Dallas Morning News , TX
June 4 2005
Winery lends flavor to city
Couple pop the cork on a new company
By JENNIFER AREND / The Dallas Morning News
Two years ago, engineer and Grand Prairie resident Rick Sala saw the
writing on the wall.
Layoffs had already started at BancTec in Irving, where he worked,
so he began looking for other opportunities.
“I was tired of the same old manufacturing jobs,” said Mr. Sala, who
had also worked for Motorola, Fujitsu and Peterbilt, among other
companies.
Customers can buy or sample the house wines or bottle their own
creations at The Winery in Grand Prairie. In 2003, he came across
Wine Not, a winery franchise company. The company has eight winery
locations in the United States, including one in San Antonio, and
several in Canada.
Mr. Sala had always enjoyed drinking wine, so he and his wife, Debra
– another engineer – decided they would open their own winery in
Grand Prairie. The Winery in Grand Prairie opened about five weeks
ago, at Robinson Road and Crossland Boulevard.
The Wine Not wineries don’t deal with the grapes themselves. They
import the grape juice, or “must,” as it’s called. Then the juice is
blended and customized, and the fermentation process begins.
Suppliers buy grapes from all over the world, including Italy, France
and California.
“In a way, it’s like making anything else,” Mr. Sala said, adding
that it didn’t hurt that he started out in school as a chemical
engineer. He became a master vintner after training sessions in
Canada.
Chardonnays, merlots, zinfandels, even fruit-flavored wines – the
variety of wines that Mr. Sala can make is extensive.
The winery is already doing a brisk business.
Groups have booked private tastings and parties, and others have
wandered in after driving by and wondering about the new business.
Mr. Sala has already sold more than half of his original stock, and
there’s a waiting list for some varieties. Last week, Mr. Sala
entered some of his wines in the Lone Star International Wine
Competition, held at Lone Star Park. The competition is organized by
the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association.
Mr. Sala said he’s enjoyed people’s reactions to the new business.
“Their jaws will kind of drop, and they’ll say, ‘So, what do you make
here?’ As if it wouldn’t be obvious from the name,” Mr. Sala said
with a laugh.
“It’s as if having a winery in Grand Prairie is an oxymoron.”
The new 3,400-square-foot building was designed to look like a cross
between a church and a warehouse, Mr. Sala said. The open floor plan
allows customers to view the wine laboratory, including three giant
stainless-steel fermentation vats and bottling machinery. Making the
wine is a four- to six-week process, and the winery can produce up to
4,000 bottles per month.
Bottles range from $12 to $25, and tastings, which include three wine
varieties, are $6.
The wine is only available at the winery now, but Mr. Sala said he
hopes to sell his wine at restaurants and stores in the future.
“A lot of people make wine too pretentious,” Mr. Sala said. “That
tends to turn people off.
“I want to make it fun,” he added. “I don’t want people to be made to
feel stupid.”
He said that eventually, he plans to offer classes on wine that would
teach topics such as which wines are traditionally paired with
certain foods.
“But if you like white wine with steak, that’s fine,” he said.
For customers who want to bottle their own vintage, a batch costs
between $195 and $280, but that produces about 29 bottles of wine.
Customers can also customize the labels on the bottles.
Dr. Dean Peyton, a longtime Grand Prairie resident, spent a few
mornings recently filtering and then bottling his first batch of
wine, which he named “Bubba Blanc,” an homage to his nickname.
Dr. Peyton said having a winery in Grand Prairie is surreal.
“It’s crazy as hell,” he said. “I thought, ‘Could this possibly be
real?’ ”
Dr. Peyton said he didn’t know anything about wine before visiting
the winery.
“I just liked to drink it,” he said. But he was willing to learn how
wine is made, so Mr. Sala gave him step-by-step lessons. “This is
fun, to have something like this in Grand Prairie.”
Anush Gharibyan, marketing director for the winery, heard about Mr.
Sala’s business plans when she was still a graduate assistant at the
University of Dallas, where she was completing her MBA.
A lover of wine who spent her undergraduate years in Armenia studying
the winemaking process, Ms. Gharibyan encourages people to take part
in “wine culture.”
“Wine-drinking is a lifestyle,” said Ms. Gharibyan, who dreams of
having her own winery someday. “And if you drink moderately, it is
healthy.”