Perhaps the only thing that could beat spending a snowy winter’s day in front of a fire with a good bottle of wine is making that bottle of wine yourself. And at Giuseppe and Rachele Pracilio’s one-day winemaking class at California Wine Grapes in Detroit, Michigan, you can learn how to make a delicious batch of wine to share with your loved ones.
Giuseppe and Rachele Pracilio are third-generation winemakers with, as he says, a “passione per il vino!” Giuseppe, a master winemaker originally from Abruzzo, Italy, studied winemaking for years in his father Antonio’s vineyard before moving to the States. Rachele’s grandfather Domenico Paglialungo, who first started importing grapes from California in the 1950s, founded California Wine Grapes, and their winemaking class — offered one Saturday a month throughout the winter — teaches participants how to make wine the “old-world” way, naturally and with minimal equipment.
The demonstration includes how to crush, press and juice the grapes, fermentation and how to transfer the wine and store it. This step-by-step instruction includes all equipment: barrels, grape jugs, funnel and bottle cork labels. Instruction is followed by lunch and authentic Italian musical entertainment. Classes run 1–4 p.m. and are limited to 40 participants.