Wine, work go well together for local man
By Amanda Rogers

Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX
May 8 2005

Special to the Star-Telegram

GRAND PRAIRIE – When engineer Rick Sala decided to combine his passion
for wine with his business skills, the idea for The Winery in Grand
Prairie began to ferment.

“I’ve always liked wine and been into wine,” said Sala, a Houston
native who moved to Grand Prairie in 1988, and has worked for Vought
and Motorola.

He began looking into the idea of a winery two years ago. After he was
laid off from BancTec in 2003, he found the Wine Not International
franchise. Wine Not, a Canadian company, is a custom winery that
sells franchises, then supplies them with the juice of grapes from
around the world.

Using a trio of 550-liter stainless steel vats for large batches and
plastic tubs for smaller ones, The Winery can produce up to 4,000
bottles per month. The wine is sold only at the Winery for now, but
as the business grows, Sala hopes to sell his wine at restaurants,
stores and hotels. Wine prices range from $12 to $25 per bottle.

Wines include zinfandels, merlots, dessert wines and even an ice wine
— where the grapes are frozen on the vine then picked and crushed
for a sweet flavor. Customers who don’t know what they like can try
a couple of different kinds for $6.

Whether customers know a little or a lot about wine, the folks at
The Winery in Grand Prairie want everyone to feel comfortable. The
winery, which opened April 23, has a fireplace, large glass windows,
a seating area, a large bar and an open floor plan so people can
watch the vintners work.

The 3,400-square-foot building, which Sala designed to resemble a
mix of a church and a warehouse, cost $1.2 million. The Wine Not
franchise cost $50,000.

“We try not to make it intimidating,” said Anush Gharibyan, a certified
winemaker from Armenia and marketing director for the winery. “The
experience of making it is joyful.”

Although they don’t get to jump in the vat and squish the grapes
between their toes like Lucy Ricardo in the I Love Lucy show, customers
can still get the experience of making wine.

To bottle their own, customers will need to buy a batch, or 29 bottles,
which costs between $195 to $280. They choose the variety, whip it up,
then come back in four to six weeks after fermentation to bottle and
label it with their own personally designed logo.

But Sala doesn’t want to just sell wine, he wants to share his
enjoyment of it.

“You don’t just come buy a bottle. It’s a whole experience,” he said.
“I am hoping that we manage to get a lot of enthusiasm for the wine
and the city.”

As for Sala, he plans to enjoy every minute of it.

“I made wine today,” he said. “That sounds a whole lot better than
I made cell parts today.”