Wine stored in a bottle gets better with age, whereas a message sent in a bottle is the best way to avoid exorbitant stamp prices. Empty your own glass envelopes with today’s Groupon: for $75, you get a winemaking experience at The Wine Garden Warehouse Winery (a $150 value). Choose from the following four Ottawa locations:
- Chatelain Avenue
- St. Joseph Boulevard
- Sieveright Road
- Schneider Road</p>
The experience includes the following: * An 18-litre batch (24 750-mL bottles’ worth) of one of the following wines: - Organic Argentinian malbec red wine - Organic Italian pinot grigio white wine * Instruction from a master winemaker * Corks, labels, and shrink-wraps<p>
The Wine Garden Warehouse Winery’s grape alchemists help oenophiles craft their own quaffs at urban breweries outfitted with Italian stainless-steel fermentation vessels. Working alongside a master winemaker, burgeoning vintners participate as much as they like in the brewing process, which begins with choosing one of two organic juice bases before mixing, filtering, and guiding wine through its awkward teen years. Once thought doomed after European vine plagues but later taught to thrive in South America, the Argentinian malbec varietal produces a deep color and plum flavor, with notes of anise. Alternatively, the Italian pinot grigio blooms into a white elixir possessing a floral aroma and citrusy taste only otherwise accessible by using rose petals as a condiment. Once wines are blended, stored, and done fermenting, buyers return to bottle their creations and slap on a personalized label. Customers may bring 24 of their own 750-millilitre bottle or purchase them on the premises for $0.75 each.
The Wine Garden
Wineries are often found far down country roads, shrouded by the curling tendrils of their vineyards. At The Wine Garden, though, the entire winemaking experience can be had without setting foot outside of the city.
Yeast bubbles busily in stainless-steel fermentation vessels, transforming the juices of grapes from fertile regions of Chile, Argentina, and California. The fermentation process yields wines that range from crisp chardonnay to heady cabernet franc, the progenitor of cabernet sauvignon, and oak barrels bestow some of the elixirs with a rich maze of tannins. Fruit wines made with peaches, cranberries, or strawberries make refreshing summertime drinks and help work friends mingle with hummingbird friends at parties. Patrons play a major role in the entire process, selecting grapes and siphoning finished wine into bottles.