How to Purchase a Private/Custom Bottling of Wine

You don't need to grow or crush a single grape to be a wine maker. Welcome to the golden age of the American wine business, where wine-making companies do all the work and you get all the credit. All you need to provide is the money.

Instructions

1. Express yourself. Making your own label is the easiest way to create custom bottles of wine and champagne. Simply design a label and have a wine-making company slap it on a bottle. Voila`! Votre Nom Ici Vineyards is in business. Most custom bottlers have an in-house graphics department to assist you in developing your label or have your own done (see How to Hire a Graphic Designer). You'll also have to make other tough decisions: plastic versus wood corks, and the color of the embossed foil. Prices for custom blended and labeled wines start at about $45 per bottle.

2. Immerse yourself in the process from start to finish. Making a custom crush is for serious wine enthusiasts. Experts from winemaking companies such as California's Associated Vintage Group (AVG) assist you through the entire process of creating your own wine--say a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet and Merlot. You'll be involved in deciding which grapes to purchase, what ratio to use in blending, which fermentation and aging techniques to use (oak barrel or stainless steel tank), and what type of bottle and label design to pick. Prices for custom crush red wines are about $60 per case, based on 3,000 cases. Expect to pay slightly less for whites.

Tips & Warnings

• For under $100 you can purchase a home wine-making kit, which includes a 6-gallon (22.7 l) primary fermenter, a hydrometer, a 5-gallon (19 l) glass carboy, bottle brush, wing-style hand corker, racking tube, airlock adapter, and other tools of the trade.