Wine…your way in Chino Hills

If you scroll past the rather disturbing post regarding the Chino Valley Unified school board deciding to close three schools (my best friend is/was a teacher at one of the closing schools), further down in the Chino Valley Now blog, you’ll find happier news:

You can now make your own wine in Chino Hills.
Warning: Pair of bad puns ahead!
The new winery, Wine Down (wind down, get it?) is located in the new Commons Shopping Center.
It’s a Wine Not (why not…clever, huh?) Custom Winery franchise.
Whew…now that we’ve gotten those out of the way, we can explain about the winery itself.
They use crushed grapes from quality vineyards around the globe to create wines that can be tailored to your taste.
You can select one of their fine wines or opt to create a vintage of your own.


If you decide to create your own wine, here’s how it works:

  • You start the wine by pouring the grape must (the crushed grapes) into the fermenter and adding yeast.
  • On day 14, winery staff will transfer your wine to another container to finish fermentation.
  • On day 28, winery staff will stabilize, clarify and filter your wine.
  • On day 50, you come back to finish the process by bottling, corking and labeling your custom wine.
Each batch makes about 29 bottles of wine and takes between five and seven weeks.
Sounds like a no-muss, no-fuss way to get some handcrafted wine you can call your own.
The winery’s Web site has all the details.
Hmm…I know a certain features editor who might be interested in making his own wine…perhaps an Emperor’s White Merlot.