead and some beer and cider.  We meet once a month, usually on the second Thursday evening, and always include a technical session.  Sometimes we have a Wine Doctor session, where members bring in a wine that has some concerns, to try to find out what went wrong and how to fix it, if possible.  Members taste it, discuss, then try to come up with some useful ideas.  We also do a detailed blind judging of up to four selected wines, for example, a flight of red hybrids, to develop our judging skills and discuss the positive and negative points of the wines.  Occasionally, commercial wines are tasted and judged.

The grapes grown in Nova Scotia are almost all cold-hardy varieties – French-American and other hybrids and the unique challenges they present occupy a large part of our discussions.

Our focus on better winemaking has paid off.  Although we are a small group, we have been very successful, winning many medals at the National competition of the Amateur Winemakers of Canada.  These medals, although mainly from grape wines, include some from cider as well as from fruits such as blueberries, peaches, raspberries and strawberries.

In 2008 and again in 2011, 2015 and 2018 Annapolis Valley Vintners, on behalf of Amateur Winemakers of Nova Scotia, hosted the National Competition of Amateur Winemakers of Canada.  It is expected that we will fill that role on a rotation basis every three or four years.

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