Bs Reh UR :
NEWS photo Paul McGrath

OUR RESIDENT oenophile John Moore (right) surveys sheives of plonk with McWines’ Jim
Bernard. John has put in his homebrew order, and will reiease his findings later next month.

us on a BU

THE RECENT growth of hobby
wine-making has been so phenome-
nally explosive that Jim Bemard and
Eileen Mackay — Mr. and Mrs.
McWines —~ as they laughingly call
themselves, describe themselves as
old-timers in the business, though
their McWines winery has only been
open on West 3rd St. in North
Vancouver for a year and a half.

By John Moore
Contributing Writer

_ The Mackays/McWines run one

. of the unique hobby brew operations
that have flourished in a gray area of
the provincial govemment’s liquor
control legislation. in any province in
Canada, you are allowed to brew beer
and wine for your own consumption,
without taxation. Other provinces,
with the exception of B.C. and

- Ontario, specify that ‘said brewing
must be done on your own premises;
amessy and occasionally malodorous
undertaking, as anyone who has
made wine at home well knows.

_ -'But here and in Ontario, for the
price of a little GST, you can select

the grape blend that suits your palate,
enjoy the thrill of starting the alchem-
ical natural process by which grape
juice becomes “the food of the gods,”
then bottle and label your own house
wines at a cost of between $3 and $4
per 750 mL, bottle.

I was frankly skeptical about the
current trend to hobby-winemaking,
having survived the sixties’ fad for
“home winemaking” and the gen-
erosity of an Italian landlord whose
zinfandel would melt your glass if
you didn’t drink fast enough. In vain
I tried not to cringe when friends
would pour me a glass of “their own
wine.” Then I discovered a lot of it
was actually pretty good. Something
was going on here.

Jim “Mr. McWines” Bernard
credits the vast improvernent in the
quality and range of concentrate/juice
combination kits currently available

.for the renewed interest in hobby

winemaking: “Homemade wine used
to mean porch-climber, often with
good reason. Some of our best cus-
tomers are peopie who used to make
wine at home and had problems. But
our suppliers are increasingly getting
access to more and more specialized

a Oo Tee TU Sa

concentrates from vineyards that are
next door to California wineries
whose wines sell for $40 a bottle.”

McWines offers a full range of
wine styles, from chardonnay,
gewurztraminer and rieslings, to
Barolo, pinot noir, cabernet sauvi-
gnon and Chateauneuf-du-Pape
styles. Whatever variety of vinfifera
rings the bells of your taste buds; it’s
there, Four-week wines, made from
California concentrates, run $85 for a
23 L, five imperial gailon batch.
Four-week wines made from premi-
um £uropean concentrates run a bit
more: $99 per batch. Six-week wines
made from a deluxe mix of pure juice
and concentrate cost $119 and
McWines occasionally get special
batches of concentrate from presti-
gious California suppliers that may
be a bit steeper, but none of them
works out to more than $5 per bottle
and usually more like $3.

“The economics are unbeatable,”
Jim says, “but it’s the participation
part of the process people enjoy.”

Come mid-December, your intre-
pid correspondent will be bottling
and tasting white and red plonk he
personally fussed over. Stay tuned.

STARTING TOMORROW (DEC 1) YOU CAN CALL PINK DOT -
THE HOME DELIVERY SERVICE OF THE FUTURE!

PINK DOT 1S A CONVENIENCE STORE ON WHEELS...
DELIVERING ANYWHERE ON THE NORTH SHORE JUST ABOUT
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PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS. WE'LL A

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OF YOUR BEVERAGE REQUIREMENTS. “PINKY” OPERATES

FROM 6 PM 70 2 AM. “PINKY” ACCEPTS CASH,

MASTERCARD AND YOUR PERSONAL CHEQUE.
"PINK DOT IS CONVENIENCE, VALUE & SAFETY.”

VISA,

MSE arses

efal IL RAT hes ean a

‘COLLISION SPECIALISTS.

Our 36th Year

1.C.B.C. - B.C.A.A, - A.RA.
APPROVED CENTRE

FREE COURTESY CARS

FOR COLLISION REPAIRS
“LIFETIME GUARANTEE”
AS LONG AS YOU OWN YOUR CAR
DON TAYLOR
Same owner
high tech equipped shop

* Estimates, Consultation*
985-7455

begins on Dec. 3 at 8:30am

FP You can register for ail
programs at any recCentre:

° Griffin

* Delbrook

* Lonsdale

¢ Megnussen

* Ron Andrews

*NorthShore |
Neighbourhood House

Pick up your numbers
at 7:30am at the
recCentre where you
will be registering.

These numbers will mark
your place in line.

REMEMBER:
REGISTRATION IS ONGOING

INTRODUCING
“PINKY” AND HIS
FAITHFUL POOCH

“LIGHTNING”

AND HAVE “PENRY" DELIVER YOU THE GOODS £ SERVICES Th THAT ie WANT WHEN You NEED THE

Toit Seca oe R

RET SL