A viticultural experience

Marisa O’Neil

Visitors to the Orange County Fair on Saturday could sample a 2003

Dark Side Sangiovese, or try a nice Miss Cab cabernet from Bellamy

Wines.

But don’t expect to find either at the local wine shop.

Members of the Orange County Wine Society entered more than 600

homemade wines into competition at the fair. And after Saturday

morning’s judging, fair crowds got to taste the fruits of their

labors in a wine-tasting at the fair’s Courtyard wine garden.

“That’s surprising, that they could be as good as the big

wineries,” said Hemet resident Susie Yates, who named a pomegranate

wine as her favorite. “They are. We just can’t buy them.”

Selling homemade wine is illegal; the industry is heavily

regulated. But, said Jim Graver, director for the Wine Society’s home

wine group, the winemakers like to share the finished product.

“We give it as gifts,” Graver said. “Winemaking is a hobby, but

the big thing is sharing. We can share this more than we could a coin

collection or a stamp collection.”

The society helps budding winemakers learn the tricks of the trade

and how to set up a mini-winery in the home, Graver said.

Beginners borrow equipment such as grape crushers and corking

machines to make their first batch. People with more experience, like

Huntington Beach resident Rich Veague of Dark Side Winery, buy their

own equipment.

The whole process of crushing, fermenting, barrel-aging and

bottle-aging takes about a year and a half to produce a good quality

wine, he said. Now in his sixth year of winemaking, he entered five

wines in the competition.

Rich Felton of Tustin entered his first wine last year, just to

get feedback from the judges. He ended up winning one of four

best-in-show awards for his ice wine, a sweet, white dessert wine.

Felton also home brews his own beer and even grows his own hops.

But he, like most of the other wine makers, buys grapes from an

outside source.

“To grow grapes [for winemaking], you need so much space,” he

said. “I’d need my back yard and my neighbor’s back yard.”

Most of the people drawn to winemaking like wine, but aren’t

necessarily experts, said Yorba Linda resident Bob Miller, who

entered five wines under the Miller and Castro label. He joined the

society initially to find out more about wines, then decided to

produce ones that he thought he’d like.

“Absolutely anyone can do it,” Miller said. “Look at us. We’re not

a bunch of brain surgeons. We just all love one thing -- making wine.

And, of course, drinking wine.”