History of the Society

For a number of years prior to 1936 a group of wine and food lovers known as the 'old team' met regularly for lunch at the corner table at Hosies. On the evening of August 1936 twenty-one gentlemen met at the Hotel London under the chairmanship of Mr. W. R. Nairn. Mr Francois de Castella acquainted the meeting of correspondence he had had with Mr. Andre Simon, President of the Wine and Food Society of London, and spoke at length on the objects of the Society.

The meeting unanimously agreed to form the 'Wine and Food Society of Victoria' and to seek affiliation with the London body which by this time had four branches in the USA and two more in England. We were thus the 8th Society in the world and the founding Society in Australia. The meeting appointed Francois de Castella-President and fixed a joining fee at 1 guinea and an annual subscription of 2 guineas. At the second formal meeting held at the Commercial Traveller's Club on 20th October 1936 seventeen new members were admitted including G.A. de Pury and E.S Purbrick.

In 1969 the WFSV along with other societies formed the Wine and Food Society of Australia. It is now called the Federation of Wine and Food Societies and our society plays a leading role in its development.

Stated Purposes of the Society

- To promote an appreciation of wines food and the culinary art, and to afford to the members facilities for meeting one another and entertaining their friends.
- To encourage the highest standards of preparation and presentation of wine and food.
- To establish and maintain a cellar for use of members and their guests.
- To enhance member's knowledge and appreciation of wine

The style of the Society and its functions has become a little less formal in recent times but the underlying purposes have not changed. The handling of wine and food is serious, even respectful but we don't need to be solemn and upright to enjoy it. In March 1998 the members of the Society voted to change its constitution to permit and encourage female membership. Membership of the society is 70.

Committee

Society functions are planned and organised by an elected committee.

Our current President is Janet Barton

Membership Fees

Annual membership is currently about $250 per annum plus an initial joining fee of $500.
In return for this you get access to our cellar (through the functions) with value of more than $200,000.00. Value per member is well in excess of the joining fee, particularly market value. Functions are run on a cost basis using wines at their historical price. Annual membership is used to cover operating costs and on going purchases.

Functions

We try to offer a broad range of function styles but emphasis is typically on French and overseas wines, rather than to compete with more readily available opportunities to drink Australian wines.

We enjoy our Society and would look forward to you joining us and playing a role in its continuing development