Barrels of Fun (And Wine)

Those of us who loved Lucille Ball know how much fun winemaking can be—now you can get in on the action and it won’t even require a flight to Napa Valley.

Those of us who loved Lucille Ball know how much fun winemaking can be—now you can get in on the action and it won’t even require a flight to Napa Valley. Monmouth County is home to unique locations that allow you to make wine, from grape to bottle. The best part? Whatever you make is yours to take home!

Start a new hobby at Grape Beginnings (151 Industrial Way East, Eatontown, 732.380.7356; grapebeginningswine.com), where you have three ways to enjoy the wine-making process. In the monthly Intro to Wine Making class, convert pre-pressed juice into vino; the Wine Making Club uses five sessions over a 10-month period to make between 12 to 48 bottles; and in the Grape Beginnings Wine Makers course, participants create wine by the barrel (or share one) over five sessions spread across a year.

Novices and aficionados alike can become “students” at The Wine Room (227 Rt. 33 East, Manalapan, 732.792.7007; atthewineroom.com) and make their own reds or whites. California wines are started in the fall and bottled the following summer. (Chilean wines begin in the spring and are bottled in the winter). All it takes is four sessions, using professional equipment under the supervision of wine-making experts: de-stem and crush grapes; press and pump juice into barrels; “rack” barrels to remove sediment; and bottle, cork and cap wines. Crushing grapes with your feet (à la Lucy) is optional.