Grapes and Supplies

One of the main purposes of the Nanaimo Winemakers is to assist members in getting the grapes and supplies they need to make top-quality wine.

NW Grapes: 2010 Orders and Information

NW Grapes is the grape procurement arm of the Nanaimo Winemakers Club. 2010 is the fifth year we have sourced grapes from California's Central Coast. We are now centered in Santa Barbara County, but we also get grapes from farther north. We buy from individual growers and we have our own arrangement for processing in Santa Maria.  Grapes are crushed, put in 23L pails, and go to the freezer the day they are picked. All these arrangements are exclusive to the Nanaimo Winemakers club.  When you get these grapes you are not getting a generic or industrial product.  The grapes are top quality. We get only a small portion of a crop that otherwise goes to premium and ultra-premium wineries. Our frozen red grapes and white juices are shipped north all at once to Nanaimo about the beginning of November. Local freezer capacity is available at extra cost for those wait before making their wine. Highlights for this year:

• Perhaps last year to buy White Hills (Santa Barbara) Chardonnay.
• Chenin Blanc available for first time.
• Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah all available from the Central Coast for the first time.
• Old-vine Mourvèdre and Zinfandel from the Enz Vineyard in San Benito County—a special treat.
• Our Cabernet Sauvignon will be clone 6, the low-yielding but extremely high quality clone.

• 2010 Order Form—June 10 version—either [pdf] or [Word] document
• Vineyards and Varieties: sources for NW Grapes in 2010

  Notes on the grape varieties available this year and the vineyards from which they are expected to come.

• FAQs about NW Grapes and its Central Coast grape operations

  FAQs about how NW Grapes works, especially in relation to frozen grapes and juice from California's Central Coast. If you are new to NW Grapes, this is a good place to start.

• 2010 orders to date

  Updated regularly. Shows how popular various grapes are so far, and what remains on the order list if supply is getting short.

Supplies

• Fermentation Supplies—2010 Order Form [Excel]

  Duane Lukyn is the Supplies Coordinator. He buys yeast, nutrients, oak chips and other supplies in bulk, splits them up according to our orders, and is able to sell them to us at a good saving. The 2010 order form [Excel version] is available now.  Wine Supply Order 2010 [xls]

• Barrels and corks

  Doug Morrison handles corks and barrel orders for the Club. This year's order for 55L French barrels (the size and style used most commonly by Club members) has already gone in. Corks (high quality composite) are ordered periodically in bags of 1000, but sharing can usually be arranged if you don't want this many.

Other Readily Available Grape Sources

Apart from the the grapes the Club brings in through NW Grapes, grapes can be had from other local sources. These sources are reviewed here briefly.

• Brehm Vineyards
(and Bosa Grape)

Peter Brehm (the man behind Brehm Vineyards) sources a wide variety of premium red grapes and white juices from Napa, Sonoma, and Washington, freezes them, and ships them across North America. On average, these are the best grapes available to home winemakers. And they have prices that reflect this. However, if you want to make the equivalent of a $75 Napa Cab Sauv, this is the way to go. In BC, the principle dealer for Brehm Vineyards is Bosa Grapes. The grapes arrive frozen in October and you will have to make arrangements to get them from the Mainland. Here are the links: Brehm Vineyards and Bosagrape.  Note that Bosagrape also sells fresh juices from Italy and California.

• Pacific Breeze

Pacific Breeze is a small New Westminster winery that makes premium wines from grapes it sources in the United States, often from Lake County (part of the North Coast appellation). Pacific Breeze has generously arranged to share some of these grapes with home winemakers. These grapes and sometimes settled juice must be picked up in New Westminster whenever the grapes arrive. Several Club members have purchased these grapes in recent years and the reports are good. To judge by prices in the California grape market, Lake County grapes have a general quality level comparable to the grapes NW Grapes gets on the Central Coast—in other words, very good to excellent. And the prices are reasonable for the quality. Many Vancouver area winemakers are big fans of these grapes. Pacific Breeze keeps in contact with home winemakers interested in grapes through their Grape Pacific Supplies e-mail newsletter. To get on the mailing list, e-mail them at grapepacific@gmail.com.

• RJ Spagnols

Spagnols is the oldest source for home winemakers in BC. Located on Annacis Island it is now owned by Vincor and is more widely known as a source of kit wines. But for BC home winemakers, it still provides fresh grapes of several standards. It has the typical Central Valley grapes (see next entry), but it has also carries a full line of Lodi/Woodbridge grapes. These are a definite step up from Central Valley grapes.  They come in 36 lb lugs. Spagnols also carries a more limited of range of grapes from Washington. These are another step up in quality. Small groups in the Club often used to purchase these grapes and have them shipped here to crush. This does not happen much any more now that NW Grapes is such a large operation, but it is still an option and some people still prefer Lodi Zinfandel or Washington Lemberger to some of the options available through NW Grapes. To find out about Spagnols grapes, you need to get on their mailing list. Phone: 604-524-9463

• Central Valley grapes

The most common grape source for traditional home winemaker is the Central Valley (the Fresno and Modesto areas). These grapes are shipped fresh across North America each fall, usually in September. In Nanaimo, they can be obtained through the local Italian club (contact Franco Sartor, also a member of our Club). They can also be ordered through Quality Foods and received at the QF warehouse on the Old Alberni highway in Errington. These are by far the cheapest wine grapes available. The juice comes fresh in pails (heavily sulfited) and grapes come fresh (also sulfited) in 36 lb. lugs. Many varieties are available. Be aware, however, that these are hot-climate, high-volume grapes (many tons to the acre) and will make a simple wine that will not improve much with age. (Among the local Italian and Portuguese communities, the wine is typically make quickly, without oak, and consumed within the year.) There can also be issues with ripeness, because all the varieties need to be shipped at once (for some this can be too early, for others too late).  However, if you want a simple, inexpensive wine, these grapes are the ticket.