Make Your Own Wine
For those who long for the California wine-country experience, there’s a place in Kailua where you can sample wines and participate in the wine-making process.
Oeno Winemaking allows wine lovers to choose, bottle and label their own wine in a “relaxing, nonpretentious atmosphere,” says co-owner Marshall Zeigler, who, with partner Bryon Crowther, bought the company in 2012.
Their 150 varietals of white, red, sangria and dessert wines are mixed onsite with grape juice, grape skins and oak imported from all over the world: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America, Europe and the U.S. mainland. After picking your favorite during a tasting, it takes six to eight weeks before your barrel of wine containing about 28 to 31 bottles is fermented and ready.
That’s when the buyers are invited to a two-hour bottling party, Zeigler says. “They bring friends, family and pupus with them. They label the bottles with their own labels, cork and seal the wine, and enjoy it with friends while they’re doing the party.
