Lamar Brown is a man with a ready smile and a firm handshake. He doesn’t fit the stereotype of a “computer guy,” though he works by day in IT security for Lockheed Martin.
Nor does he fit into the stuffy, tie-clad stereotype of “the wine guy.” Yet, with his opening of Carafe Wine Makers in Old Town, he’s become more than a wine guy — he’s a winemaker. And now other Alexandria residents can become winemakers, too.
At Carafe, patrons participate in the winemaking process to create their own batches of vino.
“You can actually start your wine in about 15 minutes,” said Brown, 29.
Walk in, choose a wine, and Carafe staff will mix grape juices from vineyards all over the world, skins, oak chips, and/or other flavorings to create the wine you requested. Four to six weeks later, during which Carafe handles the fermentation process and the “racking” — removing sediment and transferring the wine to another container — you come back to bottle, label and cork your wine.