AUTHENTIC WINE & SPIRITS MERCHANTS ANNOUNCES NATIONAL AGENCY AGREEMENT WITH CHURCH & STATE WINES
(From the Press Release)

OCTOBER 1 (VANCOUVER, B.C) Authentic Wine & Spirits Merchants (AWSM) is pleased to
announce that they have just been appointed as Canadian Agents for Church & State Winery, located just a short drive from downtown Victoria, British Columbia. This 25 acre estate is located on a beautiful hillside overlooking the bucolic farmland of the Saanich Peninsula. The 11 acres of vineyard on-site, in combination with an additional 80 acres in prime growing areas of the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, ensures that Church & State will continue to create an exciting portfolio of premium and super premium wines. Victoria businessman, Kim Pullen took control of the winery in the fall of 2004, quickly putting the business onto a premium path, with the hiring of consulting winemaker Bill Dyer in the spring of 2005. Lyndell Curry manages the office and heads up the tasting room team, while cellar master Jim Faulkner takes care of the day to day winemaking procedures between Bill Dyer’s visits.

Consulting winemaker, Bill Dyer, hails from Napa Valley, where he made his reputation as head winemaker at Sterling Vineyards for more than 20 years. Along with his wife Dawnine, he then bought a small mountainside Napa property, where he makes a tiny production of his own Dyer Vineyards Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. With all his spare time, he now commutes to Victoria and the Okanagan on a regular basis to assist Kim Pullen in producing some of BC’s most enticing new wines.

Authentic Wine & Spirits Merchants (Western Canada), is a new wine agency, founded on January 1st, 2006, by two industry veterans, Darryl Weinbren and Richard Carras, in a joint venture partnership with Charton Hobbs, Canada's largest privately owned wine and spirits importing company.

Editors Note: Cute .... the winery refers to its budget class wines as "Church Mouse".