During
the 1970s the highly successful village show could boast only
two wine classes - one white and one red. Our members soon began to
boost the entries in these classes and the show committee decided
to ask the Wine Circle to organise the “wine
section”. Today the Circle runs its own wine festival
under the auspices of the village show. Gone are the odd bottle
shapes and sizes. All wines are exhibited in uniform Bordeaux-shaped
bottles, identically labelled.
meals
contributed by celebrities from television, films and radio. This
venture raised £15,000 towards the Yeovil Hospice Appeal. In the following year a sponsored cycle ride by members raised a further
£1,600 for the same appeal. In appreciation of the Circle's efforts the Hospice trustees invited the Circle to name a room at
the new hospice which was opened in December, 2003. As the vine is
the Christian symbol for love, the Circle felt it appropriate
for
the in-patients' sitting room, hence The Vine Room'.
During its 25th anniversary year a charity
concert by the South Western R.A.F.A.
band at East Coker raised £500 for the band and the Royal
British
Legion. The 30th anniversary year supported
the Dorset & Somerset Air
Ambulance and the
Yeovil Cardiac Unit.
The festival attracts over
100 entries which are judged by national judges. For the exhibitors it is an opportunity
to have their wines assessed by national experts and to discuss their
entries at a ‘judges at the bar’ session. Members also
act as judges’ stewards, an experience they find not only educational
but most enjoyable. Having gained experience from the village festival
some members have gone on to achieve successes at the county festival, organised by the Somerset Association of Amateur
Winemakers to which the Circle is affiliated.
Further successes were achieved at regional
level as a result of which the Circle joined the South Western Counties
Wine and Beer Makers Federation. In October, 2002 at their first major
effort in the regional festival members won the coveted most points
in festival shield, a trophy they have won several times since. Members have also been successful at the Wales & West and National festivals.
During
the 20th anniversary year it was decided that, although not
a fund raising organisation, it would be a good idea to mark
the Millennium by doing something tangible and worthwhile for a local
cause. “Come Dine With Us”, a superb book of three course
menus with recipes, which could be mixed and matched, was published.
Each course offered advice on what to drink with each course and each
recipe contained some alcohol to enhance the flavours of the meal.
Recipes, contributed mainly by our own members, were boosted by some 20
