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Article
from The Atlantic County Weeklies, Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Gino’s in the forefront of
winemaking
By
Ben Meritt,
Staff
Writer
HAMMONTON
- The tradition of winemaking
is nothing new in this
community.
The
long standing practice is alive end well. One of the reasons is Gino’s
School
of Wine Making, which opened three years ago at the site of the former
Gino’s Market on the White Horse Pike.
Though firmly entrenched in the
lifestyle here, facilities like Gino’s are a growing trend among those
interested in making their own wine for the taste, for purity - unlike
commercial wines homemade wines have no preservatives - or just for the
social interaction.
“People remember their
grandfather making the wine. Some lost touch with it, but it is starting
to come back,” said Michael Pinto who runs the school along with his
father, Gino. “We do everything here. The mess stays here.”
This year’s series of
classes at Gino’s began Saturday with some 60 “students” getting
an overview on the winemaking process, which come next May will result
in about 240, 750-ml bottles of their own wine.
The initial visits to
Gino’s school show how to crush and de-stem the grapes and begin the
primary fermentation process. The Pintos provide the technical
assistance along the way and do the necessary monitoring of the
fermentation process.
For the school, Pinto
brings in the grapes shipped cold from California’s renowned Lodi
area, located east of San Francisco near the Sacramento River delta.
Generations of grape growers have inhabited the region, which is noted
for its Mediterranean climate and sandy soils, two important factors for
production of world class wine.
“People like California
wine more. You don’t have to add lot of sugars. With the East coast
grapes you have to add a lot of sugar,” Pinto said.
Pinto also supplies wine
grape to many to similar schools in North Jersey.
Customer loyalty has been
one of the strong features since his school opened, Pinto added.
“Every event they will
break out the wine – Christmas, Easter, a wedding,” Pinto said.
“If they made their wine here and are familiar with it, they’ll go
home and make their wines. They’ll be back with you for supplies, a
de-stemmer, a crusher, a glass jug and the grapes.”
At the school more than 30
different wines can be made, from Merlot to Zinfandel to Riesling to
Chianti.
Costs for the school range
from $1,100 for such varieties as Carignane and Grenache to $1,600 for
Pinot Grigio. Not included are rental or purchase costs of a wine
barrel, wine bottle labels and the state’s $20 New Jersey Division Of
Alcohol Beverage Control permit.
After the first two
visits, the third session, which will be in January or February, will
see the racking of the wine, removal of sediment and topping off the
barrels.
“We get a lot of
professionals, casino executives,” Pinto said of this year’s class.
“There’s a lot of pride involved in crafting your own wine. We use a
lot of different varieties of grapes. That will enable people to try
different things.”
For more information,
call Gino’s School Of Wine at (609)-561-8199.
Staff photos / Mark
Evangelista
Michael
Pinto brings in grapes shipped
cold from California’s Lodi area, located east of San Francisco.
Generations of grape growers have
inhabited the region known for its Mediterranean climate and
sandy soils.
Michael
Pinto of Gino’s School Of
Wine Making in Hammonton admires one of the bottles made at the school,
which opened on the site of the former Gino’s Market on the White
Horse Pike.
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