After months of preparation, the 48^th annual OC Fair Home Wine Competition is in the history books.  (See Kevin Donnelly’s accompanying competition “wrap up” article).

Now, my work starts for next year’s competition. No, I don’t mean the planning that goes into the actual event. I’m talking about the planning and work that will go into making the wine that, hopefully, I will enter into next year’s competition.

You see, I’ve been bitten by the winemaking bug. I know there are other OCWS winemakers who’ve been bitten too. The bug always bites me after the competition. I get the itch to make more wine. It doesn’t matter how much is in my cellar or if I have the space to make it. There’s just something about the competition that inspires me each year to make more.

I’m inspired this year by two of our OCWS winemakers who won Best of Show awards: Don Sowers who won Best of Show Red Wine for his 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon and Rochelle Randel who won Best of Show Fruit Wine for her 2024 Lemon Wine.

I’m always inspired by seeing so many wines from winemakers all over California. Maybe it’s something about tasting the fruit (pun intended) of all the hard work that went into each bottle. Maybe it’s the pride that winemakers, including myself, have for their wines. I’m humbled to think all those winemakers have put their trust in the Orange County Wine Society and our competition when they submit their wines for evaluation.

Maybe the latest Home Wine Competition will also inspire others to begin or continue their winemaking. There are lots of opportunities to make wine and this is the best time of year to start.

The grape harvest will be happening in a few months. The Winemakers Group annually sources a variety of high-quality grapes for our members. Look for more information on our grape purchase program in upcoming newsletters and in emails to our members.

Wine can be made from almost any kind of fruit too. Summer brings a bounty of backyard fruit which can make excellent wine. This is an easy and low-cost way to learn or hone winemaking skills.

Wine can be made from kits any time of year. John Lane from our Winemakers Group just conducted another kit winemaking class. Many of our OCWS winemakers started this way.  Excellent wine can be made from kits including Best of Show winners in past years.

No matter what kind of wine you make, The Winemakers Group can help. Our winemaking mentors will be happy to guide you through the process.

There are many opportunities to make wine.  No matter your experience level, now it’s time to start planning the wine that you’ll enter into next year’s OC Fair Home Wine Competition. Maybe you’ll be bitten by the winemaking bug too.

—Ed Reyes, ed@ocws.org

Our 2017 grapes have finished fermentation, and we have been racking our new wines into carboys, tanks and barrels in anticipation of some fine “drink’n” next year!

Winemakers’ Group Holiday Party. Our holiday party is scheduled for Saturday, December 23, at the Eastlake Clubhouse in Yorba Linda, and this event is sold out. As a reminder to those confirmed to attend, this is a potluck, and we ask everyone attending to bring enough food to serve 10 to 12 people and a bottle of wine per person, either homemade or commercial.

2018 WineMaker Magazine Conference. We are looking forward to the WineMaker Magazine’s annual conference to be held May 17 through May 20 in San Diego. We are hoping to have a large contingent of our winemakers attend and flex our muscles as a fabulous and energetic part of the OCWS!

The program is being finalized with full details to come early this month. If you are interested in attending, contact Kevin or visit WineMaker website at www.winemakermag.com for more information.

If you have any questions, contact Kevin at Kevindonnelly@ocws.org or by phone at 714.457.7229.

– Kevin Donnelly

Ed Szubielski began making wine 13 years ago. It was the following year that Ed decided to join the OCWS Winemakers’ Group to improve his craft – and improve he did!

Being a wine collector since the 1980s, Ed decided to grow grapes in his own backyard. Ed was always determined to make the best wines and sought out the best fruit. It was in Ed’s very own backyard where members of the Winemakers’ Group met Chris Van Alyea of Solterra Winery in Encinitas. To this day, the Winemakers’ Group buys Dry Creek Merlot, Chardonnay, and Alexander Valley Cabernet grapes from Chris.

Ed’s “Eddie’s Backyard” label kept winning awards at the OC Fair Home Wine Competition. He was encouraged to enter the largest amateur winemaking competition in the U.S., an event annually held by Winemaker Magazine.

In 2009, Ed won the “Grand Champion” award with a 2007 Syrah from White Hawk Vineyards in Santa Barbara for best amateur wine in the US. His Syrah was selected No. 1 out of 4,474 entries. Pretty impressive! When Ed arrived at the next Winemakers’ Group meeting, he was greeted with We are the Champions by Queen. But if that were not enough, Ed won Best of Class in the 2013 National Competition for his 2011 Pinot Noir. That’s best Pinot in one year in the US and Best Wine in another year.

After retiring from a successful career as an executive in the automobile parts industry, Ed followed the path of several OCWS winemakers: Doffo, Roadrunner Ridge, Filsinger, Boorman and many others, and decided to “go commercial.” The colorful, amateur “Eddie’s Backyard” label is now an elegant “EB Winery” label in black.

Ed’s wines are available for tasting and purchase at his new store, We Olive & Wine Bar, located in San Juan Capistrano directly across from the entrance to the San Juan Capistrano Mission, or online at EBwinery.com. Eight EB Winery wines are on the tasting menu at We Olive, as well as hard to find domestic artisan wines.

It has been an exciting journey for Ed over the years, and we are quite confident that Ed will continue to produce excellent wines!

– Kevin Donnelly