1. Private Barrel – the cost to make a barrel of wine is $4000 which equates to $200 a case or $16.67 per bottle.  A barrel is equivalent to 20 cases/240 bottles.

2. Social Barrel – the cost to join a Social Barrel is $225 per case; a minimum of one case per person.   You can join as many Social Barrels as you like and purchase as many cases as you like (based on availability).

1. No, we only make red wine.

2. We are currently not equipped to facilitate student production of white wines.

1. As few as one person and as many as twenty.  We feel the ideal number is 10 to 15 to ensure there is enough hands-on participation for each winemaker.

2. 1. Winemaking experience encompasses four 1-hour sessions over approximately 9-months.

2. 1. Yes…if you miss a session you are still eligible to make wine.

2. 1. Our winemakers have entered their handcrafted wines into local and national winemaking contests and have garnered medals as prestigious as Double Golds.

We are capable of producing red wine; single varietals and blends from California, Chile and South Africa:

1. California – Alicante Bouschet, Barbera, Black Malvasia, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Grenache, Malbec, Merlot, Mourvedre, Nebbiolo, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Primativo, Sangiovese, Syrah, Tempranillo, Viognier, Zinfandel and Old Vine Zinfandel  (OVZ)
2.  Chile – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Carmenere and Syrah
3. South African – Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah

2. 1. Winemaking is a constantly evolving art and science.  It’s a unique process that allows the average person to create their own hand-crafted barrel of wine.  You become a part of a large winemaking family, learn a lot about wine and winemaking and in the end develop lasting friendships.  Grape Expectations has the equipment, knowledge, experience and contacts to ensure the quality of your wine. Staff provides tutelage and customer support throughout the entire winemaking process.

1. You will be dumping 756 pounds of hand-picked grapes, from crates, into a crusher/destemmer. This equipment strips the grapes from the stems, and the resulting skins, called “Must”, is pumped into a 300 liter fermentation tub to begin the seven-day conversion into wine.

2. You will inoculate the “must” with high quality yeast cultures and nutrients to begin the fermentation process converting the “must” into wine. Over the next seven days, you may perform the “punch down” task to keep the skins in contact with the juice developing color and flavor.

2. 1. Once the fermentation is complete, the liquid, now wine, is pumped into an oak barrel to begin the aging process, and the residual grapes are placed into a press to gently release the remaining liquid, which is also added to the barrel, in typical artesian or “craft” style.  Pressing occurs the following week on the same day as your Crushing.

2. 1. Sediment accumulates in the bottom of the barrel during the initial aging stage. During Racking, the wine is pumped from the oak barrel and placed into a stainless container, the sediment is extracted, the interior of the barrel is washed with high-pressure water, and the wine is returned to the barrel to continue the aging process.  This takes place approximately four months after the Pressing.

2. 1. Approximately nine months into the aging process, the wine is removed from the barrel and placed into a stainless reservoir in preparation for bottling through a gravity fed bottler.  You will manually cork and then place a capsule on each bottle before taking your wine home.

2. 1. Hand crafted wine is usually produced in small batches, in our case, one barrel at a time, while a commercial operation processes thousands of gallons and attempts to achieve style consistency from year to year. A small batch, “crafted” style, processes the idiosyncrasies of that year’s harvest, which differs from year-to-year due to weather, fruit source, and other agriculture related conditions.

2. 1. Usually, the tasks associated with each step in the process takes approximately an hour.

1. Yes

2. You may sign-up to make wine and pay on-line at the following link: https://grapeexpectationslasvegas.com/make-wine/