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Volunteer for The Courtyard

The Orange County Wine Society, a non-profit organization that promotes the knowledge and appreciation of wines, is dedicated to raising funds for college scholarships for institutions throughout California. The volunteers of the organization, while enjoying social events, wine tastings and trips throughout the year, is best known for coordinating the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition and running the wine courtyard at the fair each year. Within the OCWS lies an active home winemaking group which, along with their passion for making fine wines, runs the Homewine Competition which is also highlighted annually at the OC Fair.

The varied interests and social opportunities offered through the OCWS has something for everyone, from people just beginning to find enjoyment with wine in their lives and wanting to learn more to the well versed fine wine lover looking to share their passion with others of like mind.

Wine Seminars at the 2025 OC Fair
Wine seminars are a big part of The Courtyard experience at the OC Fair. They help fulfill the OCWS mission of wine education. According to Larry Graham, OCWS historian and longtime chairman of The Courtyard, the first seminars were started in 2000. Early seminars were pretty basic then. Most focused… Read more: Wine Seminars at the 2025 OC Fair
President’s Message
By Carolyn Christian July is a significant month for OCWS. We begin the process of transforming The Courtyard at the OC Fair into the OCWS oasis for fairgoers to experience California wines – by the taste, by the glass, and in the context of learning experiences like the wine seminars.… Read more: President’s Message
What to know about Courtyard volunteering
If you are looking for your happy, it is almost here! The Orange County Fair with the theme, “Find Your Happy,” kicks off on Friday, July 18. With that opening day, The Courtyard begins our traditional 23 days of wine service. As always, we will have the award-winning wines by… Read more: What to know about Courtyard volunteering
OCWS Board of Directors: Call for Candidates
If you are innovative, open-minded, possess good interpersonal skills, are results oriented and a problem solver, then a position, as a Director of the OCWS just might be right for you. The beginning of a three-year term of the nine members of the Board of Directors, according to the Bylaws,… Read more: OCWS Board of Directors: Call for Candidates
OCWS Scholarship Program:
Spotlight on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Allan Hancock College By Damian J. Christian OCWS funds scholarships for eight California colleges and universities, including Allan Hancock College (AHC) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO). AHC offers multiple degrees and certificates in viticulture, enology, wine and food pairing, and… Read more: OCWS Scholarship Program:
Commercial Competition Behind the Scenes
The 49th annual OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition has just been held and now what’s left to be done is still a lot before starting prep work for the 50th annual competition next year. Each competition takes a full year from start to finish, and then we start all over… Read more: Commercial Competition Behind the Scenes
America’s Appellation of Origin, the American Viticultural Area (AVA)
In France, the National Institute of Origin and Quality, a public organization supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture, is in charge of granting, regulating, and administering the appellation d’origine contrôllée (AOC) for French wine. There are 363 AOCs. In Italy, the denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) system to regulate wine… Read more: America’s Appellation of Origin, the American Viticultural Area (AVA)