Experiential Wine-Making Shops

With the rising popularity of home-brewing and make-your-own wine shops, it has never been easier for consumers to DIY their favorite alcoholic beverages. Toronto’s Fermentations helps amateur brewers get started by equipping them with the tools and knowledge necessary to produce their very own beer, cider or wine.

Fermentations is an onsite brewing facility located on the Danforth. The shop is staffed by a highly knowledgeable team that can help customers select ingredients, create custom flavors and even whip up a clone of their drink. The process is completely customizable, meaning customers can create just about any beer or wine imaginable. In fact, Fermentations offers more than 100 different wines and over 35 types of beer so that customers can enjoy everything from their favorite Cabernet Sauvignon to a batch of authentic Czech-style pilsners.

However, what makes Fermentations truly unique is that the business is always on the cutting-edge of innovation when it comes to DIY brewing. For instance, Fermentations recently developed its own Grapemasters brand, which consists of real grapes sourced from some of the top vineyards from around the world. The grapes are selected by award-winning vintner and consulting winemaker Charles Fajgenbaum, who has been responsible for sourcing and selecting the grapes that have won top-honors at both American and Canadian competitions. The brand was developed in response to a dissatisfaction with the quality of product available through typical supply channels and has already proven to be a hit among customers in Toronto. In fact, the Grapemasters brand has become so popular that Fermentation’s has begun exporting the product to the United States as well.

With the success of its Grapemasters brand and the growth of the make-your-own wine industry, Fermentations is working on launching a Wine School in the near future. The Grapemaster’s Wine School consists of hands-on classes that teach those in attendance how to construct the perfect wine based on an appreciation of grapes and the conditions they are grown in. To truly understand how to control wine from grape to barrel to bottle, attendees will learn about topics such as The Wines of Bordeaux, Chardonnays of the World and Getting a Doctorate in Zinfandel.

Unlike other wine-oriented classes, the Grapemasters Wine School is designed to be highly accessible for groups and individuals who are simply looking to know more about wine. The sessions are conducted in conversational English – rather than scientific jargon – and they include hands-on elements that make the classes a truly immersive experience. In the end, attendees will not only be more confident in their wine knowledge, but they will also have the skills to coax exceptional flavors out of high-quality grapes.

For those who want to fill their cellar with custom wines and those who are simply looking to experiment with their favorite pint, Fermentations provides a fun and accessible way to explore the world of home-brewing.