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Rocky Mountain House Wine Appreciation 
Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Spit (maybe not spit -- at least good wine)!We had a fun and educational event at our Rocky Mountain House store on March 27, 2010 wine appreciation cheese, chocolate pairing class. The Home Vintner has moved people up to better wine kits available in the market. Now, we want our customers to get the most out of their wine. Put us to the test. Check our website for further events.
POSTED April 3rd, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT Barons Secrets for Making Your Best Beer Ever - Advanced Beer Making Class March 24, 2010 
Beer isn't just for breakfast anymore!This group was very knowledgeable, well traveled, and experienced in many of the different styles of beer. Being Home Vintner customers, they already have high standards, but want to do more with their basic kits, twisting and turning Barons kits into different styles!The Home Vintner's own Alan Hunt, Beer maker of the Year 2009, was in attendance. Alan loves to "talk beer"!We judged the following styles of beer: classic Pilsner, European...
POSTED March 30th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS Wine Guild Preparing for more Awards on March 6, 2010 
The Home Vintner Wine Guild spent the day judging wines to move ahead into provincial competition. When almost all of the wines are of this excellent quality it makes selecting only the top four that much more difficult. Our Wine Guild is one of the most relaxed groups in the country but takes more of the awards. No wine snobs please, just people who get wine and enjoy it.
POSTED March 18th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT Wine Cheese and Chocolate and that other thing - March 13, 2010 
The Home Vintner officiated another private event, we shared our knowledge about pairing the right cheese with the right wine and how chocolate enhances the taste of certain wines. Why do women love chocolate so much? We know.
POSTED March 18th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT March 17, 2010 NW Calgary Wine Making Class 
Another classful of happy graduates of The Home Vintner. We feel that since we are selling the best wine available on the market, we need to teach our customers how to get the most of their hobby. For us, it is a simple equation: start with the best wine kits available, share our knowledge with the highest standards equals loyal customers who won’t tolerate 2nd rate discount kits.
POSTED March 17th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS Groucho Marx Alive and Well in Olds! 
This fun bunch in Olds found a unique and humourous way to protect their identity on the internet! Of all the classes I've done, this was one of my biggest surprises - they were such a light hearted fun - filled bunch. Thanks to Brenda, another group has been enlightened on pairing wine cheese and chocolate and now have the knowledge to host their own events at home.
POSTED March 6th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS February NE Store Wine Appreciation Event 
Another good time had by all. The wine appreciation event at the NE store in February was a lot of fun. Even though the purpose of the evening was to educate it often feels like I’m officiating a party. We always have question and answer time, people often ask about vineyards that they have visited and about the wines that they have sampled. The bottom line is this, can I make the same wine at home? Chances are good that they can! The Home Vintnter...
POSTED March 1st, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT Cochrane Wine Appreciation & Cheese, Chocolate Pairing last Thursday night 
It’s always rewarding when someone in the class starts the evening claiming that wine all smells the same to me. And by the end of the class they are so excited because now they can pick out the different characteristics of the wines. “I can smell chocolate, black currents WOW! How did I miss that before? Does that cheese ever change the taste of that wine! I’ll never think about chocolate the same way again.”Since we only bring in the best quality...
POSTED March 1st, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT Rocky Mountain House Wine Making Class 
Last Saturdays “Beginner Wine Making Class” (Feb 19) at Rocky Mountain House was another great success. The local community there has embraced quality wines and an insatiable thirst for more knowledge. We have the products that satisfy those who have set high standards in their wine making. Next event at Rocky will be a wine appreciation night where we will be instructing the class on how to judge wine and then how to match wine with the right cheese and chocolate. ...
POSTED February 26th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
This week our staff enjoyed a tasting of 2 of our Chilean wines, the Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere. For a quest of more knowledge of Chilean wines I recently went to Chile with my 2 daughters. The wine regions in the foothills of the Andes produces a fruit forward softer tannin style of wine. The Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon - red and black berries accented with black pepper carries through from start to finish, a very good wine with pepper steaks and spicy pasta.The Chilean Carmenere...
POSTED February 5th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS Stags Leap - a great addition to any wine cellar 
Ron brought in a bottle of Napa Valley Stag's Leap District Merlot for a staff tasting. Nicely aged since 2006 the silky smooth structure with fruit forward flavours of plums and red berries was accented with spice notes. Reminded me of my field trip to research wines in Napa Valley. It is easy to see why we have a following for this wine - well worth cellaring to bring out its true nature.
POSTED January 29th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT Rockin in Rocky Mountain House Our newest store and fastest growing thanks to Wende was packed last Saturday afternoon. The wine and beer community at Rocky is developing a knowledgeable appreciation of the art of making fine wines and micro brewery calibre beers at home. Blog tip - the secret to making great wine is patience. In February we are planning another wine and beer making class, dates will be announced soon.POSTED January 26th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS Wine Making Class last Thursday - NE Store Another full house - a blend of experienced wine makers and novices. We find that experienced wine and beer makers are appreciative of the knowledge they gain even in our beginning class. Of special interest was solving the CO2 dilema in Calgary.Barometer pressure is increasing so this week wine should be progressing nicely.POSTED January 26th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS Great Wine Making Class last night at the NW Store Last night we had a full house at our wine making class at our North West Store. Everyone enjoyed the good selection of wines along with cheeses and crackers. The focus in January is, "Raising the standard of everyone's expectations in wine and beer making". Looking forward to another free wine making class on Thursday night in the North East store and another one Saturday at Rocky Mountain House.. February's focus is educational with classes on Wine Tasting and Judging along...POSTED January 20th, 2010 | 0 COMMENTS 
For those of you making wine this weekend, there has been a dramatic drop in barometric pressure again. Things will be slow to clear and slow to ferment, be patient.This is our very first blog entry. In this blog we plan on keeping you updated on changes in the store, new wine discoveries, and the travels of staff and customers. If you have any wine-related travel stories, please send them in and we will share them with our customers. We always enjoy hearing first-hand about various wineries throughout...
POSTED January 15th, 2010 | 2 COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT |
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Barb Donnelly