Most members find that the club is a place where friendly and helpful advice comes from their peer group. This usually results in wines that get better and fosters competition for awards of excellence. In 1969 several local clubs banded together and incorporated the Amateur Winemakers of Ontario. The AWO has grown to 36 clubs representing 600 individual members. The AWO operates a judging service for the clubs.
Accredited judges serve as guest speakers as well as help the winemaker evaluate their wines.
These judges taste over 1,800 entries at club competitions during the year. Their comments help the members select the club entries for the annual provincial competition. The Judges Commission then award medals to the best of some 600 provincial entries. During the year the members receive educational articles and information about current events in the quarterly AWOnews . The festival weekend in June is the culmination of activities for the year.