The Urban Winemaking Experience
Written By: Romany Reagan on Mon, Jan 14th 2008
A lot of people recently have wanted to step out of the ranks of being an appreciative audience, join in and begin making their own wine - but how? No better time than the New Year to put that shelved dream into action!
What some of you don't know is you don't have to have rolling vineyards and a swarthy staff of hundreds to make your own vino. For those urban-types who have graduated from, or more likely never ventured into, the land of Pruno (aka: Prison Wine) yet are not quite up to having the copious time and cumbersome space consuming equipment necessary at home - you're answer is here! Co-op wine!
There are many groups large and small "cropping" up all over the country. The most famous one being Crushpad located in San Francisco. If you do an internet search of wine co-ops in your own community, there will surely be one not too far away, especially if you live in a wine region or near a big city. The interest has been so keen and the project doing so well, Crushpad itself is currently looking into expanding soon into both Seattle, Washington and right here in NYC (goody for me)!
So how do these co-ops work? First, the grapes are grown by local growers from which the group buys their fruit as a collective. There are monitors who organize the group who keep track of how the crops are doing, how much they will cost that year and what to buy. People put in money, an investment, of as little or as much as they feel they want to be a part, then they own a share of that year's eventual output. Before you start thinking this is just a mutual fund, you get to be a hands-on part of the process from this point forward, you can come to the winery to destem, crush and ferment. Then there is the aging process, there are decisions to be made all along the way: Oak or steel? How long do we ferment? Should we blend? If the decision to blend does come up, then you may blend within your own supply or contact other groups to do so. Much like being a grandparent has all the joys of parenting with far less responsibility - yes, rather like that!
Making your own wine provides not only a glow of pride pouring for your guests, but it is also great networking/people-meeting opportunity! You'll learn factors affecting your local environment while meeting the people working for action—people who also share your love for wine. If you play your cards right, by February you could have stolen enough furtive glances over the barrel to have snagged yourself a Valentine. Don't worry, if anyone asks me, that's not why you're there.
