Cellar News

January 2007

Gifts of Grape

Give your guests a creative treat with personalized wedding wine.

By Shelley Rafferty

Typically, wedding guests leave the grand affair with an ordinary (i.e. boring) favor in hand--goody bag of Jordan almonds, a scented candle or maybe even a silver picture frame. But now your friends and family can receive a gift that will have them toasting to your marriage long after the big day. Personalized wedding wine, handmade by the bride and groom, is a unique idea available right here in Hampton Roads.

Carafe Winemakers offers couples a chance to craft a batch of wine for their special day ... without suffering from purple feet. You won't find Carafe nestled in a local orchard or atop a rolling hill in the country; it's actually in a shopping mall in Chesapeake. Yep, right there next to an Indian restaurant. The equivalent of a "microbrewery," Carafe is a "microwinery" that lets customers make their own wine right in the shop.

Owner-operator Cynthia Miller's husband, Robert, first learned about the store during a business trip to Canada. While the Millers weren't wine experts, they were wine enthusiasts and intrigued by the unique business idea. In September 2005, the couple opened Carafe's first franchise store in the United States, in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake. That led the way for stores in Charlottesville and Raleigh, N.C.

The Carafe concept is catching on because of its unusual premise. Instead of wine fermenting for months in a cellar, it is processed in glass containers and stored on site. Here's how it works: first, customers select the type of wine they'd like to make from among 30 different varieties. (The best part is, you get to enjoy a wine tasting in order to help you with this difficult decision.) Once you choose your wine, Carafe's staff helps you become a master winemaker. You combine the grape juice you chose (i.e. merlot, cabernet) with yeast in a vat. After a good stir and weight check, the wine is sealed. Carafe stores your wine in a temperature-controlled room until you return for bottling in 4-6 weeks.

One batch typically produces two-and-a-half cases of wine (30 bottles) or 60 mini-bottles. Carafe has a fully automated system that sanitizes the bottles in-house. Customers can purchase bottles for $0.83 each or bring in their own and have them cleaned by the store. (This is a fun option if you have a particular color or odd-shaped bottle you'd like to use.)

Another way to customize your wine is on the label. Carafe offers more than 30 label templates, or you can design your own. For an extra $6 you can upload a digital photo to create a personalized label--this option is especially popular with couples who want to showcase their engagement photo or bridal portrait.

With the help of an automated filling machine, which works like a soda fountain, you fill up the empty bottles of wine. Next step--corking. You simply place the corks, one by one, into the "power corking" machine, place the bottle below, push a button, and the wine is corked. Then it's on to shrink wrapping foil around the top of the bottles. Carafe provides about a dozen different colored foil options to match your label. Once you place the foil on top of the bottle, you hold the neck over heat, and it shrinks to fit. Finally, you label your wine and grab a glass.

You don't need to be a sommelier to create your own vintage. Carafe offers a wide variety of wine to suit any taste. According to Miller, the Great White Gewürztraminer ($9.50), a white wine with hints of lychee and honey, is the most popular white. The IntraCoastal Cabernet Sauvignon ($9.50), with berry undertones, wins in the red category.

Carafe has customized five different wedding packages that feature full or mini-bottles that couples can give away as favors. (Prices start at about $3 per bottle.) "One couple recently brought their entire wedding party in to do a bottling the day of the rehearsal dinner," recalls Carafe employee Linda Wickline. "Not only was it a fun way for everyone to get to know each other, but the couples got their favors done in time for the wedding, and their friends contributed to their special day."

Miller recommends wedding parties book their bottling reservations six months or more in advance to ensure they get the time and space they need. She says this also allows the wine to age properly.

If you're not the adventurous type, or if you just prefer to drink your wine instead of making it, you can also choose from Carafe's wide selection of vintages available in the gift shop. Carafe offers free weekly wine tastings on Wednesdays from 5-8 p.m. Once a month, the store holds a theme-night tasting that includes appetizers. There's also a "Corporate Tasting Night," where professionals can sip wine and network at the same time. So whether you DIY your wine for your wedding day or just a weekday, Carafe allows you to choose a vintage that's perfect for your palette.

"Carafe offers a unique opportunity for a couple to give a personal gift to their guests," Miller says. "It's something that comes from the heart and is made with their hands; it's something they're really proud of."

Carafe Winemakers is located at 1036 Volvo Parkway, Suite 5, in Chesapeake. For more information, call 757-312-9030 or visit www.carafewinemakers.com.

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