Ever since Lucy hiked up her peasant skirt to stomp grapes in an Italian wine vat, home wine-making has had a reputation for fun. At Grape Beginnings Wine School (54 West Main Street, Freehold, 732-431-3313; www.grapebeginningswineschool.com), customers can “get in on the crush the old-fashioned way,” says co-owner Frank D’Aponte.
As many as 500 people a year visit D’Aponte and his partner Rich Trawinski to learn the age-old art of creating wine. Many students form friendly co-ops that share in the bounty. “It’s a real social outlet,” D’Aponte says. “People bring picnics. We have bottle-swapping and tasting parties.” The cost of creating your own natural red or white wine is $5 to $8 per bottle, depending on the grape variety.
When the California grapes begin arriving by refrigerated trucks in mid-September, they’re de-stemmed and crushed. After a fermentation period, students press the fruit and store it in oak barrels until the wine is ready to be racked, removing the sediment and placing the pure liquid into clean barrels. While awaiting the finished product, the students can design their own labels to use on the much anticipated day when it’s bottled, corked, and carefully taken home like a precious newborn.