You have your favorite wines. What about your personal wine?

That’s right, you can make your own wine, and it has nothing to do with your bathtub or your bare feet.

Just Grapes has shaped several spectacular opportunities for you to craft something special.

The first comes as close to quitting your job and moving to a little plot of land in California as possible without alarming your friends and family. This year’s “Make Your Own Wine Grape to Bottle” project began in July. You are involved in every step of the process, including a trip to Napa to harvest and crush your grapes. In the end, you are the proud maker of one case (12 bottles) of wine from elite vineyard sites. It’s an intimate interaction with a grower and a glimpse into the fragile, labor-intensive process from dirt to your dinner table.

“Make Your Own Wine” is a four-step process guided by Don Sritong, corporate sommelier of Just Grapes. It spans six to 24 months, depending on the varietal and style of your wine. 

• Step 1. Taste Elite Vineyard Sources and Construct a Plan
  First, the group will try some of the commercial wines made from the various vineyards up for consideration. A detailed blueprint for each wine covers the entire process of growing, fermentation, aging and blending. Every year is different, and things can change, so you’ll face some decisions along the way. We’ll also discuss packaging, cork, bottle, capsule and labels selections.
• Step 2. Monitor the Vineyard
  Throughout the growing season, Just Grapes will provide weather updates, pictures and video interviews with growers to give you insight into the ups and downs of the viticulture lifestyle. You can even watch your vines grow via live webcams.
• Step 3. Create Your Wine
  When the fruit comes in, you get to help sort, crush, ferment and press your wine. We also will organize private tours and tastings throughout Napa Valley (transportation and accommodations are additional) to view vineyard sources and to taste some great wine. If you can’t be there in person, watch on webcams and get real-time updates and educational content.
• Step 4. Sample the Barrels and Finish the Wine
  We will taste the individual vineyard sources as they move through their aging process. Then, just before bottling, we will conduct a blending seminar to determine what percentages of each vineyard source will make the ultimate blend. We bottle your wine, and it’s off to you to enjoy and to savor its evolution.

Along the way, the group meets every two months to enjoy themed blind tastings and dinner at a local restaurant. It’s one more way to get to know wine and wine-loving friends.

Not sure you want to go big this year? Make your own wine right here in Chicago at Just Grapes. Fusebox is a wine-blending kit with all the wine and materials necessary to make as many as eight separate blends. Join Just Grapes for a blending session, typically held in late fall, then buy a kit for an entertaining evening at home with friends.

The art of balancing a wine? Fusebox puts it in your hands!