As published in the Airdrie Echo newspaper, March 28th, 2012 By Josh Eberley — For the Echo
With 538 provincial, national, and international medals, The Home Vintner has successfully been helping average folks become expert wine makers since 1993.
Paul Sass is the owner of The Home Vintner and has nine separate Alberta locations he travels to and from.
Sass is dedicated to the quality of his service and insists his clients hold themselves to a high standard when drinking both wine and beer.
“Raising people’s standards is the goal and focus,” said Sass.
Sass has spared no extent on his staff, fielding a team of dedicated experts in their individual fields. Sass boasts employees who have won awards such as winemaker, and beer maker of the year.
Last weekend, Sass hosted an open contest for local winemakers at his Airdrie location.
The day was spent judging the 15 applicant’s various wine submissions.
“The four best wines will move onto provincials, which we always kick butt at,” said Sass. From there, members of the Airdrie location in the past have gone on to win both nationally and internationally.
The classes at The Home Vintner has been highly regarded for some time and are constantly selling out. “We want people to come in have fun and learn from it,” said Sass.
Sass believes near 1,200 Airdrie residents have been through the classes offered by his company, with more than 9,000 people across the province partaking in his teachings.
The company is easily accessible to people and easy to learn about online via their website thehomevintner.com “The staff takes two to three hours every single day working on and maintaining the website. The staff is researching every day,” said Sass.
Sass is no stranger to research himself taking time to learn his trade in Chile, Napa Valley, and France.
The only time The Home Vintner does not normally have classes available is in the summer, and that’s mostly due to people being busy with other various activities.
Though The Home Vintner doesn’t sell wine by the bottle, some of the bottles of brunello made by contestants could easily be sold at $85-$100.
The Home Vintner has numerous starter kits available for those looking to start out in wine making. For those interested in signing up for classes, Sass said he teaches all of them himself.
