Wine Making in the New Year

New Year’s resolution: Stop whining; make wine. At least, it is if you’re Emanuella Petrucci, owner and founder of Women Wine Making. Petrucci , who grew up on the west coast of Italy on top of a little mountain, started making wine in 2011 to honor her father and her heritage. “I grew up around the wine … but when you are a kid, you’re not very interested. As you get older, you want to keep the culture and pass the traditions down. I’m at a place in my life where that’s what I wanted to do.”

When her first attempt was successful, she knew she was on to something. “I didn’t realize that [the wine] would be so good that everyone would want it and was asking for a bottle . Or wanting to purchase a bottle that I just couldn’t give out. I was trying to save some because it came out so delicious,” she laughs.

“As I was doing it I was thinking, ‘This is so easy. Why can’t more women do this?’” Petrucci says. So she made it her mission to teach her art. She started her first class in October 2012 with four women. “It is a six-week program, [but] it skips around due to the process of wine making.” Her class is designed to be taught in the home, where several individuals or couples can gather for each session, or at the Learning Connection in Providence.

For $300 per person or couple, Petrucci provides instruction, six gallons of juice, and a set of equipment. “So it’s a small investment, but a great investment,” she says. She uses a Sangiovese grape from the Tuscany region of Italy to produce a light-bodied Chianti table wine with flavors of blackberries, cherries, and robust spice. “I love the Sangiovese – that’s why I stick to it – it makes a fabulous wine. It’s really well-known in Italy and a lot of people here in the U.S. are familiar with it as well.” Using the juice, which many vineyards will now distribute, instead of the grape avoids the mess and difficulty of grape crushing, greatly simplifying the process. At the end of the class, each student will have 22 to 23 bottles of his or her own vintage.

For Petrucci, though, it’s clearly about more than just the final product. As she talks about each step, from the juice to the racking – the final step of bottling – her passion and dedication to the experience and culture of wine making comes through with easy confidence. As for the wine itself? “It has great character and, of course, it was made with love,” smiles Petrucci.

For more information on hosting your own wine-making classes and other wine-related events, check out www.womenwinemaking.com. Discounts are available for groups of three or more.