Winemaking like the professionals

"You don't need to be in wine country to have this experience," said the 51-year-old co-owner.

This philosophy has served him well, having already established several successful Bacchus Winemaking Club locations in New Jersey. The San Carlos location is Chirichillo's first West Coast venture, while the city itself has been his family's home for seven years.

Bacchus operates with two major designs in mind. One is a winery in which small batches of high quality wines are produced. The other is the winemaking club, created for those who wish to experience the thrill of making a great bottle of wine but don't have a lot of money to do it.

Members who wish to make wine pay a one-time initiation fee and yearly dues. The yearly dues, set to a sliding scale, help determine how much wine will be produced. The amount varies from a quarter of a barrel, or six cases of wine, up to a full barrel, which produces 24 cases.

Far from just sitting back and letting Chirichillo and his small staff do all the work, each member gets involved hands on in the process. The grapes, brought from quality vineyards all over Northern California, are dropped off at the 25,000-square-foot warehouse shortly after being harvested.

The grape types themselves vary, with familiar types like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay stacked in trays next to less known Italian and French ones.

Members arrive shortly afterwards and over the course of two initial visits crush and de-stem the grapes. This is followed by Chirichillo teaching them how to begin the fermentation process, including the adjustment of must (the hull of the grape after it is pressed), wine-pressing and preparation and filling of French oak wine barrels.

After several months of aging, the wine is ready for the next stage. Chirichillo helps his amateur winemaking members rack the wine, remove sediment and top the barrels. This is followed shortly thereafter by bottling, customized labeling and loading the bottles in the car to take home and share with others.

Members so far seem to have positive reactions to the whole experience.

"I'm an amateur wine freak as it is," said Tim Fuller of San Bruno. "This is a great way to make a good type of wine for yourself and also see how it is made."

Fuller's brother-in-law Dante Tosetti agreed. The 29-year-old Belmont resident was hooked on Bacchus by Fuller.

"He introduced me to this about a month ago," said Tosetti. "All you see in the store is the bottle. Here you see it all. It adds a new light to enjoying wine."

Each man has his eyes set on blending specific types of grapes. Blending is a common practice among winemakers to get two or more great grape types paired in the right combination to produce a greater wine.

Fuller is creating a Cabernet-Syrah blend, while Tosetti is mixing Cabernet and Cab Franc.

Another popular blend, according to Chirichillo, is Super Tuscan, which mixes the Sangiovese grape with another red type.

Single grape wines are also produced at Bacchus. Some of the more commonly made ones, said Chirichillo, include Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio.

As for the winery, Chirichillo is currently producing 125 barrels, or about 3,000 cases of wine. They are mostly red, with a good mix of Italian style grapes like Sangiovese and Barbera because, as the Italian American winemaker said, "that's where my heart is."

"We're using some techniques to make great wine like you would in a larger winery," said Chirichillo. "We're making smaller batches though."

Plans are in the works to have a tasting room, which will be open sometime between December and January. Other remodel and service ideas Chirichillo has in mind for the Bacchus Winemaking Club include a cold wine storage area, Italian-style deli, membership room for winemaking club members and an overhaul of the front of the building to give it a more winery-like feel.

With all the work going on at Bacchus, Chirichillo said members are really excited about their upcoming vino.

"For members," said Chirichillo, "the hands-on-aspect is really attractive. To them, this whole process is very infectious."

For more information on the Bacchus Winemaking Club and how to sign up, visit their Web site at http://www.bacchuswinemakingclub.com/ or call 593-9463.