Where are the mysteries of wines? When I swirled it in the glass, held up the glass against the light, sip and tasted it. I didn’t really think about them. I have a general understanding on how wines are made, but, honestly, so are cattle are slaughtered or cakes are baked. I have no desire to be too involved with the production of any of them.
Then I came to this unique winery at a suburb of Phoenix, in a strip mall in the city of Tempe. There are no agricultural farm like building, rolling grapevines, rows of barrels in a dark and cool cave, or hours of driving through natural peace. It is a store next to supermarket and beauty supply. It is the only winery in Phoenix.
The owner imports grape juices, crushed and filtered, from Oregon or California in sealed plastic bags. She then mixes in other ingredients, like oak chips, into six-gallon jars. The jars sit on metal wire shelves for three to 12 months and the wine is considered made. She then bottle, label, cork, and sleeve them up, about 14 bottles, for about less than $300.
All of those, plus catered foods and light entertainment, are available from this so-called winery where wine making can be a party activities for amateurs like myself. What’s more fun than coming home with a bottle that you made yourself?
Except that they don’t taste that great. Guess either there are more mysteries to be unlocked, or those grapevines, barrels, and remote locations actually make a difference to the taste. Given the choice of making bad wines myself or buying good wines from a store, I would make the same choice as in beef and cakes.