Make your own wine and customized labels at Wine Corkers
By Wine Atlas, Tuesday 23 January 2007 :: Wine - United-States :: #128 :: rss
It doesn't involve climbing into a large vat and stomping your own grapes, but Tom Falash can show you how to make your own wine for about a third of the price you would pay at the wine store.
In June, Falash, 50, opened Wine Corkers in Boise to show people how fun it could be to make their own wine.
For less than $10 a bottle, customers can make wine that Falash said rivals the quality of wines costing more than $30 a bottle. They can customize it with their own private labels.
"When I give you a bottle of this wine, you know it comes from the heart," Falash said at his store, tucked away in a strip mall at 5634 W. State St. "I haven't gone to a store and bought a bottle off the shelf. I've thought about it, customized it and put my personal touch on the gift of wine."
Falash said the concept is new to Idaho. There are probably only 25 stores like his in the United States, he said.
Canada is another matter. In British Columbia, where Falash discovered the concept, there are more than 300 businesses similar to Wine Corkers. Like a regular winery, Falash's store is required to be licensed and follow federal requirements to sell wine.
A longtime wine connoisseur, Falash turned his hobby into a full-fledged career after a bout with prostate cancer.
"I decided it was time to make a change and give life a new twist," Falash said.
He gave up his 28-year career as a school administrator and moved to Boise from Washington state, where he was working. Coming to Boise was a homecoming for Falash, who grew up in Weiser and worked in the Boise School District for six years.
Continue reading: idahostatesman.com
