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The Contra Costa Wine Group, CCWG, has been in existence for over 35
years. The group was started in 1972 by a Contra Costa County
Librarian interested in learning more about the “art/science” of
winemaking. Informal meetings were held monthly in his Pleasant
Hill home, with attendance averaging 5-10 people having a similar
interest in learning more about “wine making” in preference to “wine
tasting”. As the
years passed, the club grew to the point where annual judgings were
conducted to evaluate the quality of the amateur wines produced by
the members. Professional judges commented that quality was
improving markedly as the club members attended extension courses at
the U.C. Davis Dept of Viticulture and Enology; analyzed the
techniques that resulted in a mediocre – or – a superior wine; and
sourced their fruit from the better vineyard owners.
Now, we are a group of home winemakers that meets 11 times a year
at various members homes. Members share winemaking tips and sample
each other's home made wine at these meetings. We have educational
speakers and regularly scheduled events, like our yearly
competition. Many of our members win awards in wine competition that
are held all over the world. We have even had member go on and
establish successful commercial wineries, like
Rosenblum Cellars,
Deer
Ridge Vineyards and
Thomas
Coyne Winery.
One of
our members, Joel Butler with St Michelle in Washington, is one of
10 Master Wine Tasters in the U.S. We also provide education to the public via
several events throughout the year.
addition to the annual club judgings held each January, our members
typically enter state, national, and international home wine
competitions with exceptional results. Our members have submitted
wines garnering Best of Show, Double Golds, and Golds in increasing
numbers at these events. Currently we have about 75 members having
diverse occupations, ages, and gender; but all have a basic interest
in making – or learning to make - high quality wines.
If you are interested in more
information, please go to our CONTACT page
and send us an email. |
