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Time to Make Wine: That's the name of a shop in Cape Coral owned by Rudy and Sandy Zahorchak. It is a federally licensed micro winery. Wine for retail, wine making and wine bar and cafe.

It has a little different flair as YOU are the wine maker! It is a ton of fun to gather a few friends and go over to make your own wine. They take you through the whole process step-by-step. From the making room where wine is made from kits with wine selections from all around the world. Go in for a tasting then choose from over 100 different types and styles they have on hand. They have everything from sweet to dry, ports, sherry's and ice wine.

In the making room you start at a station with pure water, and a kit to make the wine, juice in a bag, yeast clarifying agents and anti oxidant agents. Then it goes into an aging room where the wine ferments. After fermentation it is put into "carboys" which are a 6 gallon glass containers. It goes through a clearing process, then filtering. It is a six week process from making to bottling. You get 28-30 bottles from a "carboy." You only need to go over twice, to make the wine and again to bottle it.

Then the fun begins, you go to a filling station to bottle your wine, then to a manual floor corker to cork the wine, next is the foiler to put the foil of your color choice on top of the bottle. Then comes the custom labels. They sell supplies to make them at home or you can choose from the wall of samples. Be creative ... we called ours "Pembrook Preserve," that's the street we lived on when we made it. We went when it was the Grape Escape ... but they outgrew that facility and have a much nicer facility now, complete with a gift store and The Terrace Cafe. They have been making wine on the Cape for 12 years. Besides making your own, they sell wine, have a wine bar with tasting every Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. with all wine made onsite. They pick 10 for tasting ... you pick six of the ten to taste. Complementary cheese and crackers are also provided. Rudy and Sandy also give winery tours.

In the gift shop some of the items you can find are pewter wine toppers $8.95 or drip stoppers to keep the wine from dripping as you pour $4.95. Caps that say "Got Wine?" Tees, some embellished with rhinestones, with sayings, "Drinks well with others" or "Albert Winestein-- drink a few glasses and become a genius!" Cork screws, openers, napkins and all kinds of wine related items. Also brewing kits for those who want to make their own wine or beer at home.

They sell the bottles or you can bring your own. You need 28 bottles, the cost is from $160 to $260, depending on the wine you choose. It is a ton of fun, our friends enjoyed getting a "special" bottle of wine that we made, AND it tastes great!

Time to Make Wine is located in Club Square at 912 SE 46th Lane in Cape Coral. It is a little hard to find. (From Cape Coral Parkway, turn north onto SE 10th Place. Go 1 1/2 blocks to Club Square parking. They are on the Northwest corner of the square.)

Phone: 239-542-9463

Hours: Tue 11-6, Wed 11-5, Thurs 11-8, Fri 11-6, Sat 10-5, Closed Sun and Mon.

Enjoy! It is a barrel of fun!